Ady has been a journalist in his native Indonesia for four years. We spent a good time talking about life as a journalist for nearly two hours at lunchtime. Ady told me his most embarrassing interview moment when he had been a journalist for just one month.
He sat in front of me, holding a mug of water and he, began his story.” I became a journalist in July 2005 and was assigned my first interview in August 2005. You will never ever guess what happened during my first interview.”
His first interviewee was the army governor of Jakarta, a tough man with a bad temper and, at the time, running a temperature. Ady stopped the governor as he was leaving a ceremonial event. Following exactly what his senior editor had told him, Ady asked Jakarta:” does it matter if people think you are a pro-status quo?” At the very moment, Jakarta replied no words but gave him a slap in front of all the journalists and guests- Ady did not tell me whether it was painful or not because obviously that was not the point. Embarrassment was. Almost at the same time, all the other journalists and guests there stepped back in great astonishment. The body guard of Jakarta soon came up to Ady and said:” Please don’t mind. He is ill. Please don’t mind.”
His first interviewee was the army governor of Jakarta, a tough man with a bad temper and, at the time, running a temperature. Ady stopped the governor as he was leaving a ceremonial event. Following exactly what his senior editor had told him, Ady asked Jakarta:” does it matter if people think you are a pro-status quo?” At the very moment, Jakarta replied no words but gave him a slap in front of all the journalists and guests- Ady did not tell me whether it was painful or not because obviously that was not the point. Embarrassment was. Almost at the same time, all the other journalists and guests there stepped back in great astonishment. The body guard of Jakarta soon came up to Ady and said:” Please don’t mind. He is ill. Please don’t mind.”
“I am not angry.”Ady said,” it is understandable since he is sick.”
The embarrassing moment did not finish then. The whole procedure was imortalised by a television station camera and shown later on in the evening. When saying these, he neatened his scarf and shook his head slightly.
"That is how I began my journalism career." Ady said with a gentle smile.
“Wow, that’s a really spectacular start to your journalistic career.” I laughed, “I am sorry to hear that story. Such an awful thing is not supposed to be your first interview experience.”
Ady interrupted me waving his hand, “No, no, actually I learnt from this very interview.” He drank some water and explained,” you know, I should have done some research myself rather than reated every question that my editor had given me. If I had done that, I would have known his political stand and his personality. Maybe the interview would have ended differently”
With this beginning, Ady was subsequently able to tackle quite a few un-expected interview moments. He found a way to mature: learn by your mistakes. So in this way, this slap was worth a thousand lessons in Ady’s journalism career.
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