Day 2: It Pays To Be Punctual

Arriving late has been a constant issue for me ever since I graduated elementary. It must be my way of acting out for my lack of motivation to go to school. There were many times my parents were asked to meet my teachers because of my punctuality problem. 

When I entered college, all the trouble that came with arriving late seemed to disappear. My professors couldn’t care less. I’d come in an hour late for weeks and I wouldn’t hear one word about it from anybody.

But those were the good days. Last Thursday, I learned that my job as a journalist wouldn’t stand for it.

My trainer Gigi asked me to go to work at 11 o’clock, a couple of hours ahead of her and before anything newsworthy is likely to happen. She assigned me to cover the “Run-After-The-Smugglers” (RATS) press conference of the Bureau of Customs. She told me to follow the cameramen because they would be covering, too.

I arrived about 11:10 AM and the news crews have already set up their satellite dishes outside the National Bureau of Investigation which was just a couple of blocks from our office. I thought “Sheist! I might be running too late!”

I speed-walked to the press office and found that the cameramen have already left. I asked around for directions to the press conference and some guy from TV5 said that it was taking place right behind our building, so I stepped out of the office and circled the entire area our building is situated. I passed U.P. Manila, the Supreme Court, the NBI, the Court of Appeals, a train station, a very large private office, another U.P. Manila building, and there was still no sign of the press conference.

I headed back to the office for more specific directions when I came across a really friendly co-worker. He said that the press conference was taking place BEHIND OUR OFFICE—barely 20 steps away! I thanked him and skedaddled to the event where I saw Ruffy Biazon and other Bureau of Customs officials answering questions. There were a lot of cameras and I had no business with Mr. Biazon so I just asked for a press release and I was quickly handed one.

Phew. All that legwork had a point somehow.

I made my way back to the office and re-wrote the press release. I subtracted the usual political-sugar-coating and broke it down to less than 300 words. It’s nothing significant anyway—if a government body organizes a press conference, its only purpose is to improve its image—proving true the adage “Nothing worth having is easily obtained.”

I finished up before Gigi arrived and she cut fewer words from my work than she did in my first (which in my opinion is a total wreck.) Hm. I might be taking baby steps but I am improving.

She gave me another story to write but that time she told me I was free to feature-ize. I made a few grammatical errors but they were considerably fewer than my previous work. After submitting it to the Malaya network, Gigi said we could call it a day. It was 5:30 after all.

That day's lesson was it pays to be punctual. I never realized how time-sensitive journalism is until that day. I'm gonna have to find a fix for my punctuality glitch soon. In this profession, missing out is not an option.