Former news anchor shares her career journey

Dr Carol Ong, former news anchor and TV host from Astro AEC

UTAR Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Social & Policy Studies (TCLC) organised a talk titled “Plopping Heartbeat in the Live News Room 《新闻直播间里扑通扑通的心跳》” on 17 February 2023 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. 

UTAR was honoured to have Dr Carol Ong, a former news anchor and TV host from Astro AEC, share her experience and give an inspirational talk to the staff and students of UTAR. Dr Carol Ong graduated from Nanjing University School of Journalism and Communication. She was awarded the “First News Anchor with PhD in Malaysia” by the Malaysia Book of Records.

Dr Carol Ong began the talk by sharing her experiences and the challenges she encountered during her journey as a news anchor. She emphasised, “We have to master multitasking skills as we are required to simultaneously take in the producer’s instructions via earpiece while scanning for information in the manuscript reader.”

She explained, “There was also an incident where the manuscript reader broke down and the wording couldn’t be read clearly. No matter what happens, we have to remain calm and collected even though our hearts beat rapidly. And we need to have the “skills without a script”, it is built on mental agility, critical thinking and continuous learning.”

Dr Carol Ong then shared the daily task of a news anchor. She said, “Being a news anchor is exciting but, bear in mind, it is a fast-paced profession. Don’t let your perfection be the enemy of productivity as you need to act fast to complete your tasks. We are responsible for writing scripts, revising scripts, broadcasting, interviewing, filming and editing.” “A mistake during a live broadcast cannot be undone, but no worries, we all learn from mistakes; just avoid repeating them next time,” Dr Carol Ong added. 

She mentioned that she participated in a lot of events and witnessed major political changes that took place in Malaysia in the last six years of her service at ASTRO AEC. Some of the incidents include the 2018 Malaysian general election, the 2022 Malaysian general election, the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis (Sheraton Move), the COVID-19 pandemic and many more. Dr Carol Ong was also invited to report on Double 11: The Biggest Online Shopping Festival in the world.

Dr Carol Ong concluded her talk, saying, “I learned three important skills as a news anchor. First, we have to keep pace with the times, learn to make good use of tools to save costs, and seize the era of ‘everyone is a reporter’; second, we need to establish and make good use of contacts and resources to seize exclusive news; last but not least, we need to strengthen and polish our ability to quickly scan news and read comments to understand the news in the shortest time.

The webinar ended with an interactive Q&A session.

Chairperson for Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Social and Policy Studies Assoc Prof Dr Chin Yee Mun (left) presenting souvenirs to Dr Carol Ong

Interesting talk by Dr Carol Ong