(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master, Greetings, fellow practitioners,
I’d like to share my experiences clarifying the truth via a media project. In 2003, practitioners established a branch of The Epoch Times newspaper in Vancouver. I realized that media is a strong Fa weapon for spreading the truth, and the project evolved according to the requirements of Fa-rectification. My path of participating in clarifying the truth via media started when I learned to be a reporter for The Epoch Times.
1. Becoming an Epoch Times Reporter, Making Friends, and Spreading the Truth
When The Epoch Times was newly established, most of the content was from headquarters. However, what we needed most was local news, and my task was to provide as much news about the local community as possible in order to attract more Chinese readers.
Since I had never cared about ordinary society news, I had to change my habits and force myself to read English and Chinese news in the political, economic, cultural, and educational fields. To be a reporter we have to have comprehensive knowledge and a certain level of English skills. It wasn’t a small challenge.
Since I had to constantly look up information, I felt that being a reporter was really arduous and time-consuming. Sometimes I had to spend an entire day outside and stay up late into the night to write a few hundred words of ordinary news. I felt my time would be much better spent clarifying the truth via other projects. However, if our media contained only Falun Gong related information, people may not read it. As the saying goes, “A red flower needs to be accompanied by green leaves.” People will read our newspaper if we report things everyday people are interested in. In order to make our news popular, we have to stay close to people’s lives, reporting things they are most interested in. Thus, I’m willing to be a green leaf to serve as a foil for the red flower – the truth.
While working as a reporter, I got to know people from all walks of life, from the three levels of government officials, high-level managers, people in mainstream society, and Chinese communities. I think that a reporter is a great weapon for clarifying the truth. Reporters are “uncrowned kings” and have a special position in society. They can get in touch with people within certain social strata that fellow practitioners usually find difficult to reach. By doing interviews we can connect with people with predestined relationships and even make friends with them and clarify the truth to them in a natural way. After accepting the truth, those influential people will spread the truth in their own circles.
I remember when I first contacted the local Taiwanese community, very few people knew about Falun Gong. Most of them thought we had political objectives. After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I brought some copies to several people in charge of the Taiwanese community, but they just reacted perfunctorily. I didn’t get discouraged and continued to report on their events. I sent links to our news reports to them and I gave them copies of the published articles. Gradually they started to like The Epoch Times website and newspaper and developed a clearer understanding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After becoming friends with them, I told them my personal experience of how I benefited from practicing Dafa and why the CCP persecutes us, and they all understood. Later on, these community leaders started to invite me to join their gatherings and events, and these occasions became great opportunities for truth clarification. There was a period of time when Vancouver practitioners couldn’t find a location for group Fa-study. A community leader who is also a pastor of a Chinese Christian church gave us a key to the church and said he trusted us and welcomed us to use his church whenever we needed it. Another person I know is the elder of a Presbyterian church. One time I went to look for him and heard that during his worship he was talking about how the CCP persecutes Falun Gong practitioners and he led everyone in prayer for persecuted practitioners.
Gradually I figured out a path for myself while learning it on the job. I was able to connect to people with a predestined relationship and spread the truth.
2. Joining NTD, Participating in Three Media, Walking My Path of Validating the Fa
In the summer of 2004, many practitioners from around the world went to New York to participate in the Manhattan Anti-Torture Exhibition. I went and stayed for six months. Upon returning to Vancouver, the NTD Vancouver reporter station had been established for a while, and the coordinator invited me to join the news team. I thought to myself, “All three media are in need of reporters, but working for NTD can help with all three media, so it’s a good idea.”
However, that was much easier said than done. TV news is different from print news. A reporter has to cooperate with a cameraman, and when writing the script, has to take into consideration many things, including the video, sound, and fluidity of the footage. I found that there were lots of things I needed to learn in this new area, meaning I needed to work harder. I also had to wait for the fellow practitioner, who didn’t speak English, to finish editing the news before I could go home. It became routine for me to stay up all night, and I had to go to work early the next morning. At one point I felt I couldn’t go on any longer. At work, I would fall asleep on my feet. Whenever that happened, I recited Master’s Fa in my heart, "'It’s hard to endure, but you can endure it. It’s hard to do, but you can do it.'" Doing news without a having a professional background meant that I had to put in a lot more effort in order to do it well.
