Learning a thing or two from a friend or family member may be good and all, but learning from someone who’s been in the field? That’s something that I will never forget.
I have always thought of becoming a broadcaster. When I was young, my dad would advise me to read the newspaper aloud so that I can practice my speaking skills. Since then, whenever I’d see a newspaper, I’d read it aloud and practice my intonation and pronunciation. I thought being a broadcaster is just delivering the news in front of a camera. But as I got older, I realized that it’s more than a glamorous on-camera profession.
Share Button: A Broadcasting Career Mentoring, the recently concluded webinar that our class organized and to which I luckily served as a host, taught me a lot more than just aiming at being a TV personality someday. Overall, it served as an ideal event for broadcast-journalist wannabees who are curious about the trends in the field of broadcast journalism. However, more than the handy tips and tricks related to broadcasting, our virtual event was filled with realizations and motivational messages from our notable guest speaker, Pia Gutierrez of ABS-CBN.
Emphasizing the shift to online reportage, Pia said aspiring journalists must learn how to adapt to new skills to cope with the dynamics of broadcasting. Thus, before joining the field, broadcasting students should seriously take time to hone the skills that will help them survive in the fast lane. Apart from paying attention to basic skills of reading, writing, shooting, and editing, one should master the use of social media and having the nose for news. With these, I am now able to understand why our professors would always underscore the fact that college is just our training ground. Simply speaking, it is where we are taught to be flexible, to always beat the deadline, and to always practice grace under pressure in preparation for what lies ahead in the real world.
Nonetheless, my favorite takeaway from Pia was her explanation of the journalism mantra, “no story is worth dying for.” For me, this was the webinar’s takeaway of paramount importance. Pia shared she also plays equally valuable roles off camera. She is also a wife, a mother, and a friend. In other words, she stressed that career should not be everything to a person. One’s career should be accorded equal significance with one’s private life. (RAYAH JAHZIEL TAYAG)
April 18, 2024
