Journalism
Being a journalist was a true privilege, where I got to elevate voices and offer new perspectives on otherwise familiar headlines.
A big part of my job was to recognise the stories that stand out in a busy news cycle and translate complex issues into clear, relatable narratives that drive a wider conversation. My day to day included a range of topics, anything from breaking news, investigative reports, political and climate journalism, to arts and sporting events.
VICE News on HBO
“Japanese cult leader Shoko Asahara’s daughter spoke to us right before he was executed”, 2018
Shoko Asahara had been on death row for his part in the Tokyo sarin gas attack in 1995 for more than 13 years. A new Emperor was due to ascend to the throne, and I predicted that Asahara would be gone before the coronation.
I wanted to speak to Asahara’s daughter, Rika Matsumoto as the only person who campaigned for her father’s human rights to be upheld in custody. Publicly vilified from an early age, Rika was suspicious of any media coverage on her life. She nonetheless granted us unprecedented access as the first international media outlet to interview her.
Read the story here.
“Tidal may have juiced Kanye and Beyoncé’s streaming numbers.”
An alleged whistle-blower leaked data to the Norwegian paper Dagens Naeringsliv, which showed that numbers were inflated by 320 million listens.
I secured rare access to original, leaked material from Tidal’s servers in Oslo and interviewed the NTNU data forensics team in Gjøvik as the only international news outlet to do so. I found patterns where listens had been inflated by analysing the raw data and together with the graphics team, helped produce an animated sequence to illustrate those findings visually.
My article to the story here.
Sky News
“Mongolia’s Nomads face hunger crisis”
We reported on the Mongolian nomad communities during the country’s harshest winter in sixty years. Millions of cattle were starving to death due to the effects of global warming.
I pitched the story to our internal teams and secured access to Red Cross relief efforts to nomad communities that had been cut off for months. There was initial concern that the story would not resonate with a UK viewership. We ended up doing a full day of live coverage from Mongolia, with members of the public contacting our offices asking us how they could help.
“Japan Tsunami evacuees speak of sense of betrayal”
Our team was based in Beijing, which made us the first to land in Japan after the Earthquake and Tsunami hit in March 2011.
A selection of stories that I worked on, mainly for Sky News.
It includes an undercover report on mental health facilities being used to illegally detain political activists; the death of an elderly woman at the hands of property developers, our coverage of elections in Myanmar from Karen rebel-held territory and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
