A journalist story

I didn't study to be a journalist. In college I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to study. Neither was I in the fraternity of shiny happy people marching with uninterrupted cadence from highschool through college.

I was one of those lost souls slogging through college mouthing vague plans for law school, half a heart for mechanical engineering and a failed stab at a degree in english literature.

In short I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to become.

Yet somehow I always knew I wanted to write. Fiction that is, free of the iron clad rules and pitfalls of more structured flavors of literature like journalism. I honestly abhorred the discipline and despised the obsession to give structure to free thought.

Little did I know I was not only to linger before this gate but find my life's work within.

I have no educational pedigree so to speak, when it comes to this profession. No distinguished alumni to set the bar of excellence impossibly high much less famous professors to glean wisdom from.
There are no college organizations and campus newspapers connecting me to the starry eyed aspirants wanting to follow in my footsteps. Heck I'm not even a Communications graduate.

But I do have a story to tell, an offering perhaps to those willing to listen, about a sub par student from a rural university who became a tv reporter in one of the country's leading tv stations.

Before I turned media, I had already spent four years working as a sales rep for Nestle Philippines. It was my first job out of college and had the trimmings of a successful career in the making.

The job had ample incentives for me to stay. Apart from my fawning friends, teachers and colleagues, the job paid well, gave you a brand new car; respectability, and came with electric neon letterings screaming "stability".

But my mom knew me better and though proud of her son, never gave up on the dream of something beyond sales figures bottom lines and ROI for her eldest son.

I eventually gave up my nice job in the multinational companya, realizing my true calling was at least a good few parsecs from where I was.

A falling out with one of my superiors was the proverbial straw and I just quit.

I spent the next two months trying to figure out what I would do next.

Whatever it was, it would have to be for keeps. I had just turned 30 and the window for career change was swiftly closing.

Opportunity would come knocking through a friend in Nestle who had an aunt in RPN 9.

The station fortunately smiled upon the journeyman and in a few days time I was already doing the QC police beat with nary a hint of what an inverted pyramid was, that segue was not food and that one was forever destined to write on the right side of the page from here on after.

I learned my journalism on the fly, in the dark alleys where people vented their evil upon each other, and the smoky, sleepy hideouts where night beat reporters fought off the sandman and boredom.

One thing I learned here is the value of maintaining contacts within the community. My station's limited audience helped little in getting stories. So for four long albiet enlightening years I had to exert double the effort to overcome the biases of newsmakers and resource persons.

At times I found myself drawing up lengthy resumes to escape, what seemed like a quagmire with no hope for advancement.

Thankfully there were no takers. Afterall who wanted a journalist from this part of the broadcast industry.

But RPN taught me how to write my scripts both in English and Tagalog. It was also here that I had my first taste of live reporting. Here I had my eyes opened to the underbelly of journalism in the country where shadowy hands traded exposure for money and ideals have to be compromised for the sake of maintaining good working relations with co workers.

I however had the good fortune of having true friends in my first media outfit. These were the friends who held my hand during the clueless months and the jaded ears who listened to frustrations of the uninitiated.

So when ABC 5 fell to the ambitions of Tony Boy Cojuangco, I was already ready to make the big leap.

And what a leap it was. My first superiors were exiles from ABS CBN led by Ed Lingao and the rest of the Correspondents team. Here I learned what documentaries were and that it took a while getting used to writing the lenghty scripts and poring over video to glean the slightest details.

It was a humbling, frustrating and exciting time for me. My most valuable lesson here is to always eat humble pie. Even when you know the entire universe is turning in your direction, always try to put your point across in the most diplomatic way possible.

Your superiors most assuredly do not know everything but they won't take kindly to a subordinate rubbing it in their faces.

Oh and lest I forget. Always read the fine print in your contract. Its already standard to have some form of non-compete clause in reporter's employment contracts. What this means is you cannot change stations without serving a time delay penalty. Call it a not too subtle incentive not to jump ship.

I learned this the hard way when GMA7 came knocking. I had to stop working for 8 months until I finally secured a waiver to my contract with ABC.

Thankfully GMA waited and kept one slot open for me.

And here I remain till this day. To keep things simple I've provided a checklist for aspirants to take to heart if you do decide to pursue journalism as a career.

One thing I can tell you is that if your heart is really into it, it never feels like work but rather a daily adventure into the unknown.

So here goes:

1. The pay initially sucks. Earn your stripes and try getting a promotion or transfer to a more reputable outfit.

2. Take care of your reputation. People with talent are all around. Journalists with uncompromising ideals and healthy work ethics earn respect. It is these colleagues who will vouch for you when the time comes to move up.

3. Read and watch your competition. It sometimes hurts the ego to see people better your efforts but it is a must to improve yourself. There's no shame here, as tomorrow brings another opportunity to shine and ofcourse a shot at putting one over the competition.

4. Take care of your health. This is not a desk job. It entails a lot of running around, chasing people, dodging rocks and bullets to carve a name for yourself. Make sure you are fit and take time to attend media safety trainings.

5. Prepare yourself for the eventuality of being offered a bribe. It will most definitely come. Make a choice, but know that there are no secrets in this industry.

6. In office competition and personal intramurals are a reality in an industry where one must be neccesarily self righteous to write about the ills of society. All the egos flying about the newsroom are bound to crash into one another. Its physics.

7. Always be on time. A late reporter can only be lucky so many times before you eventually miss an important coverage.

8. Respect the unspoken hierarchy among field reporters. You lose nothing by allowing the rabid looking ones some leeway and then ask your questions after they've had their fill.

9. Respect and don't pick a quarrel with your desk officers. They may not all be gems but guess who talks about your shortcomings during story conferences? Good desk officers will eventually realize your are not as stupid as you seem.

10. Accept the fact that there will be countless missed birthdays, including ones own; no holidays and long thankless hours during breaking news coverage.

11. Approach each coverage as if it is your first one on the job. This is not easy especially after years on the job but you never know if this will be your defining moment as a journalist. Think of Macky Pulido running across the grounds of then embattled Malacanang to bring her tape to the waiting news courier with video from inside the palace as the height of Edsa 2. Jiggy Manicad suffering from an errant stone while reporting Edsa 3. Jun Veneracion being caught in an MILF ambush with the Philippine Marines. Jessica Soho covering Afghanistan when a landmine blows up nearby. Ed Lingao being trapped inside Baghdad as the Coalition forces started bombing the capital. Michael Fajatin talking to a deranged hostage taker. These are just some of the so called "moments" that define careers. Be ready when it comes your way for opportunity like these are very rare.

The list is few and far in between. That's why one must be ready to sieze the opportunity when it comes.

That's it for now I guess. Ill try to write in a few more in the future.

Ill leave the rest for you to experience. But let me tell you now that this is one of the most fulfilling and noble professions.