Lut Sein Win - First-class spirit

Why do we have two ears and only one mouth?

Although I am disabled and cannot travel, I still come into contact with young people. One group of young people I meet are former students and former students of my school. The other group is young people from the media. Although the way I interact with these two groups of young people is different, the reason they come is the same.

Young people often come to me to vent their frustrations. The basic lesson that I learned from those who have been journalists is to talk less and listen more. After working as a teacher for over 20 years, I have always been a journalist, and I have always listened to young people. As a speech instructor, I have become quite accustomed to this habit. When I don't talk much, the students do all the talking.

Even though I can no longer work as a teacher, my students and former students still come to me whenever they want to consult, whether it is about business, social or personal matters. Young journalists of this era also come to me, whether they want to consult, ask questions or discuss. Some of them come only because they have to, because they know that they are not healthy, and they are reluctant. I tell them not to bother. They come, not only because they are tired. They are even helpful. I can no longer keep my eyes on the times and the youth.

Besides, I am not only suffering, but I am also getting old. Who knows whether it will be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? The young people should continue to work so that the generation of journalists, editors, and journalists does not die. We should rely on them. Only they can build the future. That is why we should support and help the young people as much as we can. Especially, we should listen to what they want to stand up for and what they want to say.

The most important thing that young people always confide in is the generation gap between adults and young people, which causes differences in views, thoughts, and ways of doing things. There are young people who are upset because their parents' opinions don't match theirs, and there are young people who are confused because they don't have the same views as adults in the workplace.

When young people come to talk, it's not because they can't solve the problem. They can't solve it. The only thing they do is listen well. Young people themselves think they can solve their problems, and instead of coming to talk, they come because they have more things they want to say but can't say, and they are so stuck. They come to talk because they know there is a pair of ears who will listen to whatever they say. They usually feel lighter and fresher after they have vented everything they have. Usually, they don't say a word of comfort or encouragement. They feel lighter and fresher because they have opened up.

That's what young people need most. Whether they're sad, angry, or crying, they don't need to ask what's wrong or why, but rather someone who will give them a shoulder to cry on if they want to. Young people are usually more inclined to talk than listen. Adults tend to ask people why they're sad and then offer words of encouragement and advice.

The nature of young people is that they do not like to be corrected. The more you talk to them, the less they want to listen. Some even fight back. We should not underestimate young people because they are inexperienced. There are also good things about being inexperienced. They are not afraid of not having experience. They are willing to take risks. Experienced people have faced dangers and suffered hardships, so they are not willing to give up. Instead of breaking new ground, they prefer to follow the old path that has been well-trodden. They tend to hesitate in any matter. Therefore, when it comes to matters that require sacrifice and suffering, we can rely more on young people.

As adults, if you don't want to do it yourself, don't. Don't discourage the young. If adults discourage the young, they will become hesitant and hesitant. If you are stubborn, stubborn, and stubborn, it is not good. If it is not good for the young, it is not good for the future of the country. Therefore, instead of being stubborn and stubborn, I urge you to listen to what the young want to say, what they want to open their hearts to, and what they dream about. At the same time, I would like to present a poem. For both the young and the old. It is a traditional folk poem of the `Chepo' ethnic group in Tanzania, Africa.

You only have one mouth.

You have only got one mouth,

But two ears.

So you talk once and listen twice.

You observe a lot, but talk very little.

You have only got one mouth.

But two hands.

Therefore two for working and one for eating food.

There is only one mouth.

You only have one mouth.

But there are two ears.

So you have to speak once and listen twice.

I see a lot but say little.

You only have one mouth, but you have two hands.

So I have to work with two and eat with one.

29, October, 2005.

I want to differentiate between journalism and PR.

Recently, an old American journalist friend of mine visited me. He is no longer a journalist in the field because he is getting older. While he regularly writes political and social commentary articles for some newspapers, he also teaches journalism at a university. I had known him for more than 20 years when he was a journalist.

As we chatted with him, his mouth watered as he explained the journalism curriculum at their university. He said that there are no universities or colleges that offer journalism courses yet. So he was not surprised. He complained again that in America, too, there are very few real journalism courses. He added that today, journalism schools are mixing subjects like Information Technology, Mass Communication, and Public Relations, so there is not much time left to teach real journalism.

