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The Stories Women Journalists Tell
The number of women in media professions may have increased in recent years, but there is still a gender imbalance and lack of diversity in newsrooms, film sets, and so forth. The Stories Women Journalists Tell is a compilation of stories from female journalists across Southeast Asia who have been on the ground reporting and seeing things from a different perspective and emotive lens. Twenty-two women journalists in Southeast Asia share their personal experiences in essays spanning politics, culture, travel, human interest and lifestyle. In these insightful and compelling essays, the former and current journalists take us through the journey as a woman covering news in male-dominant newsroom culture while keeping eyes on the ground. The 'Stories Women Journalists Tell' is an inspiring collection of essays that celebrates kinships, camaraderie and strength, while highlighting our most important and interesting history in events and news. Politics. Life & Style, Human Interest, Culture, Travel
- GenresNonfictionJournalism
240 pages, Paperback
Published January 14, 2022
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89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 17, 2022
I appreciate new genre and obscure reads. I rarely read short stories and essays collection and I've been thrilled to start this one; it's an essay collections written by amazing women journalist. Not sure if it wasn't my cup of tea but I took a very long time to finish such a short book. To be honest I didn't find any stories to be gripping until the end. It didn't work for me, it really is just a compilation of random essays. The author's intention is to share stories from female journalist that would open up our minds about journalism and news reporting. I couldn't connect with the stories but one thing I could see is their determination. Unclear with the directions of the narrative, only a bunch of themes highlighted at the back of the book.
February 13, 2023
A collection of short stories by women journalists that mainly touches on the ethical dilemma in journalism with the focus in SEA:
1. What coverage is too much/probing and becomes an invasion of privacy?,
2. Are journalists allowed to empathise with the victim while they’re clearly doing it for commercialising?,
3. What is the code of conduct between interviewer and interviewee?
4. To read is to write, but can One ever separate One’s beliefs in reading and writing?
The book highlights a good point on how the pandemic has impacted the journalists and their families due to the travel restrictions. Seeing as they are now in the same situation as the interviewee, how does that affect the dynamics of journalism ethics and empathy?
Thank you Ai Tieng for this thoughtful (both in the form of the present and the reading experience itself!) Christmas Gift 💚
1. What coverage is too much/probing and becomes an invasion of privacy?,
2. Are journalists allowed to empathise with the victim while they’re clearly doing it for commercialising?,
3. What is the code of conduct between interviewer and interviewee?
4. To read is to write, but can One ever separate One’s beliefs in reading and writing?
The book highlights a good point on how the pandemic has impacted the journalists and their families due to the travel restrictions. Seeing as they are now in the same situation as the interviewee, how does that affect the dynamics of journalism ethics and empathy?
Thank you Ai Tieng for this thoughtful (both in the form of the present and the reading experience itself!) Christmas Gift 💚
June 20, 2022
I hadn’t heard of this book at all before picking it as part of the Discovery pack from Amplify Bookstore—it seemed like something a little outside of my comfort zone, which is exactly what I wanted out of this subscription. While this is a short book, it took me a while to get through it because a few of the essays just didn’t grab my attention. I definitely skipped a couple and I have to admit that none of them really stick out in my memory. I wish this had been split into themes or parts a little more clearly because things felt very haphazardly thrown together and I think things might have been more impactful if they’d been organised a little better. But overall, I really just feel kind of ambivalent about this.
January 1, 2025
The Stories Women Journalists Tell is a compilation of essays by 22 women journalists from Southeast Asia, offering personal insights into their experiences in the field.
And what an experience it has been reading them!
My favorite piece was by Melizarani T. Selva, in which she recounted the time she was a rookie sub-editor for New Straits Times, covering the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
As a journalist, she did her best to chase leads because, in the fast-paced world of breaking news, speed is everything.
But what happens when you keep chasing leads and writing paragraphs out of people's lives?
She faced a choice: to pursue a story from a grieving family or to honor a piece of someone's history. She chose the latter.
You can't push people into sharing their stories when they're in grief, especially when a distraught father clinging to a shred of hope for his missing daughter aboard the airplane.
In that moment, she might have failed as a journalist, but she succeeded as a person offering sympathy.
She chose humanity. That, for me, is the winning story, forever untold in a news article.
Another favorite piece is The Motel Editor by Caitlin Liu, which follows the journey of an immigrant child learning English in a new country—not just to survive but to thrive as an editor, eventually building the career of her dreams.
I also loved Getting Teargassed Was No Fun by Reta Lee, which recounts her field report alongside her videographer boyfriend during the political turmoil in Malaysia in 2011.
I absolutely love essays like these and will revisit the book sometime soon, because seeing women journalists chasing a story is fascinating in and of itself.
And what an experience it has been reading them!
My favorite piece was by Melizarani T. Selva, in which she recounted the time she was a rookie sub-editor for New Straits Times, covering the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
As a journalist, she did her best to chase leads because, in the fast-paced world of breaking news, speed is everything.
But what happens when you keep chasing leads and writing paragraphs out of people's lives?
She faced a choice: to pursue a story from a grieving family or to honor a piece of someone's history. She chose the latter.
You can't push people into sharing their stories when they're in grief, especially when a distraught father clinging to a shred of hope for his missing daughter aboard the airplane.
In that moment, she might have failed as a journalist, but she succeeded as a person offering sympathy.
She chose humanity. That, for me, is the winning story, forever untold in a news article.
Another favorite piece is The Motel Editor by Caitlin Liu, which follows the journey of an immigrant child learning English in a new country—not just to survive but to thrive as an editor, eventually building the career of her dreams.
I also loved Getting Teargassed Was No Fun by Reta Lee, which recounts her field report alongside her videographer boyfriend during the political turmoil in Malaysia in 2011.
I absolutely love essays like these and will revisit the book sometime soon, because seeing women journalists chasing a story is fascinating in and of itself.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews