Women Reporters First with the News

January 1983

中文

Alice Kao interviewing Chinese Communist air force defector, Wu Jung-ken.

In the open society of the Republic of China, women are playing increasingly important roles. In addition to being lawyers, accountants and professors, women are working with newspapers, magazines, and television stations as reporters and editors. Among them, Alice Kao Hui-yu, Gloria Hsu Jung-hua, Hu Hsueh-chu and Yu Szu-chou are most familiar to the people of Taiwan.

Alice Kao presides over the major events committee of Taipei's prestigious United Daily News, and is the paper's first woman diplomatic reporter. Energetic, optimistic and progressive, Alice is more courageous and resourceful than many of her male counterparts.

"As a young girl, I made up my mind to become either a journalist or a diplomat. As a diplomatic reporter, I achieved both goals," she said.

While majoring in Chinese literature, Alice mastered the language skills necessary for a career as a reporter for a Chinese-language newspaper. After graduation, she went to the United States to study journalism at the University of Utah.

As she had received little English- language and journalistic training, the dean of the Utah School of Journalism asked her to transfer to another department. Alice argued that as she came with the support of her relatives at home, they would be disappointed if she changed her course. The dean nodded his head and said, "You are a courageous woman. I will help you."

During the first class, the instructor replayed a recorded speech of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and asked each student to rewrite it into a news story. All of the students carried out the assignment except Alice. The instructor allowed her to take the tape home and to hand in her paper in the next class.

"My college life was hard, but I was always optimistic. I knew that I was not a top-notch student, but was sure I was not third class either," she recalled.

Alice passed all her first-year courses, but was financially squeezed because she had sent all her money back to her family except for US$100. She decided to go to Reno to earn some money during the summer vacation.

She landed a job at a casino handing out small change to gamblers. She wore a skirt with seven or eight big pockets, all of which were filled with coins of different denominations. Weighted down in this way, she had to walk from floor to floor 16 hours a day.

During her two months at Reno, she gained much experience. The life was so dull that she began to gamble herself. She lost all her monthly earnings in one day. For a reporter, this was not such a bad experience however. "I lost my money, but I gained my courage. A reporter without courage is not a reporter at all," she said with a smile.

By the end of the summer vacation, she had earned more than US$2,000. When she told the story to her dean at the University of Utah, the professor, instead of being annoyed, seemed to be moved by her courage and candor. He exempted her from tuition fees for the second year.

After graduating from the University of Utah, Alice joined the United Daily News. At first, her colleagues expressed doubts that she would stay long. Several journalists returning from the United States had left their jobs before. To their surprise, however, Alice has worked with the United Daily News for eight years.

She said: "A reporter should be aggressive and not humble. During an interview, they should present their own views, for this is a sure way to induce the interviewee to talk."

Gloria Hsu Jung-hua is noted for her careful approach. "I am not a high flyer. I am happy only when I achieve perfection," she said. Gloria is now deputy director of the United Daily News' city desk, a position she gained by writing authoritative economic stories.

She credited her promotion to the guidance of her superiors, especially Lin Hsiao-feng, vice chairman of the paper's economic news committee.

"After I graduated from the department of journalism of the National Chengchi University, I felt there was a gap between theory and practice. At first, I did not know how to write a good economic story because economics is such a complex subject. Lin told me the questions I should ask at an interview. After I returned, he showed me how to write the story."

Gloria believes that a reporter must have ability in presentation, comprehension and organization. "They must keep cool no matter how pressing or exciting things become," she said.

Talking of her experiences during interviews, she said: "The more important the person interviewed, the more careful the reporter should be to ensure there is no interruption in train of thought. The reporter must listen intently and use his 'nose for news' to find clues from the statements made."

Hu Hsueh-chu of CTV has participated in almost all major reports broadcast by the television station. Not long after she joined CTV, Hu was invited along with other reporters to cover a development project in the mountain resort of Alishan. Hu was the only woman reporter in the group. Not long after take-off, the plane ran into a strong air current, crashed into a paddy field, and broke in three parts. Immediately after climbing out from the wreckage, Hu was on the air to report, while other members of the group could not even stand up. "I rallied all my strength to tell the story, because I was a reporter and knew that reporting was my first responsibility," she recalled.

Yu Szu-chou of the Central Daily News is also noted for her calm in times of stress. A graduate of the Chengchi University's department of journalism, Yu is a good bridge player. She often represented her school in inter-collegiate bridge contests before she became an ace reporter with the Central Daily News. Modestly, she claims she lacks the initiative to be a good reporter.

Among Yu's qualities are objectivity and optimism. Unlike other women reporters, she has never given way to depression or allowed her career to stagnate. With these qualities, she has always kept her mind open to new ideas. As she is not as aggressive as other reporters, she is always appreciated by the people she interviews. She uses this quality to gather news from people who are unprepared.

All these four women reporters are held in high esteem, not only by their readers and audiences, but also by their colleagues. They have passed severe tests and proven their competence. They have set a good example for cub reporters and blazed a trail for other aspiring young women in the Republic of China.

[Picture Caption]

Left: Alice Kao interviewing Chinese Communist air force defector, Wu Jung-ken. Right: Raising a question at a press conference given by Fredrick Chien the Republic of China's new representative in Washington.

1. Gloria Hsu visits a factory in southern Taiwan during a news-gathering tour. 2. Gloria and her family. 3. Hu Hsueh-chu presiding over a video tape recording for the "News Eye" program. 4. Hu edits a tape before it is shown on television.

Left: Yu Szu-chou taking notes at a Foreign Ministry press conference. Right: Yu with her family in front of Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.