3. Joining NTD Headquarters and Breaking Through Difficulties
Whenever one test is passed, the next one comes. One day towards the end of 2007, the human resources manager of NTD in New York called me and invited me to come to New York as a full-time reporter. After NTD entered the New York cable network at the beginning of 2008, local news was needed on a daily basis to attract an audience and open up the door for marketing. However, if I were to go to New York, I’d have to quit my job, leave the familiar Vancouver area, and go to a strange city and start from zero again, so I declined. Two weeks later, the HR manager called me again and earnestly invited me once more. I thought to myself that nothing is accidental. Maybe it was time for me to walk my cultivation path in New York.
Knowing full well that it was quite a big challenge for me, as a cultivator I knew I couldn’t back down in the face of difficulty. I quit my full-time job and went to New York. The very first day I was met with a hard task. The news department coordinator asked each reporter to do one or two news pieces independently every day. I had never edited news before, but I had watched a fellow practitioner do it, so on the first evening I managed to put together the footage using everything I remembered. On the first evening, everyone at NTD gathered in front of the TV and watched our news program with great excitement. Everyone applauded the efforts of the news team and I was greatly encouraged.
The first day was over, but every day after that felt like passing a test for me. Conquering the physical discomfort, the discomfort living in a small space, the difficulty of living in a strange city, learning to shoot and interview while carrying the camera and tripod, catching the subway and walking on foot was difficult. A lot of times we are the last media to leave, because we have to do public relations, script writing, voiceovers, editing, and meeting deadlines. Every day felt like fighting on a battlefield. Also, as a newcomer to New York, I had to read lots of information and news from mainstream media and Chinese media in order to get myself familiar with the city. For the first three months, it was usually 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. before I got back to my place each day. In New York, I felt like I was being pushed along, and the pace of news didn’t allow me to stop. I really felt like taking a rest when I was tired, but I knew, even though it felt so difficult, that as long as Dafa needed me in that position, there must be a way for me to walk my own path. Especially at that moment, I couldn’t let up on Fa study. Only the Fa could help me pass the test.
Master said,
“That is why Fa-study is still the most, most important thing—it is the fundamental guarantee for all that you are to do. If you cannot keep up in Fa-study, then there is no hope.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
I started to recite the Fa every day when I got home. By the end of the workday however, my head was full of news. Thus, reciting and transcribing the Fa helped me concentrate my thoughts. In the morning I studied one lecture of Zhuan Falun and did the exercises with a roommate. After four months, I finally made a breakthrough and was able to independently do a news report with ease.
In the second year, NTD’s length of broadcasting on the local cable network increased from one hour in the evening to 24 hours per day. In the third year, our subscribers increased by 700,000 in the Greater New York area. A young fellow practitioner joined the news team and became a part-time cameraman. I was very happy at the beginning, and trained him and showed him all I knew. However, as he became comfortable and got familiar with procedures, he started to find fault with me. The conflicts between us escalated the more we worked together.
At a press release, the two of us had a fight while shooting. He said that I wasn’t professional and he put down the equipment and was about to leave. I got angry and said I thought that it was a rule for the cameraman to listen to the reporter, not vice versa. We both angrily returned to the station. The HR manager noticed that the conflict between us had escalated and asked us if the news we made would be able to save people. His words woke me up. When I met with a conflict, I got myself trapped in everyday people’s thinking and required the other party to conform to the everyday world's rules, which is “The cameraman should listen to the reporter,” and I had complained about him not being rational.
