CNN opened up its studios for the third annual Journalism Day, and Tempo was there to cover the event! The international news broadcasting giant invited students studying journalism to come and meet top professionals in the industry. The event, which is an annual tradition, was held this year at the CNN Abu Dhabi Bureau, and was hosted by none other than Becky Anderson and John Defterios.
As Tempo’s interns we were excited to be invited to ‘cover’ the event. The day began with coffee, tea and donuts as a group of university students arrived, bursting with enthusiasm and great expectations. By about 10am the room was full of budding and aspiring journalists, all gathered in the famous newsroom, ready to learn.
Zayed University journalism professor David Bulla introduced the first speaker of the morning: John Defterios, Emerging Markets Editor and Anchor – a journalist with almost 25 years of experience in the industry, who has interviewed some of the world’s top business leaders. Defterios talked about his experience working in the field and told the young journalists to be ‘smart’, ‘deep’ and ‘quick’.
“The essential things about being a journalist is being smart about it but being deep and being quick at the same time,” he told everyone.
After our talk with John, we all split up into smaller groups focusing on different newsroom ‘roles’. These included the positions of anchor/presenter, producer, writer, director and technical operator.
The group then took a brief break for lunch before Connect the World presenter Becky Anderson gave a Q&A session. We were lucky to be interviewing someone who has herself interviewed the likes of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Oprah Winfrey. Anderson talked about her favourite stories, the challenges that she still faces as a correspondent and how the journalism industry has evolved: “Everything has changed and nothing has changed in that time,” she said. “Journalism is still about integrity and honesty.”
In the final activity of the day, we worked in small groups to put together a 2:30 minute news segment. The students got to experience the buzz of working in the newsroom, and the excitement of working under a tight deadline to piece together a story and report it live on air. “This is CNN!” And it sure was great fun!
ADVICE FROM THE PROS
Becky Anderson
CNN’s International Anchor and Correspondent
What advice do you have for students that want to follow your career path?
If you want to be a presenter you have to throw yourself in right at the start. There’s nothing like getting your hands dirty. Watch for opportunities.
What has been your favorite interview so far?
Sacha Baron Cohen who played Borat who was a journalist from a made up place. He didn’t come out of character when I interviewed him. I was trying to ask him questions about his career and the movie and he basically shut me down. It was a very funny experience.
John Defterios
CNN’s Emerging Markets Editor based in Abu Dhabi
What do you have to say for the future journalists out there?
Be Smart – “means being knowledgeable of your subject today”
Be Deep – “read as much as possible so you can have a context of which to report from. Major story takes place with it’s historical contexts that sort of knowledge is important.
Be Quick – “be quick with the information; this is breaking news coverage, you got to respond very quickly to the story
Alireza Hajihosseini
CNN Producer
What advice would you give journalists?
Rule number one of going into journalism: Be nice to people and never think that you’re not replaceable.
– Reported by Tempo interns Yara Nasif and Hania Meigag
{gallery}CNN Journalism Day 2015{/gallery}
