Maria Ressa, Bureau Chief, CNN Jakarta

You see people at the pinnacle of change. That’s the best part of being a journalist.

Maria Ressa, Bureau Chief of CNN Jakarta, has seen history unfold on several occasions in front of her eyes. In conversation with Anushree Madan Mohan of exchange4media.com, Ressa discusses her journey into political journalism, the trials and triumphs faced in the course of the journey and the nature of content that CNN stands for. Excerpts:

Q. What kind of content does CNN stand for? Which are the factors that you bear in mind to make the content unbiased and forthright? Well, I am responsible for the kind of content that comes out of South East Asia, covering areas such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Content-wise, its up to me to depict a true picture of the kind of life that people lead within these regions. There are crucial issues that need to be examined, such as the kind of relevance that Indonesia has assumed post-9/11 on account of the large size of Muslim population that resides within the region. Content-wise, we are on the lookout for stories that signify social, political and economic change wherein we try and identify the instruments of change. We examine a story from different angles to capture the unbiased view on things. Investigative pieces such as the Al Qaeda network in Indonesia tend to get a lot controversial and it is important to maintain a balanced perspective on things.

Journalism has always been a passion with me, and the kind of content that comes out of the Jakarta bureau reflects that. At a personal level, I have been very affected by 9/11 and its impression on world politics. For instance, quite some time ago we were living right in Indonesia and were absolutely clueless about the pace of radical Islam. Prior to 9/11, the bombing of the Philippine ambassador’s house and the Christmas bombings (wherein around 38 bombs were dispatched to priests in churches), were seen as alien incidents. It took us some time to recognize the link between these incidents and the growth of the Al Qaeda. And now that we have seen the same, we are delving in a lot more. CNN stands for content that’s investigative, unbiased and forthright, our treatment of the news that we gather signifies that.

Q. Since you have also written a book on the Al Qaeda network in South East Asia, how different is it from what you do on television? It is quite different from broadcast journalism, since its narrative and I get to add a lot more details. On broadcast, it is a challenge summing up the entire story in two minutes and it doesn’t leave much scope for a detailed version of things, especially if you want to add a historical summarization to it. For me, the book was more like rewriting history and there was plenty to say. The advantage is that I don’t have to cut a long story short.

The book shares a lot of details about the Al Qaeda network in South East Asia, on why Indonesians are vulnerable when it comes to radical Islam, details on the philosophy exhibited by radical Islamic rebels and the second wave of attacks within the region. Most importantly, the book highlights how the world is splitting into two parts. The western world and the radical Islamic stand on opposite sides of the fence (Bin Laden has more or less ensured the same.) The real war is however between the moderates within regions in South East Asia that are pitted against the radicals!

Q. How long have you been with CNN? How would you classify your association? Fifteen long years. That’s how long I have been with CNN! Honestly, it’s the only place where I can see myself working. What excites me about the job is that we are doing some real noteworthy work here, and in the process are reaching millions. We are the only American network that actually has a set-up in Indonesia. It has gone through evolution and changes from when Ted Turner was there but the main mission remains the same.

Q. Since you are so passionate about political journalism, how did you wind up into the field? Gosh, it seems so long ago! At the time when I was doing my graduation, my expertise was in political theatre, molecular biology and English. I had absolutely no intentions of joining a corporation. I had left the Philippines when I was ten and there was a need to understand what it was like to be a Filipino. Therefore, I applied for fellowship and arrived in the Philippines in 1986 when the people power movement occurred. The funny part was that I landed up with a job at a government station (even though I was fairly inexperienced and fresh from school.) What is more, they actually put me in control. Here I was, an inexperienced youngster and handling an entire news desk all on my own. When there is a change or an upheaval in the system, even the most seasoned journalists are at a loss to figure out what needs to be done!

Later, I got involved with a company dealing with news and public affairs. A year later CNN needed to start its bureau in Manila and they offered me a position!

Q. Has there been a time when you were directly involved with proceedings in India? Oh yes. I was in India in year 2000 when an Indian Airlines plane had been hijacked. At the time, Maulana Masoor Azhar and Omar Sheikh were let off from the Indian prison. It was my belief that Omar Sheikh was a vital link in the entire gamut of terrorism and I wanted to follow up on the same by making my way to Pakistan. Fortunately or unfortunately, CNN wanted me to stay in India during that time. And it was right after all of this that the Daniel Pearl incident occurred. In a way, my life was saved on account of the CNN policy.

Q. You were associated with cases that were critical within certain South East Asian governments. How did you handle these critical instances? I guess I have been lucky enough to witness history being made. While the causes and the characteristics of the upheaval may vary from country to country, at a microscopic level, it is all too similar. In certain cases, you can almost pre-empt what is going to happen. In 1986, there was a political upheaval in the Philippines after 21 years of dictatorship. Similarly, in 1998, after a 32-year long dictatorship there was a quest for democratic government and people power. But in both cases, you could almost pre-empt that the change would be accompanied by cynicism. For people’s dreams and hopes are vibrant enough but these are accompanied by practical difficulties of assuming control. For instance, after Suharto’s rule, in four years, Indonesia has had four Presidents to its credit. We handled both sides of the coin through our projection of events. While on one hand we depicted the change and the cause for change, we soon accompanied it with what arrives after the change!

Again, Suharto as a leader had done a lot many noteworthy things for the people during his reign. Let us not forget that the abuse of power came only as an aftermath. We tried to depict both aspects of the case in our stories.

Q. So many Heads of State have been interviewed by you. How do you handle interviews with key people within the realm of policy making? Well, the trick is to establish a personal rapport and to understand the person behind the policy! When I was young and fairly inexperienced, I would restrict my discussions only to policy matters, it was quite some time before I realized that it was a splendid opportunity to understand the thought processes of the person involved within the policy making. There is absolutely no need to restrict yourself to mere basics and the need is to decipher the thought processes that go into a particular country and its policies.

Q. As a journalist, you have received my awards and accolades. How does it feel to be such a well-respected and sought-after person within a field of your choice? Nah. I haven’t received those many awards. Actually, to me, it’s all about my work and the work satisfaction that I derive from it. According to me, a journalist gets to learn about foreign policy, economics, social affairs and political affairs, all in the real world and the expertise that you derive from the exposure is tremendous. You can see people at the pinnacle of change. That’s the best part of being a journalist. At the end of the day, awards and accolades don’t matter half as much as your work and what you intend to do in the future. To me it’s always about the work! And trust me, there’s a great deal of work that needs to be done!

Q. Is it a tough task being a bureau chief? What does your role encompass? To a certain degree, it’s a challenging role. I recruit the employees within the bureau and am in the loop when it comes to budget matters and company policy. Anything that’s related to the spending of the CNN cash and I am definitely involved. I also decide on the content involved in various stories and the editorial stand that we take on particular subjects such as terrorism in South East Asia.

Q. How do you prioritize news within your bureau? Generally, we sit together at the start of the month and decide on the subjects that we intend to focus on. To my mind, there are three kinds of stories. The first kind is enterprise reporting wherein the journalist is actively seeking a particular story; the second type consists of scheduled events wherein you have things like Bush’s visit on account of APEC or the MILF peace talks. The third kind is the kind that falls under ‘Breaking News’, these are difficult to pre-empt and there can’t be much of planning to it.

We pick subjects that are important from the South East Asian perspective, in addition to the global perspective. It’s easy to prioritize news stories, just as long as you know, what your priorities are.