(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Revered Master!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!
At the end of 2009, a coordinator from the news department of Sound of Hope radio station told me that they would like to establish correspondent stations in different areas. They asked me to be the coordinator of the UK correspondent station. I understood that establishing the correspondent stations was to assist Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings as well as for the further growth of the Sound of Hope radio station. However, in the past six to seven years since Sound of Hope was established, although I have been a reporter and have been encouraging more practitioners to join the station as reporters, I hadn't seen any obvious effects. I felt that this was a great responsibility, and whether we could build up an effective operation at the correspondent station was my next step on my cultivation path.
1. Face to Face Fa Study and Experience Sharing, the Correspondent Station Began to Take Shape
The first priority was to find practitioners who were willing to work for the correspondent station. I discussed this with the coordinator and decided to first invite the local practitioners who had done some work for Sound of Hope in the past. If there were still not enough people, we would extend the offer to those who had never done any media work before. Several practitioners immediately agreed to one shift every week. The reporter on duty needed to write reports based on the news happening that day.
Everything was hard at the very beginning. There were not enough reporters to cover the whole week. Out of the seven days each week, only four or five were covered. If any of the reporters needed to take a day off, there was nobody to substitute. Only three or four reporters attended the weekly status meetings, and the ongoing operation was not very smooth. I realized that we should have face to face Fa-study and experience sharing at the correspondent station. In the meantime, we needed professional training. So we decided to have a meeting during Christmas break.
On that day, we first studied the Fa as a group. Then we shared our thoughts on the necessity of establishing the correspondent station. Every practitioner voiced his or her opinion. We all agreed that the existence of the station was very necessary because we could train reporters to be very professional and attract more media talent. It would also build a solid foundation for us to establish a local radio station in the UK that was a profitable operation and accomplish the ultimate goal of saving sentient beings.
In the professional training area, we established a management team consisting of a chief editor, acting chief editor, and reporter on duty. We also created guidelines on how to choose worthy news topics. We also demonstrated how to use the editing software.
This sharing and Fa-study made every practitioner at the correspondent station understand the importance of Sound of Hope, which directly clarifies the truth to Mainland China via radio waves, thereby saving precious Chinese people. Coming together as one body we understood the purpose of having the correspondent station, our mission, and direction.
2. Fully Devoted to Training Reporters
We realized that almost none of our reporters had experience in writing and reporting. How could we make them qualified for the job and what training should we provide them?
We decided that hands-on practice always works better than theory. While they wrote the news reports, they would learn the main techniques of writing. Following this thought, in picking the everyday news topics, I usually would choose the topics that would work best for each person, not too difficult or too easy. When the reporter finished the report, I would edit, change or adjust, and also write comments on why I made the changes. After the report was published, the reporter could look at the finished result and, by seeing the differences, could learn the basic techniques of news writing. Because this process was very time consuming and we couldn't let the news sit for too long, it was often the case that I didn't finish the edit until 2:00 a.m.
Some practitioners wondered aloud if it wouldn't be more efficient if I wrote it myself. I realized that this kind of training was very necessary if we were to train more practitioners to become experienced reporters making our media much stronger. Within less than three months, these reporters went from not having much confidence in news writing to not needing much modification in their articles. After six months, their articles were all relatively mature. When the chief editors reviewed the articles, they only had to keep an eye out for anything that violated the reporting principles. The acting chief editors could also take on the chief editor's responsibilities.
I deeply realized that all of these talents so quickly gained were given to us by Master. I only had that one wish to pass on my experience to these new reporters and to truly make the correspondent station fully serve the purpose of saving sentient beings. I did not have a written training plan for each reporter. I just made arrangements so they could have opportunities to write different news reports. I only devoted my time and effort. The professional progress made by my fellow practitioners amazed me.
3. Understanding Management and Coordination as a Practitioner
My major was in management. I also used to work in the business administration field. However, when I tried to understand management a from practitioner's angle, I found out that I never truly had a deep understanding until now. In fact, whether one can manage well or not is a reflection of the cultivation of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
An experienced media reporter said, "Media work requires teamwork." The chief editor needs to take care of the journalists both professionally and personally. In practitioners' words, media work needs good coordination. The chief editor needs to be considerate of others.
Master taught us that looking inward is a magical tool. I realize that in the coordination work at the correspondent station, I should look inward when facing any issues. At the beginning, the duty schedule did not work well and there were not enough reporters. I wondered, "Why did we not find enough reporters?"
