Retelling stories: Suzanne Jung, former CNA presenter, gave tips on writing for broadcast and print during the All In! Young Writers Festival 2016. (PHOTO: Amelia Wong)

Former Channel NewsAsia presenter Suzanne Jung was in the middle of a holiday in London in 2011 when she received a call. The caller gave her a chance to interview Mr Ban Ki-moon, after he was elected United Nations Secretary-General for a second term.

 

Immediately, Ms Jung hired her husband as her producer and the pair flew to New York where they were told they would be given access to Mr Ban for 24 hours. A brief on-camera interview then became a 30-minute long documentary, which led to “many sleepless nights” fretting about the assignment.

 

Recalling this anecdote at the All In! Young Writers Festival 2016, Ms Jung told a room packed with 100 budding journalists and writers to “expect the unexpected” if they aspire to work in the media.

 

Journalism featured in several sessions at the All In! Young Writers Festival held on March 12 and 13 at the National Library Building. Organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore, the annual event gives young writers the opportunity to listen and talk to people the relevant industry, focusing on the different platforms and genres of writing through workshops and fringe events. This year’s event witnessed the largest number of participants in the festival’s eight-year history.

 

Besides Ms Jung, foreign news correspondent Atia Abawi also drew in large crowds during her hour-long talk, titled Wartime Cities: Writing Dangerous Truths. Ms Abawai, who was stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan for five years, said she wanted to be a journalist, despite the challenges involved. “I wanted to see it (history unfolding) with my own eyes” she said.

 

Besides sharing their experiences, speakers also offered tips for those who aspire to be journalists. Mr Alvin Chong, a movie reviewer, said aspiring reviewers should watch as many movies, read widely and keep an open mind about the films they intend to review.  

 

Ms Jung, meanwhile, suggested students could start a campus newspaper if they didn’t have one. She recalled her classmates started a newspaper because they “were so bored”. “Be bold, be brave and try your hand at everything.  Be passionate about what you are doing,” Ms Jung said.

 

This year’s event is also the first time All In! has explored in-depth the use of social media integration and content management. In particular, a group of Republic Polytechnic Mass Communication students ‘live’ tweeted some sessions so that the discussions could be further explored in cyber space.  Carlo Pena, 37, Festival Manager, said: “We figured that it is a youth festival, why don’t we get the youth to be more involved in this year’s festival?”