Doing news is the same as doing other projects. We should treat it as cultivation. But I forgot to look inside, and this incident showed me that I had not let go of my attachment to “not being able to take criticism.” In addition, Master requires us to cooperate with each other in order to save people. From whatever perspective I looked at what happened, I hadn’t done well. I took a hard look at myself and discovered that the reason I didn’t agree with the new colleague was because I had jealousy that manifested as my looking down on him. I feel that the attachment of jealousy has many layers and I have to constantly work on letting it go.
Master said,
“I’ve said again and again that you cannot see a cultivator’s good side. That side is simply terrific, and has met the standard. And what does it mean to 'meet the standard'? It is the standard of a god. Whereas the part of him that hasn’t been successfully cultivated yet, that part is going to seem worse as it works its way up and gets closer to the surface. But, maybe that person has cultivated very well.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
Based on the standards of Dafa, that fellow practitioner has many positive qualities. He diligently studies the Fa and is not afraid of enduring hardships. Master asks us to consider others first, but I wasn’t being considerate of him. He left his parents at a young age and had formed a somewhat eccentric character. After that, our relationship improved and we were able to cooperate better.
The hardest thing about doing news is perseverance. As time goes on, we do the same thing again and again and again, and from time to time I had some negative thoughts. But I know Master is always looking after me. I’ll give a few examples. When the financial crisis first hit in the U.S., I went to Wall Street to do an interview alone, and it was very difficult. Everyone walked out of the New York Stock Exchange looking downcast, and no one wanted to do an interview with me. After being turned down many times, I was frustrated and thought it was really not an easy day. But soon after, a group of Chinese people came by, and I could tell they were tourists. Someone pointed at the logo on my microphone and said, “Look, NTD! NTD is here, too!” I knew Master was using His mouth to encourage me to persevere. Before long, an economist came out of the building and accepted my interview request. Another time I took a ninety minute subway and bus ride to do an interview at the Botanical Garden, and I had to walk for half an hour carrying the camera and tripod. I complained about the coordinator in my heart. After the interview, I put the camera on the tripod and started shooting myself doing the intro. A Chinese lady walked by and said to me, “Wow, you are so capable. Which TV station do you work for?” I told her it was NTDTV. She excitedly told me she watched NTD every day and told me she would wait for my news that evening. I knew Master was encouraging me again and asking me to not fear hardship. One time I went back to Vancouver to report on Shen Yun Performing Arts. When I was going through the security check at the New York airport, a Chinese staff person came over and asked me if I was reporter so-and-so for NTD. I asked how she knew me, and she told me that she always watched our programs.
“Challenging” is the word I would use to describe the three and half years I spent in New York, but I had fun as well. I participated in reporting on the Nine Competitions, and witnessed the great influence they had in reviving traditional Chinese culture. I also took part in reporting on the Shen Yun Performing Arts shows in different cities in the U.S. and Canada, and in reporting the Flushing events. I felt these opportunities were very precious, and it was my honor to contribute my share of effort in the main battlefield during the Fa-rectification period.
4. Launching a Multi-language Channel and Learning to Be a Coordinator
I joined the news department in Toronto last summer. On March 28, 2012, the NTD multi-language channel began on the cable network in four provinces of western Canada. I realized then that my path was arranged to come to Toronto. The multi-language channel is an important part of NTD’s global strategy. If we do it well, we will be able to save a lot more people in mainstream society. Master said in “Fa Teaching Given at the NTDTV Meeting,” June 6, 2009,
“For sure it would be better if there could be programs in more languages. And if the station could truly gain a solid footing in ordinary society, get into a positive cycle, and flourish and prosper, that would be great. Don’t stop at having programs in other languages, however. You will really be doing well when you have managed to produce programs in every language, with no ethnicity left out. That’s because who is before you and who you must save are all of the world’s people.”
The news department in Toronto was yet another brand new environment for me, which was totally different from New York. At headquarters, everyone is required to work independently, but in Toronto, the test is to see if we can work together as one body. Toronto news team members view it this way: Individual skills are not comprehensive, but everyone works together in a concerted effort. I felt the power of one body here.
