The potential and impact of leveraging journalism in advocacy have no limit.
From picking the right stories to tell to transcending passion in changemaking or challenging perceptions that lie comfortably within social norms through our output - the value exists in creating avenues that expand perspectives and unlock further potential in our audience's own awareness journey. The work is intricate, exhausting and more often than not, the direct impact is difficult to trace and measure. Yet, Charisma Movement (CM) has grown exponentially to embrace journalism- tapping into strong partnerships, diversifying the way we engage with the public and executing projects that were deemed undoable to many.
When I first joined the Journalism Department in Term 22/23, it was out of sheer interest to explore how exactly words and curation of online reading resources can play a role in making advocacy a more accessible concept to youths. I was curious about issues relevant to the Malaysian communities and ever ready to be experimental with my writing. CM simply presented itself as a high-potential channel to harvest both my passion and strengths, and it surely managed to live up to my expectations.
Static journalism was the only official mandate within our department then. We wrote and published articles on CM's website, sometimes running interviews to gather information from Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). Some memories of my informal engagements still remain vivid and exciting to this day- I took the chance to attend a life drawing workshop in KL to hear perspectives on body image acceptance and positivity; met up with a social enterprise to learn how their UNO-inspired card game can elevate school children’s English learning experience; even spoke to an educator storyteller who brilliantly combines art and environmental conservation awareness into his self-painted educational storybooks. Every conversation was not only a glimpse into the lives, but also the values of individuals whose personal tales would not be heard by the masses otherwise. Thus, I wrote profusely, hoping to capture as many stories as possible, so that more people could become just a tiny bit more aware of lives and routes of thoughts that are foreign from their own by reading my work.
I remember thinking- if I had the chance to listen first-hand a personal story or reflection and felt motivated or moved, I have the responsibility to translate the passion radiating through my interviewees’ voices into tangible reading materials so more people have access to the same inspiration that I got to experience. After all, not everyone gets the privilege to meet all the interesting KOLs who I get to chat with. I would put strings of words together, with every sentence designed to leave an impact in my readers’ heart. Who knows? Someone out there who read my work might start forming ideas about a social issue they never cared to contemplate, or my words could be the trigger or catalyst to someone's desire to pursue activism. Or maybe, they now have new opinions to share at dinner tables and find resonance within their own community. One way or another, more light could be shed on the social topics I chose to discuss in my articles.
Soon enough, we started thinking if we could tell stories to reach a wider audience in different formats that are more engaging. Say, what would captivate our online audience, given the younger generation dominating social media has an ever-shortening concentration span? We felt the need to evolve from only producing lengthy articles to providing the consumers of our output a visual experience. Venturing into short-form videos to push for advocacy agendas became our obvious target. We did not have the expertise in video journalism, nor the immediate talents, but we had three ready ingredients: the vision of curating powerful videos that ripple messages, the appetite for risks and the drive to turn curiosity into action.
Our team picked up our microphone and conducted our first experimental filming session of street interviews at Masjid Jamek. It was Ramadan and we filmed casual chats with passers-by on the social-cultural significance of the holy month, followed by footage of us distributing dinners to fasting Muslims taking shelter at the mosque. The video we eventually put out remains till today one of our best-performing reels. Despite having done countless filming sessions thereafter, my first would forever be a significant memory. I guess the point here is, take the leap and embrace what seems like an impossible job, fighting hiccups from inexperience will always serve more meaning than regretting not trying from the fear of failure.
What happened next? Physical and virtual intellectual discourses, enrichment coffee table zines, data infographics, podcasts… CM’s Journalism Department transitioned slowly but surely into Research & Advocacy Department (It actually took us three years!) as our scope expanded from releasing articles and videos to proactively hosting events where youths chat directly with KOLs and publishing our in-house thematic research output as physical books, which by the way, are now featured on the shelves at the National Library.
When asked about our secret in driving the team to unprecedented success which contributes to CM's robust growth as a platform for effective youth-led advocacy, the same formula was simply applied across projects. The cycle starts with brainstorming answers to the following questions: How do we include more people in conversations as we provoke thoughts and push boundaries? How do we challenge CM’s existing capacity in content curation? How do we differentiate our work from what's available in the market? How do we develop talents to ensure sustainability and succession of the advocacy agenda, within and beyond CM?
Ideas are often followed by structured and disciplined execution, the willingness to learn and rebound from mistakes, as well as earnest teamwork and strong communications. While it does take a village to manage what we achieve, our milestones are a testament of hard work and close collaboration.
As youth journalists (yes, we do still call ourselves this way despite the job scope and interest expansion, for now), we come, we see, we understand, we spread to inspire. I have spent overnight in a longhouse to experience life as part of the Dayak community, joined a bird-watching programme to learn the impact of human activity to urban wildlife, helped realise a sustainability-themed discourse on an urban farm, launched our publication at an indie bookstore- these are some opportunities which I doubt I would have had access to if not being part of CM.
Our work is often uncomfortable because not only do we need to push ourselves to dissect new perspectives across themes, we have an ethical responsibility to report and unearth hard truths regardless of the form of our output. The extended challenges? Understanding our audience and the innovation of effective, convincing ways to communicate ideas to them. There is no merit in extensive research if no one would consume the content. Thus, equipping ourselves with strong stakeholder management, public relations and graphic design skills became essential too.
Having seen through my department’s growth as an early joiner to the team and the only one who has remained for three years now, I am extremely proud of what we have achieved. Was I a catalyst in the process, given I helped turn many infant ideas into mature work streams? Or was I more of a developer of talents, tapping into our human capital potential? I think the resonance of intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm to engage with the masses I share with my team certainly serve more as the key drivers of our success. It never is or was my deliberate intention of demanding a direction for the team from my personal bucket list- often times I find myself merely facilitating the best resource allocation into the suitable avenues and ensuring optimisation of potential. Seeing younger people demonstrating unwavering passion to make a difference through content curation, research and advocacy motivates me to share my experiences with them so they walk a shorter path instead of zigzagging. What are the use of all my past trials and errors if they don't contribute to lessening those on others’ paths, especially junior youths who now wear the shoes I used to walk in?
All in all, this adventure-filled journey of attempting to transform our society's awareness of under-discussed social issues had been nothing but fun and fulfilling. From seeing life from the lens of different individuals, to transcending the passion for changemaking through our output, to creating experiences for the masses to expand their horizons and challenging societal values that exist within the means of comfort- it's no easy task being us, but for whoever feeling aligned with our work, do come along and we'll go on an exciting ride together.
By,
Euan Thum
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