Yes!!!! My pilot is down for the interview.

I'll be heading to his home for the interview with my colleague. So happy to have her with me, so that I know I have someone for guidance! I love her, she's so funnyyyyy

Argh, terribly excited for the episode.


At the same time, in the process of pursuing interviewees... I realise what a tight position journalists often find themselves in, especially when dealing with touchy or emotionally sensitive issues.

On one hand, you really need to get an interviewee to speak about their story, otherwise you've nothing to work with. And you need to make it appealing to your audiences. A juicy story always makes for good TV. On the other hand, you want to be sensitive to your interviewees. Instead of being a kaypo and eating up their privacy. Thus, I think a journalist needs to know when to draw the line between doing their job and being human.


For this episode, I was tasked to contact relatives of the passengers on board MH370.

Today, I managed to find a family friend of a passenger. She was initially very hostile towards me, questioning me where I got her number from. And when I asked if she would grant me an interview, she immediately turned me down, saying she didn't want to talk on TV.

But after talking with her for a bit, she started to calm down. The lady began telling me stories about how she got acquainted to the victim and his family who were all on board the plane.

As she spoke, she sounded wistful of the good times when she first met them, laughing and speaking about how she and their family got along so well. She didn't know them as well as her husband, but she liked them a lot.

I could sense the happiness and fondness of those people to her when she talked to me.

And as our conversation carried on, she began to tear and cry...

I felt helpless. Even I wanted to cry as she related her story to me through the phone. I felt my windpipe clench as she told me about how she and her husband had been watching the news day in day out, hoping for something good to come by. She felt helpless for them. And felt it so strange that she knew these people. She was supposed to meet the family on one of the days before the airplane incident but the meeting fell through and she didn't get to meet them.

That was when she realised the gravity of the issue. Felt awful that she didn't get to meet them one last time before their eventual departure. I listened to every word she said, and felt every emotion.

Sometimes, I wonder how journalists get by, handling stories like these.

I felt like a friend to her even though I was only a stranger. That's when I get amazed by the human connection to empathise. Sometimes, it's not about the job. I do want to get that interview, yet I want to be human and understand that it's not easy for them to even be speaking to me.

So I get into a dilemma as to whether I should pursue the interview or let it go. For the wider audience, their stories need to be heard. At the same time, I'm thinking, am I encroaching onto their privacy? A person's passing is depressing... and families need time for grieving. But for a journalist, time is of the essence, and time is money. With the news still fresh, it is necessary to catch wind of these stories before they turn old.

All these goes on behind the scenes. One of the lessons I learn on internship.




All right it's 12am, time for bed.

I feel like I'm ready, yet I'm not exactly ready for the interview tomorrow haha. I have a few questions in my head but I feel like they're not substantial enough for the interview. I will head to work 3 hours early just to get my questions down and hammered. I realise I come up with better questions when I'm rushing myself to think haha. Besides, I left my iPhone wire back in the office on my table lol. So yeah, I can't even charge it.