By Peh Zhi Ning (25A01B), Isaac Tay (25S06L), and Valerie Ng (25S06N)
The Heart of the Story
It was a Saturday morning, yet it felt like a Tuesday. Crawling out of bed at 6 am to travel to school gave us the impression that it would be a typical school day. But we weren’t going to school for tutorial lessons. We were instead about to attend Raffles Press’ annual event–Pressing Ahead.
In 2024, Pressing Ahead marks its 8th year. For us Year 5s who joined the CCA just a few months ago, however, this would mark the first-ever event we would attend as part of the CCA.
Life is not meant to be lived alone, and Pressing Ahead is not to be participated on our own. This year, we joined Catholic Junior College, Dunman High School, Eunoia Junior College, Hwa Chong Institution, National Junior College, NUS High, Raffles Girls’ School, Raffles Institution (Y1-4), River Valley High School and Victoria Junior College.
Having gone through the whole experience, from sharing by guest speakers to breakout room activities, this is our brutally honest review of “Pressing Ahead: Heart of the Story– Making Journalism Relatable”.
Panel Discussions
Starting the day with a bang, we had esteemed guest panellists Ms Grace Yeoh, a senior journalist with CNA, and Ms Eudea Tan, a video producer at RICE Media give their keynote speeches. Ms Grace Yeoh shared her story behind getting into journalism, musing about how a career in journalism really “ticked all the boxes for [her]” – the creative freedom, promised adventure that comes with the job, even the mundane aspects of being a journalist, all of this really reeled her in. In line with the theme of this year’s Pressing Ahead — Heart of the Story: Making Journalism Relatable — she shared her experiences writing articles such as her human feature of our Chief of Army, as well as her interactive article that aimed to educate readers about dyslexia. She used these articles to explain to us how to make a story relevant to readers’ lives – how to make them care about what they’re reading.
The insightful keynote addresses given by Ms Grace Yeoh and Ms Eudea Tan were followed by a Q&A segment.
During this Q&A segment, they answered questions including “How do you make everyday news less boring?”, “Where do you draw the line when trying to get an interview from someone in sensitive situations?”, and many more, giving each question much thought and in turn, in-depth responses that did these questions more than justice.
The question of “How much is too much?” when trying to get an interview from someone in a sensitive situation was especially intriguing to me. Reporters and journalists alike have always been told that we need to have “thick skin”, and that we need to get out there and do it for the story. However, as with all things, there is a limit to how much one can take. Though there is no one right answer, they recommended we monitor each situation individually and decide based on the potential interviewee: for example, the recent tragic news story of the traffic accident involving the 17-year-old schoolgirl from Temasek Junior College helped to make the lines clearer and make the grey area a little less grey.
Ms Grace Yeoh and Ms Eudea Tan also shared their experiences with creative burnout, a concept that is no stranger (in fact, we know it all too well – trying to get started on “The Chemistry of Chemistry” made me question if I really liked Chemistry) to any content creator. The flow of news in our highly dynamic society that seems to be never-ending, happening so quickly it makes our heads spin, coupled with modern-day technological advancements that make it possible to work anytime and anywhere, are the main factors contributing to creative burnout.
But that’s not to say the ever-present culprits of creative burnout make it impossible to conquer. They shared strategies such as taking the “phones-down” approach – simply forcing oneself to take a break, or setting healthy boundaries to separate one’s work and personal life (though easier said than done).
All in all, this panel discussion was not only insightful but also relatable to all the student journalists who came down to attend the event, making the two hours in the Lecture Theatre more than worthwhile.
Verdict: 9.5/10
(The 0.5 is because it’s a wonder we hadn’t been frozen to icicles by the time the two hours were up)
CNA Breakout Groups
After the panel discussions, the student journalists were brought to the RDS Lite to discuss the usage of social media in journalism. Ms Grace Yeoh taught us about the importance of social media in the 21st century and how to ‘hook’ readers into reading your articles. (The key to making readers share and repost an article is if the article reflects the values and beliefs the reader holds.) After all, as our parents might say, people these days are always glued to their phones! In fact, Singaporeans spend an average of 2.5 hours on social media every day, making social media a rising force in journalism.
For example, we rewatched the Raffles Press’ Instagram interview with our new principal, Mr Loh. It was an example of how we further utilise social media to encourage viewers to watch the full interview on our website. Ms Tan then gave her valuable comments, such as how the videos should be done in portrait and how more b-rolls can be added to maximise audience engagement.
