Some Useful Tips From Ahmad Talib

The last time I met Datuk Ahmad A. Talib was in Tokyo when Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad was then Prime Minister. I don’t recall the year, possibly 2000 or 2001, but one thing for sure, I will always remember Ahmad for his warm persona and generosity.

He was then Group Editor of the New Straits Times, and his presence brought comfort to other Malaysian journalists who were on this trip to cover Dr Mahathir’s visit to Japan.

He was our leader. With him around, everything seemed to fall into place, and things were made even easier with Datuk Zakaria Wahab, then PM’s press secretary, facilitating our job by giving us Dr Mahathir’s speech texts days ahead.

But with the leadership change, this author of the then NST’s weekly column Pahit Manis had to make way for changes. On May 1 2003, a veteran journalist Hardev Kaur took over as the new Group Editor of NST Sdn Bhd. Ahmad was then made Group General Manager, Communications and Editorial Marketing.

Ahmad then left the newspaper to join Maxis Communications Bhd as adviser from June 2005 to November 2006. It was a short stint for him at Maxis, which has since changed from a public listed to a private company.

Partly driven by his passion for writing, this seasoned journalist is now a blogger, and has adopted the name Pahit Manis for his site, which commands 400 to 500 hits a day.

On Tuesday, Aug 12, Ahmad, who had his roots in Bernama, took his time off to share his thoughts and experiences on reporting and managing the news desk with a group of senior journalists and editors at Wisma Bernama.

Ahmad who describes himself as ‘Ex (Axed) journalist’ in his blog was not there to relate his Pahit Manis during the broadsheet days of the NST, but more of sharing some useful tips on how to excel in journalism.

Among others, he said it would be ‘sinful’ for news editors to stop writing even if they are desk-bound, noting that during his term in office, those who managed desks were expected to go out and meet their contacts, attend functions and write stories and features.

For bureau chiefs, 13 or 14 of them, there was no excuse for not writing, he said. They were asked to write news analysis for a column which was prominently displayed on page 2 of the newspaper, and because of the good understanding they had, everyone was ensured of a two-week break before their next article was due.

Even for gatekeepers and news editors, there was no such thing as “not having the time to write” as their year-end appraisals were based on articles that they produced.

To Bernama, he said the best platform for writing would be Bernama.com and what better way to make news editors contribute their articles through a page specially dedicated for them on this website.

Ahmad, who started his career in journalism in 1972, has also served the Business Times and Berita Harian. During the broadsheet days of the NST, he started Travel Times, Cars, Bikes and Trucks. He was also chairman of the Malaysian Press Institute. Currently, he is a Trustee for Yayasan Salam and Yayasan Kebajikan Anak-anak Yatim Malaysia.