平和
和平
평화
ASIA
09 August 2024
Interview with John West

Interview with John West

Understanding global politics is one thing. But how to explain it without boring us? Journalist John West tells News Decoder's Cathal O’Luanaigh how he makes the complicated compelling.

When John West grow up in Australia, a nation politically and economically considered part of the Western world and Global North, but located geographically in the Southern Hemisphere and tied economically to Asia, you understand the importance of geopolitics.

That’s why News Decoder often turns to our correspondent, John West, an Australian economist and journalist, to help us decode some of the most complicated global issues, from his most recent article on the role of NATO to the geopolitics of Taiwan, the state of democracy in India and how international law works in a chaotic world.

And it is why News Decoder Program and Communications Manager Cathal O’Luanaigh decided to sit down virtually with West and talk to him about how he tackles such complicated topics.

West has worked across the globe. His experience in the field of international economics and international politics spans from working for the Australian government, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris and the Asian Development Bank Institution in Tokyo, to lecturing at Tokyo’s Sophia University, forging research affiliations with Australia’s University of Wollongong and Canada’s York University and writing for online blogs and globalization websites.

Early on, West became interested in economics at the local level but that quickly grew to an interest in Asian and global issues.

“Over time I became more interested in the world and, from an Australian point of view, the world really is Asia, you know,” he said. “It’s the most important part of the world for our economy. Although, of course, the West is the most important politically.”

Decoding power politics

West’s decoder on Taiwan tackles the issue of the island nation’s complicated geopolitical relationship with China and the world. “In essence, it’s about who owns Taiwan,” West said. “Is Taiwan owned by Beijing and the Chinese Communist party or is it owned by Taiwanese people themselves?”

But why focus on Taiwan? What effect would political and economic decision-making in Taiwan have on people across the world?

“Taiwan is probably the biggest hotspot in Asia,” West said. “And Asia, of course, is the biggest part of the world economy. It has the world’s biggest population. And so, we would all be affected.”

West said Taiwan is a perfect geopolitical case study for students. “I think for students who are interested in learning about, you know, the global system, global politics, global economy, this is the hottest issue and the most interesting issue,” West said.

West has a way of breaking down seemingly complex concepts into understandable, digestible chunks and uses everyday language clearly and concisely to connect theory and real-life experience. To do that involves a process that begins with research and interviewing people who have different perspectives.

“In journalism the key thing is the interview — meeting with people who are relevant to an issue and who are willing to speak about an issue — and meeting with people on both sides of an argument,” he said. “Not just one side.”

Experts are out there.

Finding the relevant people to interview involves research and perseverance. As a reporter for the Financial Times magazine FDI Intelligence, West would research the important people on a topic and try to find them. “[You] send them emails and ask them if they’ll meet you or whether they’ll answer questions,” he said.

“You have to convince people that it’s worth their while meeting with you. That’s part of the fun of being a journalist,” he said. “You know, getting some important person who’s willing to speak to you,” West said. “It’s not an easy part of the job. It’s a rewarding part of the job when you succeed.”

But understanding the complexity of an issue is only half the work. You then need to write about it in a way that gets your audience to understand it and care.

“The thing is to think about the person who is reading it, making sure that the article is clear and understandable to them and making sure the article has a story that they can absorb,” he said.

That’s not something that people tend to think about when they write for a school assignment. “When we’re university students, often we have to write an essay,” he said. “We just write the stuff, you know, often we don’t think about the person who’s reading it.”

Turning information into a compelling narrative

For articles he expects to publish, in contrast, West does as much reading as possible to find out about the background and he meets with people involved, but then he thinks about how to digest that information and turn it into a readable story.

“In journalism, when we write articles, they’re always referred to as being stories,” he said. “I think that term ‘story’ is very meaningful because an article must have a story. It must have a narrative that must have a message.”

West said that students who want to tell non-fiction stories should first find a subject that interests them. “Once you get a job in that area, you have to read as much as possible in the area so you know the background,” he said.

Once familiar with the topic you’re working on, seek advice, seek help. We learn from each other and speaking to those around you can truly pay dividends. “Of course talk to people who are very experienced who can give you tips,” he said. “Lots of older people, like me, are happy to share their experience with young people and so, look for a mentor who can help you.”

Don’t get discouraged. “When you start off in journalism, you might write a draft article,” West said. “Then the boss rewrites the whole thing.”

That’s part of the learning process. West said don’t get upset over corrections, edits and rewrites but rather understand why sections have been re-written or edited. “Study what [an editor] did to try to absorb why and treat each article not just as a writing process but as a learning process too,” he said.

Acknowledgements

This interview was conducted by Cathal O’Luanaigh. He is News Decoder’s program and communications manager. Cathal is an educator, linguist and creative with a particular interest in international development, global citizenship and the arts. He has a background in Geography (BA), Commercial Music Production (Diploma) and Development and Emergency Practice (MA). Irish, raised in Brussels and now based in Madrid, he has lived and worked in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Uganda and Vietnam.
Tags: asia, john west

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