How working in a newsroom has impacted me

A lot happened in the past week. And depending on who you ask, the tabling of Budget 2016 in Parliament is right there on top.

But the odd thing is (though unsurprising), I found my social media feed was dominated by chatter about everything except the national budget.

Perhaps Malaysians are already jaded and have learned to manage our expectations. My social circle, with the exception of colleagues directly involved in covering the Budget, showed minimal interest to what our Prime Minister had to say.

I did see a spike in social media chatter on my newsfeed about the new Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and for obvious reason — we don’t normally come across a photogenic politician.

But of course, the Liberal Party of Canada didn’t win the election just because they have a good looking party leader. Canadian voters were determined to bring about change.

The Liberal Party won 184 out of 338 seats in the House of Commons and drove the Stephen Harper-led Conservative Party out, after nearly a decade in power.

Now, I must admit that I am no expert when it comes to world affairs. But working in a news organisation like Astro AWANI over the past five years has definitely rubbed off on me.

I now read whenever I can, wherever possible. As is the case with my peers and fellow comrades from the industry, consuming news has become second nature, a prerequisite to stay relevant in the fast moving age of digital information.

Many if not most of us in the newsroom are social media power users. And without even realizing, I’ve formed the habit of curating and sharing news that I believe would be of value to my friends.

Habits I’ve developed at work have also slowly made their way into influencing my dating preference!

While I cannot expect every person I meet to be plugged-in to the state of current affairs, I now place a significant amount of value on a man who is well read.

Acquisition of knowledge has never been easier in this day and age, so imagine how taken aback I was when I found myself explaining who Vladimir Putin is to an acquaintance, who could not recognise the Russian President by name or by face.

While our job does not define who we are, I do believe that the exposure I’ve gained from working in a newsroom has somewhat played a part in moulding me into who I am today.