Narrative Journalism

We learned about this new thing called 'narrative journalism' during my citizen journalism internship with Malaysiakini, which basically defies the usual newspaper norm of facts arranged in an inverted pyramid style.

Instead of starting with the 5W's (who, what, where, when, why) and 1H (how) as we are taught in journalism school, this style requires that we use facts creatively, in a narrative format to tell a human story, not just state the bare facts. It was quite interesting actually, quite a departure from how I was trained to write news. Check out this sample of what we did in class; I interviewed several Indonesians in front of the Indonesian embassy and in University Malaya about how they were being treated in Malaysia since the Manohara scandal, Ambalat and maid abuse controversies:

We Are Happy Here

Cigarette in hand, he came suddenly into the frame.

"This is a private matter; something the Kelantan royalty has to deal with," said Faizal, a 52-year-old trader of Manohara Odelia Pinot. "It is not our problem."

His friend, Erwin, was being interviewed in front of the Indonesian embassy when Faizal decided he had something to say.

"Such a matter should not affect relations between Indonesia and Malaysia," he mused.

Indonesian model and celebrity Manohara had come under public scrutiny when she fled from her husband, the Prince of Kelantan, while they were visiting Singapore. Now back in Indonesia, she and her mother have accused the Prince of torture and human rights violations.

Under the sweltering heat outside the embassy, Faizal looked old and worn, his beard betraying his age.

"But we are happy here," he insists.

When the news broke of Manohara's return to her native Indonesia, Rudi was there also.

"There were many headlines; we have as many as 11 television stations in Indonesia so you can imagine the kind of coverage it received. There was coverage everyday."

When asked for his personal opinion, he shrugged slightly. "This is a complicated issue, but not one of national concern."

Rudi, Fai and Khalil were all chemical engineering students at Universiti Malaya. Rudi was taking his PhD while Fai and Khalil were doing their Masters.

Fai took to the camera next. "The media in Indonesia is relatively uncontrolled, unlike in Malaysia, hence there was widespread coverage. It certainly was 'hotter' news there."

Despite that, the men claim, there has not been any hostility towards Indonesians living in Malaysia.

Khalil is especially certain. "Everyone in Malaysia has been good."