Switching Desk: General to Business
#howmanyzerosagain?
I was a general news reporter until recently our portal got shut down. Being part of a media group that primarily covers business news, my colleagues and I were redeployed to do, well, business reporting.
And boy, we are so used to chaos that this orderly working environment feels kinda strange.
Here’s a collection of experiences and insecurities exchanged among the old pack over a cuppa.
Sit anywhere vs. Sit on a chair
The term “General News” is self-explanatory. You cover EVERYTHING aside from topics that has its own dedicated desk like business, lifestyle and sports.
June 2011, Hong Kong
Assignment location ranges from police station, the morgue, on a boat, outside someone’s house, outside a closed door meeting, parliament, construction site, protest crowd…What people don’t normally see, is that the drama takes hours to break and chairs aren’t guaranteed.
If the potted plant nearby is big enough to rest your butt, you rest. Clean cement floor is pretty good too, and if there’s a functional plug point, yay!
As for business news, there’s really no surprises- Hotel ballroom, office towers, restaurants. READ: sheltered, air-conditioned and toilet equipped.
Heck, even my car is almost always parked in an actual parking lot. Claims for parking fee is enormous but beats paying summons out of my own pocket.
Aug 2014, Kuala Lumpur
2 months into the job, I have yet sat on anywhere but a chair.
I’ll wear a blazer, but can I keep the ripped jeans?
Before I continue, let me side track a bit.
I tried to google for photo references of a typical journalist outfit and stumbled upon this hilarious dress-up game called “Capable Journalist Dress Up” :
Dayum, gotta have those leather pants and rubber boots.
Anyway, T-shirts, polo, jeans, flats, sneakers, sandals, backpack are staples for working at the general news desk. Preferably machine washable, (ain’t nobody got time for handwash!), allows you to sit/run anywhere, for how ever long a time you need to.
Now, its all slacks, button-up shirts, pencil skirts. And a valid reason to buy high heels.
But when feel like a rebel, I’d still walk into a hotel press conference in my ripped jeans. On Monday morning.
Can’t believe there’s a category to dress like journalist, but none of our style made it onto Pinterest, lol.
#howmanyzerosagain?
When a group of journalist goes out for meals, everyone hopes that someone will volunteer to calculate how much each should pay.
And if you’re the only Chinese at the table, it means you.
No big deal if its not that accurate, just a few bucks here and there.But stakes are too high if you screw up the numbers at the business desk, which makes counting the zeros even more stressful.
I remember once a company wrote “RM0.048 billion” in their press statement. I spent the longest time drawing rows of zeros, shifting the decimal point back and forth, trying to figure out how much that is. I was too embarrassed to ask anyone.
P.S. I hate you
Business Lingo : “Moving forward”
I have never heard so many sentences starting or ending with the term “moving forward” or “going forward” in a day.
It’s free, it’s posh, it’s not diabetic
This is something I can’t complain about.
Back then meal times were irregular. I keep biscuits in the car to munch while driving between assignments or back to office. If you bring brownies to feed the press in parliament, you’d be very popular.
If event organizer is kind enough to feed us, chances are they put pounds of sugar in everything. Because that’s generally how Malay cuisine are. Tea can get so sweet it numbs your scalp.
But I’m still grateful that they serve rice, because it lets me stay full for a long time in case the next real meal doesn’t happen. Crackers in front of the PC doesn’t count.
Meanwhile in business reporting, hotel buffet is pretty standard. I learned to toned down on the rice, and attack the desserts instead.
Also, I’m not as angry anymore. ☺
When everyone’s off, you’re off too!
News doesn’t stop just because it’s a weekend or a public holiday. Someone’s got to work. But business news generally stops when the stock market closes after 5 p.m. on working days.
Suddenly having more non-work time in hand is strange at first. Best part is, now the day offs are really leisure time and not wrapped up in a blanket burrito, catching up on sleep.
Though the working conditions are more stable, more comfortable. There is something that the business desk can’t give.
It’s the thrill of unpredictability. The adrenaline rush when a story is breaking. The passionate people/ nutcase you meet in each drama. Experiencing the moment that’ll make history. That deep breath you take after a long day of protest coverage.
In a way, you feel closer to the people. I wouldn’t understand how it’s like to lose millions in profit, but I can relate to the devastation of having their home destroyed.
Business new isn’t boring, just that the interesting bits behind the zeros takes a while to discover.
