N3Con through a student’s eyes: ‘I am a different kind of millennial’

By AAJA-Asia student member Teppei Kasai in Tokyo

The three-day New.Now.Next Media Conference at The University of Hong Kong was an enriching experience, especially for a Japanese university student like myself.

With panels including investigative reporting in China, data journalism and reporting on North Korea, the conference offered a wide variety of topics that were facilitated and discussed by veteran reporters from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters, among others.

Not only did each reporter’s experiences and perspectives offer an interesting dynamic within the discussions, but they also showed me just how complex the field of journalism can be.

For example, the way Jean Lee, AP’s Pyongyang bureau chief, articulated the recent missile launch threat in North Korea was slightly different from how Barbara Demick, Beijing bureau chief for the L.A. Times, described matters.  Lee and Demick seemed to offer different images of North Korea based on their experiences.

In addition to the informative panels, the job fair that was held adjacent to the main conference building was a great opportunity for me to get in touch with some of the best news organizations in Asia.

I met Irene Jay Liu, data news editor for Reuters, and Ken Moritsugu, enterprise editor for the AP. They gave me some of the most useful feedback on my resume, portfolio and career that will definitely come in handy going forth.

Irene suggested that I make a web-based portfolio, which is something that will become increasingly relevant and useful in this era of information. She also advised I add notes to each article in my portfolio, explaining why the stories showed a particular value that distinguished myself from others.

I also had a great talk with CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph and Aloke Devichand about how I can make the most of my current internship at CNN in Tokyo and possibly have the opportunity lead to a full-time position.

During the keynote panel, Ellana Lee, vice president and managing editor for CNN International Asia Pacific, mentioned managing “millenials” like myself was “different.” She said we were passionate and energetic but that we were also prone to want to move through career stages unreasonably quickly, saying such things as “I’m not a morning person.”

To know how top editors viewed my own generation was insightful.  I am determined to work extra hard to prove I am a different kind of millennial.