Could you introduce us to VICE World News?
We are a new member of the VICE Media family that covers the world outside the U.S. for a young global audience. We have journalists reporting from here in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. 

In this region, we have staff reporters based in nine countries. We're looking to cover the region authentically and deliver stories that are bold and accessible. Our team is made up of reporters and editors who are mostly from the region they're covering and/or have intimate knowledge of it, and I think that really shows in our work.

What is the editorial focus of your team?
Our core beats include extremism, climate, drugs, privacy, politics, and inequality. They come in all shapes and sizes. One story that comes to mind is "We Spoke to a Cremator at the Center of India’s COVID Hell," which may sound like a story about the virus's devastation but it's also about inequality and caste. Another example is our series on press freedom in Myanmar, which demonstrates the junta's assault on the media but also the incredible courage and resilience of journalists there. Racial injustice is a big one, and we've covered that in different places including Japan and Singapore. 

Any special plans for the latter half of 2021?
VICE World News was launched about this time last year. The plan for the coming months is to get better at what we do and hopefully leave a dent somewhere.

One of the stories that best represents what we stand for is a piece from the Philippines that looks into what happened to the many women and children in the country after their husbands and fathers were killed in Duterte’s drug war. We're honoured that it picked up a SOPA award last month and we're looking to do more original, impactful reporting like that.

We're also constantly on the lookout for culture stories that capture something curious and meaningful about the region. One of my favourite stories is about why "Boys Keep Flirting With Each Other on Chinese TV But Never Fall in Love." We take our young global audiences seriously and want to be the source of news and information for them.

You've worked in digital journalism in recent years. How does it compare to traditional journalism?
The lack of indoor smoking? I'm not old enough to speak of those days but there was a time when I, as an intern, was tasked with entering and laying out sports scores for print — manually. 

So one of the biggest changes is technology. It affects every step of the editorial process, from what we choose to cover to how to do it and how to distribute this content. And what counts as "content"—or journalism, for that matter—has changed. An 800-word news piece is content, an Instagram post is content, and so is a Reddit AMA or Clubhouse session. The dominance of social media sites and Google has incentivised whole new categories of content and created new jobs in the newsroom (and took away even more). 

How should aspiring journalists equip themselves before entering the industry?
One thing that isn't going out of fashion is good reporting that unearths new, vital and useful information. Do whatever it takes to develop those skills. Try to preserve your curiosity and empathy along the way and create things with them because computers can't easily do that, unlike cutting and pasting soccer scores.