By Aqilah Alya
GOMBAK, 13 December 2020: To work in the real world, one needs to gain experience and exposure in any kind of society or club while studying at the university, a webinar was told.
Speaking during a webinar session on Friday night (11 December), sub-editor of online portal Free Malaysia Today, Najmi Syahiran Mamat, shared that the experience he went through as a student journalist of IIUMToday during his student days has been a great help for him to function in his present post.
“Joining IIUMToday had been a great experience to be trained as a real reporter,” he said.
“During my time, I used this platform as much as I could and I learned the human interest, issues and stories from the lecturer,” he added. He told the audience that the experiences he had acquired with IIUMToday had taught him the courage and confidence.
He further said, “If I did not join IIUMToday, I would not get the chance to explore my journalism and writing skills.”
Among his success was his first news on the coverage of the “Quran Hour”.
Najmi told the audience that as student journalists, they must always be proactive, put greater effort in their work and try to be independent. He also said that they should also not be scared to ask questions because “there is nothing wrong to ask questions”.
“To be a good journalist you must have high curiosity and be ambitious by showing enthusiasm to learn something new. Also, do not limit yourself, pay attention to details when reporting and be responsible with your writing by checking and rechecking your writing.”
Najmi joined IIUMToday in 2016, the following year he was appointed as its student managing editor.
Titled “Adopting to the New Norms in Journalism”, the webinar started with questions posed by the moderator, Iylia Marsya Iskandar to Najmi on his present role as a practising journalist.
The webinar held through Zoom was attended by 64 participants.***