FUTURE MOTORING JOURNALISTS
A mixture of fear, excitement and pride—those were the emotions that seemed to fill the air in our room when I announced to my small Multiplatform Journalism class that we got the green light to attend and cover the premiere automotive exhibition in the country, the Manila International Auto Show, on its official Media Day.
I broached the possibility of it pushing through a few weeks back, and explained to all 15 of them what it would demand from them: to jostle for space, to withstand a barrage of distractions, and to get as much relevant and usable content for their assignments against veteran teams from the TV networks, all the major broadsheets and car magazines, online entities, and even the general public.
Pressure cooker
Multiplatform Journalism is an elective subject I teach at the University of Asia and the Pacific, offered to senior-level students enrolled in one of their newer courses called Media Entertainment Management (MEM).
As significant as my MEM50 subject may sound in relation to their course, it’s undoubtedly broad by any standard.
Being an active practitioner myself in the motoring and tech/gadgets beat, the pressure is on me to contain as much of the principles and fundamentals of Journalism, and strap them onto the current practices, means and methods to push the enormous amount of content out, while upholding the highest possible standards in them, within a semester.
So I did what I thought was the best way to handle that kind of pressure… delegate it.
Hands on, so hold on
Nothing compares to the learnings one could get from the real world. And when it comes to media coverage, covering the Manila International Auto Show on launch day was as real as it could get.
Amidst the deafening blast of electronic music from all directions and a multitude of people from the industry, the media, and everyone in between, I assembled my class at the main hall of the World Trade Center.
Divided in teams, I dispatched them with a list of multimedia content they were required to produce, with angles we had earlier deliberated on.
It’s evident from the strained smiles of most of my students that they were overwhelmed, and for good reason.
MIAS 2018’s “craziest” day represented many firsts for all of them. Well, they sort of expressed that all of them were firsts. But under the wing of IN
QUIRER Motoring, each of them were issued legit media badges that were definitely not just for show.
The badges were for privileged access so that they could rightfully demand and pursue what they needed to get the job done.
Akin to fresh recruits in the Marines going through their first live fire exercise, the three teams dove head first into the melee that ensued, when launch after spectacular launch from the car manufacturers like Ford and Hyundai took place.
Armed with only smartphones and earphone mics for photos, videos and interviews (which I specified they could only use), they had to squeeze through the walls of camera men and reporters, crane their necks and reach for the sky with their phones and selfie sticks to get a decent shot or footage.
They soon learned that one had to swap politeness for assertiveness if they were to secure or even retain an incheswide spot that had a usable view.
They also had to learn the purpose of a tag team, so that they had a teamster in place when the happening shifted to the other end of the stage or hall in a matter of seconds, then back again to its polar opposite.
They got pushed, dragged, and muscled out of the way, but I’m sure they had to put their foot down (on somebody’s foot, possibly) to ensure they got what they came for.
To fortify their already steely commitment to fulfilling their objectives, I had to add that their midterm grades depended on their teams’ output. But as it turns out, the very physical aspect of their coverage experience was the easier part.
Buck the norm, blaze your trail
My students were challenged and required to come up with the most relevant but unconventional angles on their coverage, to use their inexperience in the motoring beat as their edge to provide the freshest and most candid perspectives for their interviews and reportage, and that’s on top of overcoming the “are you even old enough to be here” doubting stares of the industry reps, choosing who to give their CEOs access.
Glad to say, my students insisted, pushed on courageously and prevailed. They soon discovered though that it wasn’t enough.
Throughout the MIAS Media Day that was utterly “chaotic” in comparison to the school atmosphere they’re used to, I caught them locking heads a few times in the media suite, to solidify their angles even more.
I urged them to recalibrate their thinking, and not bark out questions that could easily be answered by their interviewees by just regurgitating a press release, or questions that could be answered by anyone who represented any brand.
They had to produce content that would specifically engage the non-auto enthusiasts, especially since most of them weren’t as well.
These students did understand that in the real world, they can’t choose their assignments, just like many other things. So from their suite refuge, back into the wolf pit they marched.
A better beat in the works
Admirable is how millennials embrace and take good advantage of technology. Even more admirable is how they’re very open or even hungry to understand and connect what they can learn from what’s beyond digital, to interface what they learn in theory with what’s physically tangible in the great out there.
At the end of their coverage day, my MEM50 class was visibly exhausted but obviously elated, not just for surviving, but making good on their objectives in what they described as a totally different world.
Given the kind of tenacity they displayed in accomplishing their tasks, if even just a few of them end up as our future motoring journalists, I believe we’ve got a better beat to look forward to.