We speak with Christina Alpad from The Manila Times about her favourite interviews to date and what her section might look like in the months ahead.
 
We understand you’ve been writing for The Manila Times for almost seven years. Tell us more about your role and how your journey has been so far?
I started as a Junior Reporter for the section in 2015. Though I had previously worked for another publication, and I was also covering the lifestyle beat, I’d say it was still a culture shock for me. There was a stark difference between working for a bigger publication and an independent magazine. Nevertheless, I was lucky to have an editor and a team that patiently guided me until I learned the ropes and jargons of the newspaper industry.

On top of covering events and writing stories, my responsibilities increased over the years. Today, as an Assistant Editor and with the final approvals from my section editor, I edit lifestyle and entertainment stories and other materials for print and online. I also assign coverages and monitor any developing stories, among other tasks.

How do you decide what gets published? Are there any stories that will catch your attention?
We closely work together as a team to determine what stories will be published. One of the considerations is the theme for the day. For example, our lifestyle pages publish home and parenting stories on Tuesday, food stories every Friday, etc. 

We also have themes for the entertainment section but as an added consideration, we publish stories closer to, or on the day, of series and movie premieres.

To clarify, most of these are feature stories. As we are a newspaper, we put to bed (as in finalised and ready for printing) our pages a day or two before the publication date. But in entertainment especially, you also have to write stories as they break and treat them as news items. For these instances, we turn to our online platforms then flesh out the story, as needed, for print.

Besides theme and time element, stories that provide inspiration are also high on our list.

What has been your favourite coverage or interview so far, and why?
In our weekly The Sunday Times Magazine, we go in-depth to write profiles about personalities, business leaders, politicians, celebrities, and everyday Filipinos who have inspirational stories to share. These interviews are my favourite because my interviewees let me in on their journey.

Of course, not all interviewees readily share their personal stories. You have to make them comfortable and reassure them that you will take care of their stories with utmost respect. But when you earn their trust, it’s magical. I will never forget the time a mother tearfully shared her fears and struggles in raising her child with special needs, or a couple who painfully recalled their struggles before the success of their business. After doing these interviews for years, I have come to believe that everyone has a valuable story to share, you just have to listen.

Who do you dream of interviewing, and why?
This is a tough one because I have lots of dream interviews! But hopefully, one day, I’ll get the chance to interview female political leaders like our Vice President Leni Robredo, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen, US Vice President Kamala Harris and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, among others. Their life stories — the challenges and struggles they had to overcome or continue to fight — could inspire more young women to someday pursue leadership roles.

How closely do you work with PRs in your role, and can you describe the ideal way you like to be pitched?
We receive pitches almost on a daily basis and highly appreciate pitches that are well thought out and are complete in details. Opportunities to interview subjects are also appreciated.

What kinds of people in the community are you interested to reach out and speak with? (e.g. those looking for entertaining stories, inspiring stories)
Hopefully we can both entertain our readers with our stories, inspire them to live their best life and instil hope in them through our subject’s success stories.

What is your future content or writing plan?
We’ll be on the lookout for consumer behaviour as we, hopefully, safely re-emerge from the latest COVID-19 surge (and fingers-crossed no more new variant develops). What are people keen to try? Where will people travel to? Also, because it’s election season, our section will most probably be busy covering celebrities who have turned into politicians. Especially in the Philippines, these two worlds — showbiz and politics — are perennially intertwined.

If you can give yourself editorial advice on the first day of the job, what advice would that be?
Read a lot, listen more. Oh, and download Otter (the app), it’ll save you time and effort to transcribe your hour-long interviews. Lol.

Telum Media gives journalists a platform to share their experiences in the newsroom and out in the field. If you would like to share your story or nominate someone to be featured, email us at philippinesalert@telummedia.com