On the 3rd week of May 2018, three journalists came to 5B in Pfalzburgerstrasse 23 because we were learning how to write newspaper articles. They were Ms. Janelle Dumalaon from Deutsche Welle, Ms. Carolyn Malasig who writes online articles for Rappler and Forbes Company, and Mr. Derek Scally, a writer for The Irish Times. They talked about their jobs and gave us tips on how to be good writers and reporters. They also showed us some articles and videos of the work that they do. It was a very interesting week for us.
Ms. Dumalaon works as the Business and Technology reporter for Deutsche Welle. Although based in Berlin, she is often sent to Frankfurt to report on the German Stock Exchange. The biggest news she had worked on so far is the Volkswagen diesel problem. She told us to imagine a lemon to keep our mouth from getting dry when speaking in front of a big audience and to stand with feet apart to stop from moving unnecessarily. We also liked the video she showed us of a robot serving her coffee when she did a report on the Technology Fair in Hannover.
The next journalist to visit us was Ms. Malasig. She works as a freelance reporter and blogs/vlogs on her spare time. She made us realise that a good video report doesn’t always need a professional camera or a cameraman! She once reported about Croatia with just the use of her Iphone. A memorable tip she gave us was to insert a coin in our shoe and step on it when we feel nervous if we’re reporting. We like how Ms. Malasig works when she wants to and how she can reach the most number of people through her online channels.
Lastly, we had Mr. Scally talk to us about what good news consists of: it must be interesting, unexpected and it affects a lot of people. He also said that the most important trait of a good reporter is to LISTEN. He mostly writes about political news in Germany and Ireland. We enjoyed listening to his anecdotes about Angela Merkel and we share his sentiment about fair and honest reporting.
We thought it was very good to be able to ask questions to these journalists. Many of us have started using the tips they gave us especially when we report in class. It was a great opportunity to learn from the experts. Now we can use what we learned in writing our own articles. We rate this week 5 out of 5 stars and we hope to have the opportunity to meet them again in the future.
Louisa, Kila, Freya, Mateo and Luis