Learning to be an editor-in-chief and a coordinator was another test for me, because all along I’ve been a reporter. Every day I just needed to make sure I finished one or two pieces of news, but to be an editor-in-chief I have to be responsible for 20 to 30 pieces of news. I also have to take care of the manpower and time for post-production, and need to understand the whole picture. This is another new area for me to learn. Every evening I spend time looking up information, watching mainstream news, and looking for a news lead. As soon as our multi-language channel was launched, the coordination workload increased, and I had to help with communication between headquarters and the Vancouver reporter station. The meetings are becoming more and more frequent. I felt that there wasn’t enough time every day, and I couldn’t focus my mind when studying the Fa by myself. My mind constantly wavered. I’m very grateful for the daily group study organized by some senior practitioners, as it gives me an environment to focus my mind on the Fa.
When the news team members study the Fa and send righteous thoughts together, I feel the cohesion among us is strengthened and the gaps between us are eliminated. We are able to cooperate with each other better and better. Precisely because of that cooperation, the news team was able to miraculously create a news production in four different languages – English, French, Mandarin, and Cantonese, with very limited manpower.
A key member of the Mandarin team quietly took over the task of broadcasting. In order to sort out the programs for 24-7 broadcasting, he sleeps very little each day. He is also responsible for the shooting and editing of a car program and working on the database. Another key member who helps with the editing of English news goes to the station to join the group exercise and Fa-study at 6:00 a.m. and often goes home at 1:00 a.m. Other members on the Mandarin team are responsible for producing two versions of Mandarin news and one version of the Cantonese news. A team of reporters and cameramen has to go out to do interviews during the day if there is important news to cover. A practitioner in his seventies took the initiative to do recording for three anchors in the evening. Members of the Cantonese team rush to the station to do the voiceover as soon as they finish their day job and after that they have to work on their Sound of Hope program. Many people are overloaded with work but offer no complaints.
By working with fellow practitioners, I discovered my shortcomings. The multi-language channel started four months ago, and people are getting more and more involved. We need to smooth out some procedures and details, and there are things we should have handled better. But during this crucial period of time when we need manpower the most, a lot of people asked for leaves of absence and some even stopped coming. My heart was moved, and worries, doubts, and complaints came out. I doubted the cultivation status of the practitioners who asked for leaves of absence, complained that their being inconsiderate would cause more pressure for others, and worried how long we could last if things continued this way. However, whenever someone asked for a leave, the rest of the team would take the initiative to fill in. People volunteered to be anchors, volunteered to edit more, and everyone took the initiative to share the workload without complaining. I felt ashamed of myself seeing this. As a coordinator, I need a bigger heart, and should be more considerate. There must be a reason for a practitioner to ask for a leave of absence, I should care about them, find out more about their difficulties, and assign work according to everyone’s situation and ability.
The next time someone asked for a leave, I reminded myself to keep clam and not be moved. I listened to what they had to tell me and treated fellow practitioners with righteous thoughts and support. Gradually the old mentality went away and I sensed practitioners fully cooperating with each other.
Master said,
“If a Dafa disciple's heart is unsteady, it will cause changes in his or her surroundings. When you have fear, for instance, you will find that the sentient beings around you are not quite right. When you change such that your presence is refreshing and uplifting to people, and your mind becomes broad and full of optimism, you will find the things around you to be correspondingly different. When clarifying the truth, when validating the Fa, and when encountering challenges as you do things, adjust yourself and look at things with righteous thoughts. It might just prove to be effective.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
I cherish the news team's daily and weekly group Fa-study and the openhearted sharing. I feel that I am being cleansed in this precious environment. I think it’s the key to forming a diamond-like, indestructible, one body.
I’d like to share a paragraph of Master’s Fa with everyone,
“The more hopeless things may seem, it’s possible hope will appear right before your eyes. Especially during those times when you are feeling so bored, perhaps you are in fact establishing your mighty virtue. I hope that you can really manage to cooperate well, have strong enough righteous thoughts, look within when you run into things, and be enthusiastic like you were when you first took up cultivation.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