The groups were then tasked with applying her advice to create social media promotional content for an article chosen from each of the schools’ newspapers. The student journalists channelled their inner influencers to create Instagram stories, posts and Tiktok videos, all of which were presented to the other groups for feedback and improvements. A lot of interesting content was created, promoting articles about Orientation couples and BeReal.
The creativity of the student journalists was not to be scoffed at, with a Tiktok video featuring BeReal ‘cultists’ and Instagram posts interviewing Orientation couples receiving a great deal of interest from the others. Certainly, the group work provided us with practice regarding the usage of social media to promote our articles. After all, if we would be interested in the article after using a ‘What Type of School Couple Are You?” filter on Instagram, wouldn’t the rest of the school?
Finally, once the sharings were over, Ms Yeoh provided the student journalists with feedback regarding their ideas and gave us some tips, including not using landscape mode for Instagram reels or Tiktok videos, and using more B-rolls for greater audience engagement.
The breakout groups really allowed us to receive more in-depth knowledge, and hear from a professional about the benefits of social media. Not only was it educational, we also got to know more of our fellow student journalists from other schools, opening the avenues of potential collaboration between our schools.
Verdict: 10/10
Interesting and fruitful, along with great company!
RICE Media Breakout Groups
On the other side of the RDS Lite, student journalists partook in a video-pitching exercise led by Ms Eudea Tan. She provided us with a comprehensive guide and framework for video pitches, consisting of (in order) the title, hook and synopsis, format, and visual treatment – everything one would have to consider in order to make a video great.
Groups came up with creative topics such as “situationships” and parasocial relationships (there appears to be a general trend) among Singaporeans today. We brainstormed ideas to make their videos stand out, yet remain closely aligned with the general public’s lives and interests (The theme for this year’s Pressing Ahead was “Heart of the Story: Making Journalism Relatable”).
After the brainstorming phase and the groups had presented their ideas to everyone, Ms Eudea Tan gave us some feedback regarding certain considerations we should take when pitching video ideas: What makes your topic relevant to the public? Why would they want to watch it, and if they wouldn’t, how do you compel them to – earlier this morning, the speakers had also said that readers (and in this case, watchers) don’t owe us anything; whatever we produce has to be compelling enough to make them read on) – keep watching? What format would be valuable to the video? Roundtable discussions or individual interviews? The list goes on.
Her feedback helped the groups refine their video pitches, stepping into the shoes of the target audience to ensure the videos would be of interest to the general public.
Verdict: 10/10
Personal, comprehensive, and allowed space for collaboration between student journalists from all over Singapore.
Lunch Break
“Laughter is brightest where food is best, and the company is nearest.”
Lunch was part of the agenda, so we’re going to review it too!
After the panel discussions and breakout sessions, we needed extra energy for the rest of the programme. The Y6 Exco (and Mr Wong) came to our rescue and presented us each with a bento meal.
The bento meal was a generous serving of rice with chicken, veggies, spring rolls and a steamed egg. Compliments to the chef, this was one of the best bento meals we’ve had, especially the rice which was cooked just nice (not sticky, neither wet, just perfection).
The food was good, but what made it better was the company we had during the lunch break! All of us managed to bond with new friends from respective press and publications CCAs of different schools.
The conversations we had were insightful, ranging from our individual CCA experiences and school life to past articles we had published. Some groups also had the opportunity to give our new friends an exclusive tour of the campus!
Verdict: 10/10
With good food and good company, what’s there not to be enjoyed?
Group Interactive Activity
With all of the previous sessions being rather structured, the group interactive activity was a welcomed change in pace. The student journalists unleashed their creativity in producing a video about school culture, and in reflecting upon the day’s activities. Throughout the activity, student journalists could be spotted scuttling around the school, filming and editing with great fervour.
As the theme of “School Culture” is rather broad, the videos too differed greatly in their subject matter. Some groups filmed the decorations around the school, other groups highlighted the importance of unity, and one group cosplayed as rats. (We are still trying to understand the connection behind that one.)
Many friendships were forged within this activity, with the students connecting through their shared passion for journalism and creativity. As the students filmed and edited, laughter could often be heard ringing through the corridors of Raffles Institution. Through the reflections done on Padlet, students were also able to further digest and absorb their learnings from the day’s activities.
Verdict: 9.5/10
Very fun, and a good change of pace from the structured activity!
If our ratings have not made it clear enough, this is us telling you once more that the Pressing Ahead event was something we all thoroughly enjoyed. It was informative, intriguing and inspiring, and we are all looking forward to it again next year!
