I mainly write about social issues, development, technology and finance, but anything that grabs my attention can turn into an article. Usually, I am drawn to situations that illustrate where the world is heading or how our perception of the world is changing.
When I was little I used to spend hours in my father’s study reading his many history books. Some days I would read biographies of politicians, but most days I wandered into the world of extinct civilizations. Like all kids, I couldn’t get enough of how other people used to live. I still believe most of us have that curiosity to some extent, and I like to stoke that curiosity with my writing.
The need for illustrating and explaining the world has never been greater in my opinion. We live in a ‘globalised world’ meaning we receive plenty of information about and from others across the globe. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean we understand each other more clearly. Especially because of differences in cultural norms clouding communication across borders. Here lies a role for journalists; turning information overload into meaning and understanding.
That is why I founded Global Ground Media, an online publication covering underreported stories from Asia. Join us on that journey at www.globalgroundmedia.com.
Maybe it’s my generation, Millennial, but I always try to include what went wrong and how it can be fixed. And I follow-up on the story after a certain time has passed. This allows me to create a more complete picture instead of offering only a snapshot of a certain situation.
Sometimes there’s a lot of data available and the difficulty is seeing the pattern or deviation. Other times there is barely any data, or the reliability is questionable. In either case, I investigate the data and the used research methods in my reporting.
Multimedia, visual storytelling, virtual reality… these words make my heard jump. Only 26 years after the World Wide Web was opened to the public, there are so many new ways to bring content to an audience. I enjoy experimenting with different tools and figuring out what works best across topics and audiences.
Also called New Journalism, but that term has been around for a while. Whenever possible, and feasible, I try to do participatory research. Meaning I live the life of the people I write about as I was trained to do as anthropologist.
Combining forces with photographers, videographers or fellow journalists is very fulfilling and leads to high quality features. I regularly work with local or foreign freelancers across expertises and industries to create extraordinary content.
