BY NUR HAZIRAH SHUKUR, FARHANAH MELLON & RUSNURHIZIRAH RUSLAN
KUCHING: Good body posture, a clear voice, as well as having good eye contact with viewers are among the basics needed to become a newscaster.
According to TVS newscaster Maria Madelina Sujie, those who are interested in broadcasting but do not have confidence should always practise speaking in front of a mirror to build confidence.
“If you have a deep interest in broadcasting, showcase your talents through the related platforms.
“Apart from that, if you are not knowledgeable about something, do not be ashamed to ask experts or seniors,” she said when met at the Sarawak Media Group (SMG) office here last Friday.
Further elaborating, Maria said that every newscaster needs a journalist to make a story well-rounded and informative.
“Journalists are the main backbone in conveying news. Without them, a news story is not ready to be conveyed to the public,” she said.
Another TVS newscaster, Noorul Ismail admitted that every news presenter should always be sensitive to current issues.
Apart from that, she said that in order to improve her shortcomings, she always learned from her seniors.
In addition to being a newscaster for TVS, Noorul is also the host of the ‘Borak Teh C Peng’ show.
Meanwhile, TVS Iban language news presenter Priscilla John Pillai said the responsibility of delivering news in the Iban language was not an easy task as she was somewhat less proficient in the standard usage of the language.
“However, I always aim to improve and enhance my Iban language proficiency by learning from seniors as well as learning from my past mistakes.
“Usually, in broadcasting, we use the Saratok Iban as the standard Iban language as it is generally more acceptable,” she said.
She added that another challenge for herself is to deliver the news in Bahasa Melayu.
“Pronunciation is one of the challenges I face as I am used to conveying news in Iban,” said Priscilla, who is also the host of ‘Iban Global’ and ‘Sada Kenyalang’.
