It all begins with a story.
Our lives are often interwoven and defined by these events that ultimately shape who we are.

We love stories just as much as we love retelling them—sometimes even quite exaggerated, without giving much thought as to how it originated.

Everyone has a story to tell and for journalists Atom Araullo, Jeff Canoy and Ginger Conejero, their days begin and end in search of events and people whose stories have to be told.
 
Tales from the newsroom
Unlike other professionals such as teachers, doctors or engineers, it is very rare to hear a young child say that they dream of becoming journalists one day.

Just like TV Patrol reporters Atom Araullo, Jeff Canoy and Ginger Conejero, becoming part of the newsroom was a matter of chance, and it was only after that they realized an inner passion of telling interesting stories.

You might have first seen Araullo as one of the kid hosts on the TV shows 5&Up and Breakfast. Although many thought that he would grow up in front of their TV screens, Araullo steered away from the limelight when he entered the University of the Philippines, which he calls “a marketplace of ideas” to focus on his love for science.

However, it was through his involvement in student organizations that he realized the importance of the media in bringing to light important issues.

“During that time I was very active in student organizations. I was in college after EDSA 2 and I recall the mass protests against then President Joseph Estrada, and it was at that time that I understood the importance of journalists and trying to get them to tell our story and the perspective of students on national issues.”

On the other hand, Canoy, a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University originally wanted to become a lawyer, which was why he first took up Philosophy before shifting to Communication.

“I did not want to lose my artistic side so I signed up for the paper as a graphic artist but eventually I was assigned stories as well.” Canoy then found himself at an internship with ABS-CBN, while still in his final year of college. After graduating, Canoy took some time off but still found himself going back to his something he loved since he was a kid: telling stories.

For the former beauty queen Conejero, the desire to be on TV had always been a childhood dream. “My parents made me watch the news and I always thought maybe I’d want to be a news anchor, but it was definitely something far-fetched.”

The dream came true for the University of Southern California alum after she joined Miss Earth in 2006 and was offered a job as a TV host and reporter.

The three of them recalled their first day on the job, and agreed that it was really far from all the glamour people perceive it to be. The shift from the classroom to the newsroom was anything but enchanting and entailed them to start at the very bottom of the ladder.

Araullo recalls the transition from being an on-cam talent who simply had a script to follow to the person who actually did the story, “My first job was a researcher for The Correspondents and I was totally in the dark. As a researcher tagahanap ka ng [you’re tasked to look for] story, taga-book ng interview and then you move up the ladder where you start to write the segments. Ganun ako natuto ng [That’s how I learned about] current affairs because I really had no background.”

Canoy, on the other hand, is still getting used to being in front of the camera. “It’s always a challenge because anything can happen during a live coverage, like if you’re in the middle of a report, another story can break out and you also have anchors that sometimes ask questions you don’t know the answers. I still get nervous sometimes, but my trick is that I imagine that I’m just talking with my mom and dad.”

Conejero, whose Filipino has improved immensely since she first moved back to the Philippines, started as a writer and segment producer for the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), and was soon delegated to TV Patrol to do cover the police beat before being offered a spot to do entertainment news. For Conejero one of the greatest things she has learned is to constantly remind herself of how blessed she is.

“There are constant reminders that there are so many people who would love to tell a story and what goes on behind the scenes, I really do feel very much honored and privileged to be the one telling the story.”
 
Sharing light moments
A few weeks ago, a certain video made its rounds on YouTube and garnered a lot of attention, including that of the original Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson. The video, which showed ABS-CBN’s reporters lip syncing to the song “I Want It That Way” gave the public a glimpse of the less serious side of journalism that we seldom see.

Conejero says that the camaraderie when the cameras aren’t rolling is what makes her job extra fun.

“A lot of news personalities behind cam are a lot of fun and are silly and Jeff has this app on his iPad that you can make your own music video and talagang kinareer nila ni Jenny, those are the kind of things just make you smile.”

And while they may be dealing with hard news on a daily basis, Canoy notes that it’s not all serious business. He recalled a time when he needed to do a story in a safe house and had to tell his dad that he cannot be contacted for 12 hours. To assure his dad that he was going to be okay, he gave his dad his then boss’ number, Maria Ressa. “Sabi ko ‘Dad wag ka tatawag, nakakahiya.’ [I said, ‘Dad, don’t call. It’s embarrassing]. Five minutes after I put down the phone, Maria’s phone started ringing and when she picked up, I heard my dad’s voice asking if

I was going to be safe. I was really embarrassed!”

When asked about their other interests when they are not in front of the camera, the three erupted in laughter, and shared a few quirks about themselves.