Master said:
"We're really short of hands, and this often results in many things being hard to do. So I would ask: has the coordination of our projects as a whole really achieved what it should? Are there still shortcomings that exist? If you can truly handle this well, they will really begin to achieve the effect they should, and it will change the environment around us; it could even be that the effect of the media will become such that more people in society want to read or watch them, learn the truth, and even seek out Dafa. If you can really achieve that, then you will have sufficient manpower, as there will constantly be new people coming, with some being very capable persons. If you haven't managed to make that stride forward, then you should examine things and ask whether it results from some form of inadequacy and that is why you have such difficulty. If you really manage to do well, the situation will change--change for the better. That really is the case." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference")
Reading Master's lecture, I found the issue in our one-body coordination. It was mainly because I did not actively share with practitioners face to face on the importance of the correspondent station. The reason I did not do that was due to my selfish thought of protecting myself and my vanity. I also was afraid that, even if I told them, it might not be useful, which made me not want to talk to them.
I decided to overcome these bad notions and attachments. The media coordinator and I decided to have a face to face Fa-study and experience sharing. We also held a Christmas party for the team. After that, our situation improved greatly. Through the efforts of all the reporters and our working together, more and more practitioners are joining the station and doing different work.
An acting chief editor once suggested that there was no need to have an acting chief editor. She thought it made sense for the chief editor to be solely in charge of picking the news. That made me think: "Was it because there were issues between the acting chief editor and me in coordination and work style?" I then shared my thoughts with her. She at first could not understand and even thought of leaving the station. However, after sharing with several practitioners, she understood that the purpose of having acting chief editors was to prepare future chief editors. She was then willing to stay and continue her work. After she changed her thoughts, she went from not having much sense in news to becoming fully qualified to handle the chief editor's responsibilities. This process helped me realize that when an issue surfaces, we should not complain or blame. Instead, we should look inward and see how we can improve ourselves first and then we will be able to understand and have tolerance for fellow practitioners.
The weekly meeting is a channel for us to share and communicate with one another. I can also understand reporters' thoughts and suggestions during these meetings so I can improve myself. In the meantime, I also understand the needs of each reporter so I can provide more assistance and help them to succeed. I think my role is to fill in their gaps. No matter where they need me, I always provide the support I can.
Therefore, we treat these meetings with righteous thoughts of tolerance, understanding, trust, and compassion so everybody can feel free to speak up. Through the Fa-study and sharing, we are able to reach a higher level as one-body. Once, a reporter brought up that she would like to take advantage of her vacation time to not only do news reports for Sound of Hope but also do it for the other media. From there, we started a discussion of professionalism as a reporter and coordination between different media. Finally, the reporters further understood deeply the position they have at Sound of Hope and decided to follow this path with great determination.
Another time, I asked each reporter to give his or her suggestions to the station. They all talked about their own shortcomings and areas where they needed improvement. That way, we improved as one-body.
Another time, one experienced reporter suddenly stopped working for Sound of Hope. Although he had not joined the correspondent station, he did a lot of work for other departments. At the beginning, practitioners thought he had issues in his cultivation. However, after sharing from the Fa perspective, we realized that we did not treat this practitioner with compassion. We often complained about him. We all realized that we should first eliminate our attachment of looking outward to make our field a true cultivation field. After we rectified our field, this practitioner came back.
Overall, the operation of the correspondent station and its management is a reflection of our cultivation state. Only when I am diligent in cultivation am I able to overcome difficulties. The mutual trust and cooperation among practitioners is a critical element in the further success of this project.
Cultivation is for improving. Although we have overcome the difficulties of the initial establishment of our correspondent station, we are facing new challenges and hope to set up a local radio station operation in the near future. This is a new requirement in our cultivation. In order to make such a breakthrough, we have to further improve our xinxing.
Master says,
"If you can manage to do things a bit better, your paper will grow even faster. Nothing happens by chance. If you do a good job, it's possible that others will further make way and leave you with a road that, as you are saving sentient beings, is wider [than at present] and your readership will grow. And with such changes, circumstances will be more favorable for your paper's success." ("Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting")
Within these short eight months, we have started preparing for the opening of our local radio station. This rapid development manifests the power of Dafa, practitioners' righteous thoughts and the further advancement of Fa-rectification.
I am so grateful for the opportunity Master gave me to participate in media work. I am so grateful for Master's benevolent salvation. Fulfilling what Master wants, assisting Master in Fa-rectification, and saving sentient beings is to fulfill our prehistoric vows.
Thank you, Revered Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
