Journalism the Wong way
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January 16, 2010 11:49 AM
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Jan Wong breaks all the rules.
I'm not just talking about the rules of proper journalism — if there is such a thing — although she does that, too, represented by the shared motto she gave to the Nash attendees on Friday evening: "How far do you go to get a story? As far as it takes."
I'm also referring to the rules of etiquette and boundaries. The sensitivity training we were forced to listen to on Thursday would probably self-immolate at some of Wong's stories and anecdotes — and she makes no excuse of it. Wong is a diminutive Canadian-born ethnic Chinese woman, and she's used every trick in the book to get ahead.
She revelled in recounting how her ethnicity got her fast-tracked into visiting China in 1972. Is that racism?
She delighted in noting how her higher level of education made her invaluable in landing a reporting job there. Is that classism?
She even insisted on taking equal questions from boys and girls at the end of the address, thus neatly dividing the audience along gender lines. Sexism?
Could it be Wong is guilty of these horrific crimes?
Quite frankly, it doesn't matter. Because pretty much the only thing that any Nash attendee seemed to walk out of the speech thinking was that Jan Wong is a damn good reporter. And she's got 30 years of experience and four published books to prove it.
"Do stuff you don't know anything about and you don't like," Wong urged the audience. "Because it's good for you."
She proceeded to deliver a series of moving and funny personal anecdotes that illustrated her 10 Commandments of Journalism — such helpful tidbits as: "Consciously write for page one;" "Always ask at least one stupid question." And my personal favourite: "Try not to break the law — and be careful when you do."
Wong's well-structured speech, peppered with off-the-cuff remarks and jokes — "Who cares if Harper doesn't like you? It's a badge of honour between us!" — had the audience eating out of her hand from the first instant she stepped on stage and complained the podium was too high and no one could see her.
"I got all dressed up — what's the point?" she mused.
The eventual standing ovation and immediate sell-out of her available-for-purchase books are probably excellent examples of how the Nash kids took her suggestions. But perhaps the best example that her lessons sunk in came in question period, when her final query was: "What's your favourite crayon colour?" It’s purple, by the way.
One stupid question indeed. Now that's the Wong way to conduct an interview.