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Eyes and Ears of the Public

Growing up in Burma under military dictatorship, we had little access to any

forms of media communications. There were only two public TV channels, one radio

station available for the whole country. Only a small percentage of the population has

the privilege to buy Satellite channels. Not only TV news is controlled by the

government, but all the print media are also limited in what they can write. Even in these

situations, I valued all the useful information I could get from reading, watching and

listening media because I benefit so much from it to this day. I used to overhear my

grandpas listening to Voice of America Burmese radio program when I was little. So, it

felt surreal when I received internship acceptance email from VOA. VOA News being

the news program that I listened to regularly in Myanmar, it was my first choice for

internship as I feel more familiar with the organization and its programs. At the same

time, interning at VOA means renting a room in Rockville (Maryland) area, waking up at

3 AM everyday and working 40 hours a week. But, I knew that I will learn so much skills

from interning here and I did.

When I came to the United States, I saw what a privilege people have for being

able to access news and information 24/7 through different media outlets. People are

more educated, and not afraid to speak up when information about health, politics and

social events are easily accessible to them. To serve the public with useful information

and facts, people in media broadcasting field must have excellent communication skills.

Even a poor word choice can be misinterpreted and misinform the public. News media

professionals are people's eyes and ears, so they have a tremendous responsibility to
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deliver reliable news. From my Internship at Voice Of America Burmese Service, I

learned that one must be able to work under pressure, have excellent communication

skills, and be willing to keep learning everyday to be successful in media broadcasting

field.

With constant deadlines to meet daily, finishing work promptly can be too much

pressure for some people. At VOA Burmese Program, we all had to work together and

finish all the necessary works before the live show air at 8:30 AM. The writers must

finish writing the scripts early so that the video editors can start editing. Then, the

producer must fill out the rundown with all the finished clips and scripts so that the

director can prepare for the show. I noticed that it is a lot of pressure for the producer for

the show to run smoothly. They have to be quick to make decisions and detailed

oriented. For example, I watched the producers quickly add new video clip when the

show was 30 seconds undershoot. At other time, the producers resolve the mistakes

that technical director makes such as displaying the wrong tags. In these situations, the

producers calmly carried the work as it needs to be done.

I also felt tremendous pressure when I went out in the field, shot the event and

prepared a news package about World Refugee Day. Speaking in front of the camera

was nerve wrecking, and also, I had to not only shoot but paid close attention to what

was said during the event. I got back to VOA office and started editing the videos. The

hardest part about this project was that I had to write the script in Burmese. I felt

pressure to finish by the end of the day because this piece will be aired on the next

morning show. I wrote as much as I can but only able to finish with the help of editor in

the morning. Again, the editor Mr. Thein Htike Oo did a great job of handling the
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situation and asked me about the event while helping me write it. Forgetting all my

research papers and flyers from the event at home was my biggest disappointment

during this internship. This makes writing the script much more difficult even with the

help of editor. I learned that writing down the information as much as you can during the

event will help a lot later when you get back to work to write the story. This project was

also the work that I am proudest of because I finally was able to produce a news

package that I work on from beginning to end with some guides from my coworkers.

When my feature was aired the next morning, my friends and family saw me reporting,

and they were also very proud of me. I also learned that having multiple skills related to

media production will make your job a lot less stressful and help you finish on time.

Today, the news agencies are mostly looking for multimedia journalists who

know how to edit, shoot and write news stories. Moreover, one must be willing to learn

ever changing technical software updates and social media knowledge. Almost

everybody here at VOA Burmese program knows how to write news, produce TV and

Radio shows, be an anchor, edit videos, manage the website and much more. Even the

anchor has to write a few stories every morning, do her own makeup and still go on air

with no mistakes if possible. I felt lucky interning here because I was able to learn all

these different skills every day. Right from the start, I know that I will not learn anything

if I do not ask questions constantly and look for works to do. People are busy with their

daily tasks, and it is my responsibility to show my willingness to learn by being

assertive, helpful and asking different questions. After the morning show aired, the work

environment is more relaxed, and I was free to choose whatever it is that I want to learn

that day. I had at least five people who regularly taught me different things throughout
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the internship. Being friendly and polite also helps because the trainers will want to

teach you and help you more. During my time here, I learned many valuable skills such

as producing TV show, writing script, editing, managing web and social media, and the

ins and outs of news media management by watching my supervisor, Mr. Than Lwin

Htun who is chief of Burmese Language department. He is well respected yet he knows

how to make the work environment enjoyable and encourage workers to work together

as a family. Moreover, I observed how the experienced journalists gather news

information and facts for hours by calling different people on the phone and asking

important questions.

After interning here, I have a better understanding of working in groups in my

communication classes at Salisbury University because people in news station have to

always communicate with each other to get the job done. One persons mistake is

everybody's mistake because it affects the entire organization's reputation. I am

surprised to see how working in the news business is more about working together to

produce the best work possible rather than doing your best on your own. Since the job

can be stressful and demanding long hours, its important to have fun while doing it.

Employees here do not bring their work home or talk about it outside of work. I know

this because I usually carpooled with two to three coworkers every day. Also, it is easy

to lose passion and focus when doing similar routines every day. Employees here do

not go out enough to do field reporting here. It helps to gain back motivation by reading

viewers' comments through social media. One viewer wrote on Facebook that VOA

news is their only window to what's going on in the outside world. Comments like these

reminded why I choose to pursue this career field even though I knew that it would be
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more challenging for non-native English speaker like me. Early on, I understand the

power of media and how it can bring change to people's lives, countries, businesses

and much more. With the fast growing digital media, regular people can now create

contents and spread their message across social media within a few seconds. However,

viewers are smarter nowadays and more selective on what they choose to watch and

listen. A person with excellent communication skills will continue to attract more

audiences, and he/she has a better chance at being successful in this career field.