Today's young people often work as journalists, who are hard-working and sometimes earn a living, but who don't get paid much. There are not many who work long-term. They are interested in jobs that don't require a living like journalists, but are more interested in lucrative jobs like PR, communications officers for big businesses, and advertising. He laments that even though there is a difference between journalism and PR, young people don't really know much about it.

Hearing him say this, I immediately remembered what young models and aspiring actresses used to say, “The press is a bridge between artists like you and the public.” I also remembered how some people in the press considered this bridge work to be the responsibility of journalists, and talked about it and wrote about it.

My journalist friend told me that they want to work as journalists in big newspapers. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find young people who do not want to do anything else but journalism. But on the other hand, the number of young people graduating with degrees in communications and public relations has increased by 1,500 percent in the last 25 years. He gave precise figures, saying that from 3,131 graduates in 1966, there were 52,899 in 1991. He explained that he remembered these figures because he always included a survey he conducted in 1995 in his courses.

The communications, PR, and advertising industries are all rented out by large businesses and entertainment companies, so they earn a good income.

Journalism is also a profession, so it must be learned systematically. It must be studied thoroughly in colleges and universities. Therefore, universities and colleges should teach these subjects. However, they should not be mixed into journalism courses, which are different in nature. Although some of the methods may seem similar, the basic nature is very different.

Rather than trying to explain the difference in my own words, I would like to quote Michael Foley, an Irish journalist and professor of journalism at the University of Dublin. He said, 'One serves the public interest, the other a private interest.'

"One benefits the public. The other benefits the private sector," he said most clearly.

A friend of mine, an American journalist, said, “Public relations, public relations, and advertising should be completely eliminated from journalism curricula. These have nothing to do with journalism. They are all about business.” But the problem is that nowadays, there are bricks and mortar everywhere. The worst thing is that “it doesn’t matter whether a cat is white or black, you just need to catch a mouse.” A businessman like Rupert Murdoch has started running newspapers like he owns a film company and a record label. For people like him, it doesn’t matter if a newspaper becomes an advertising or PR business. As long as it sells a lot of copies and makes a lot of money, it’s all good.

Newspapers are not advertising. They are not PR. So they are not responsible for advertising or connecting with anyone. They do not need to promote any issue. Newspapers have only one responsibility: to inform the reading public. They have no other responsibility than to inform. The most important responsibility for journalists and journalists is to make sure that the news they provide is correct, accurate, and solid. Communications, public relations (PR), and advertising are inherently responsible for serving private interests, so they should do what the employer wants rather than what is right. If you are asked to lie, you will lie. In this regard, Julia Housbaugh, a female PR professional who works in the PR industry, said, “PR companies lie for their clients. Hill and Knowlton, one of the most successful PR firms in the world,

“The company was forced to spread lies about Iraqi forces invading Kuwait pulling newborn babies out of incubators in hospitals and throwing them on the streets. We all know that this is not true,” he wrote. He added that PR people, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, are the most vulnerable to lies.

We need to seriously consider whether such professions as advertising, mass communication, and public relations should be taught in a subject like journalism, which is “with no other responsibility than to report the truth.”

I don't want to misinterpret what I said when I said that a journalist has no other responsibility than to find and write news. A journalist is not a "monster". He is a person among people. He is a citizen of a country. Therefore, he must abide by the "human ethics" that a human being in society must follow. He must abide by the civic ethics that a citizen of the country he lives in must follow. There are no exceptions for being a journalist or a journalist. The law has no exceptions. No one is exempt from the law.

A journalist is a human being, so he has his own feelings and beliefs. It is not his fault. He also has feelings of love and hate. This is natural. He cannot be blamed. But he cannot write a news article according to his own feelings, beliefs, and his loves and hates. News should be written accurately and regularly, as it is, as it is. He cannot exaggerate, distort, or distort the news. If he wants to exaggerate, distort, or distort, or if he wants to write his own feelings, beliefs, and opinions, he is also allowed to write.

But not in news. You can write a feature story, a commentary article, or an opinion column under your own name. You are responsible for any consequences that may arise from writing under your own name. News and headlines represent the policies and principles of the entire newspaper, so the editor and reporter must be completely free from any selfishness.

In this era of renaissance in journalism, I have noticed that more and more young people want to go abroad to study journalism. However, I would like to suggest that you first do some research on what kind of course you are going to take and what kind of teachers will teach it.

3, 8, 2004