Araullo spoke about rediscovering his love for Japanese animation, an interest he had in high school but have only picked up again recently. “Fortunately, there are no cosplay pictures to hunt down,” Araullo noted with his signature smile.

Conejero, on the other hand knows that her dreams of becoming a singer is just that, a dream, but this doesn’t make her love singing less. “I really, really love to sing and I feel like in a past life maybe I had a shot at it but not in this life; but the passion and the desire to sing is there. So, really, what I do is just play music and dance in the bathroom and that gets me happy.”

Canoy then shared a surprising passion for African-American culture. “I’ve always loved the African-American culture and sometimes I really feel that I am part of that culture.”

Canoy says that his love for rap music is something that only his friends have witnessed. His love and interest for the culture made him fall in love with rap music, which he says that he perfects while walking the hallways of ABS-CBN.

His rapping skills, however, have yet to be showcased.
 
Youth and the new media
It is safe to say that the news today is quite different from what it was a few years ago. Today, news outlets don’t just compete with each other but also with an entirely different medium, social media and its impact is not lost on the three.

Araullo begins, “I don’t think it obstructs the news in any way, in fact, it gives a lot of additional value in the information we receive.”

However, Atom admits the challenge it presents is something that one can take advantage of.

“Before may monopoly kami ng infrastructure but now everyone can do it, kung broadcasting ang paguusapan you can do it through YouTube, Twitter or Facebook, so ano pa ang silbi ng journalist sa buhay ko? Social media challenges us to become better and to use these tools for our benefit. It forces us to look into what we do and how can still make our stories relevant to people.”

Conejero agrees, “I think it keeps us on our toes. It makes me want to double check, triple check even the smallest details because through social media, someone can easily say, ‘you spelled this guy’s name wrong’, and I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t mentioned. So with the rise of social media, it encourages me to just double check my facts and to just be creative with how I tell my story.”

But Canoy says that while social media is a good way to get feedback on a story, he has learned to filter the comments that he receives focusing only on the ones that really help him improve his craft. “I felt like I did this awesome story that can save someone’s life and the comments I get on Twitter is bakit naman ganyan ang suot mong damit? And it makes me sad because the focus should have been on the story and nothing else.”

Along with the rise of social media is the also the heightened awareness of the youth, which they say is its biggest advantage.

 Canoy explains, “There’s a conscious effort to influence the youth. Hopefully we are still part of that demographic, if they see us delivering those stories, hopefully they can relate in a way so that it also matters to them.”

Araullo adds, “Yun ang pinka importanteng bahagi ng trabaho namin. Kung yung mga storya namin hindi nakakahikayat, lalo na ang kabataan [That’s the most important part of our job. If our stories cannot influence the youth, more especially,] to do something about their lives or do something about the stories that we tell, then we failed because that’s the whole idea of telling stories about real life.”
 
A greater cause
The drive to move people into action is what makes them stick it out through the storms, the late nights and the long working hours. For Araullo, Canoy and Conejero, the determination lies in knowing that even if their story just touches one life then they have completed their mission.

However, for them to get out of bed every morning despite the reality of the news they report on every day is something that needs a greater motivation.

Conejero understands why some would easily dismiss the entertainment beat as nothing more as that entertainment, but as a journalist, it is in her desire to go beyond the entertainment factor and inspire stories through the news that she shares. “There are so many inspiring stories about people after their dreams like Charice and Arnel Pineda and we make a conscious effort to feature those feel good stories.”

“Show business may not be the answer to your problem but stories like theirs give hope that sometimes the smallest dreams end up becoming reality,” she adds.

Canoy doesn’t deny the fact that there are days when he questions the reason why he chose this profession but he says that his belief in the purpose of his stories fuels his passion to keep chasing more, “I remain optimistic because I may not be able to change the world but I’ve seen it, I have proof that you can change the world even through the smallest things.”
Araullo points out, “The news love bad news. Kung wala tayong mas malawak na tanaw, magiging jaded ka talaga, mapapagod ka [If we don’t have broader views, we will become very jaded and we’ll get tired].” Despite this, Atom knows that the telling of stories has a purpose and that is what makes their job worthwhile. “The bright side is the fact that people can actually take matters into their own hands. Abot kamay ang pagbabago, you just have to believe that people can do it if they really want to and when I say people, I mean it’s us, sama sama towards one objective.”

Araullo, Canoy and Conejero show us, through the story of their own lives, that we are not merely spectators but are actually active participators in the shaping of our history today, where we are. And often, it begins with an individual brave enough to tell a tale no one has ever told before.