Having excellent communication means ability to speak, write clearly in a way

that the majority of the audience can understand. At school, we learned about using

action words in news writing to grab audience attention. If the viewers are even slightly

confused about what the anchor is reporting, they are less like to stay tuned into the

program. Here at VOA, I sometime noticed that the word choices by the news anchor

sounded off and hard to understand. This usually happened when the news writers are

in a hurry writing, or there is not enough time for the editors to double check. Moreover,

I learned that people would likely pay more attention if the anchor has conversational

tone and ability to connect with the viewers. The audience knows if the reporter has

passion in what he or she is reporting and they can tell if the anchor is only reading the

news just to be done. Beside speaking clearly, news writers must be able to write the

news accurately by carefully choosing word choices and sentence structures.

For example, one journalist here at the office wrote about the disappearance of

military plane in Myanmar and stated that the passengers were the countrys leading

Generals and their family. By using the word Generals, the new is incorrect because

the passengers were regular officers. Even the Myanmar Ministry of Defense could
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have contacted VOA for the misinformation if the article was not revised. From this

incident, I learned that going up to supervisor and asking for help is best if you are

unsure about certain tasks. Trying to figure out on your own will only lead to making

more mistakes and wasting valuable time. Good communication also means ability to

carry conversation and listening to what the other person is saying. VOA often invites

special guests to interview, and I saw how the interviewer carefully listens and lets the

interviewee talk most of the time. As expected, researching the topic and guest

beforehand will help in asking important questions. Good communication habits such as

making eye contact, replying emails in short period, and making phone calls and even

sending texts professionally can lead to building good relationships, which may open

window to great opportunities in the future. I noticed that the employees here always let

each other know once they finish certain tasks so that they can move forward to the

next project. Even little things like replying others email that you received it can be

helpful in creating a harmonious workplace. While I was at VOA, I tried to talk to the

employees from other departments as much as I can. I met former intern turned VOA

studio technician, audio engineer, director and show producers, etc. They all seemed to

enjoy what they do.

For me, one of the reasons for choosing a career in media production is that you

can work your way up to becoming news producer/ director even if you first started out

from an entry level position. I also love that we are always learning and improving

necessary skills in this profession as I am a person who loves to learn new things. More

importantly, it is a profession that allows you to serve mass audience daily. Even though

there are less public trust on news media nowadays, one cannot argue the many
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positive changes it brought throughout history. For example, the TV coverage of

Vietnam War caused most Americans to oppose the war and exposed the government's

false information about the war. At the same time, mass media may influence people in

a negative way time to time. My hope is that I will be able to work on projects that are

educational and beneficial for the viewers throughout my career. Since VOA is a

government-run news agency, we did not have to worry about sponsorships and

advertisements. This gives the employees freedom in reporting whatever news they

choose to air. While working at VOA, we covered Myanmar news about reporters and

news editors getting arrested. Even under the new democratic government, reporters in

Myanmar are still limited in what they can and cannot do. I believe that my passion for

media profession originated from my eagerness to speak out against the unjust, give a

voice to the underrepresented minorities, and bring a positive change within

communities. Being able to work in this industry is an enormous privilege with

tremendous responsibilities. We owe it to the viewers to provide them with facts and

avoid misleading information as much as possible. I am more secure in making a

decision to pursue a career in media production because I now have a bit more

knowledge of what media companies look for in prospective employees. That rewarding

feeling I felt after finishing video projects also ensures me that this is the job I am

supposed to be doing.

Working in this industry also allows us to expose or touch on topics that are

rarely discussed in normal daily conversations. I came from a cultural background

where certain topics like gender issues, equal rights, and mental health are not

discussed as much as they need to be. Working here at VOA is so much more fulfilling
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when I think about how all this useful information is watched or listened to by thousands

of people across Myanmar and all over the world. Hopefully, we can broaden their

minds and help them in becoming a better human being. My perception of the news

business also changes after working here at VOA. Like many other millennial, I mainly

get my news from the internet and digital media and thought that these news stations do

not cover useful information enough. However, I learned that people in this industry

work so hard to deliver reliable news and information every day. I regret not watching

and listening VOA news enough because I realized how much more informed and

educated I would be about Myanmar and world news if I had given a few minutes a day

to tune in all these years.

I understand that I still need to learn so much more to become a successful TV

producer some day. The skills that I gained from this internship will forever be with me,

and I am truly grateful to all my coworkers. For media production in particular, not only

having excellent communication skills is important, but one also needs to be a quick

learner when it comes to technical skills. A media professional is a person who has

attained multiple skills throughout the career, and one should be proud to have this

profession. Even though the job is demanding and challenging sometimes, I know that I

will be okay if I stay humble and keep on learning from others. A profession that does

not serve others is less likely to be a rewarding profession, and I am glad that I will be

able to help thousands of people by being in this career field. My lifelong goal is to be a

well-articulated person, and this job will only help me to become one since I will be

dealing with words and communication techniques every day. So much of the world

problems can be solved if we all try to become a better communicator.