The Kabataan News Network (KNN) interviewed me on October 27, 2006 (Friday) on the issue of campus journalism.

I remember that day well because the KNN people arrived when the crew of Net 25 was leaving after an interview on the situation of tabloids and broadsheets in the Philippines.

It’s very seldom that I grant consecutive television interviews less than 30 minutes in between. We all know how cruel television can be to one’s physical appearance, so there is a need to always stay fresh and alert for every interview. When you’re in front of the camera, you can’t afford to look tired or harassed even if you are.

Why am I writing about an event that happened more than six months ago? I got an unexpected text message from a reporter of KNN at around 6:30 a.m. last May 5 (Saturday) that my interview would be finally aired on Kabataan X-press at 7:00 a.m. on ABS-CBN.

Joy and I were supposed to leave the house by that time but we decided to check out Kabataan X-press. The report on campus journalism focused on the plight of three campus journalists from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and Bulacan State University (BulSU). The three students experienced different forms of harassment and intimidation from their school administrators. I was interviewed to analyze what they were going through and to relate their experience as student-journalists to the practice of journalism in general.

While I have no complaints about how my interview was edited for brevity, I noticed that there were certain angles of me where I appeared to be harassed. To make things worse, I forgot THE self-imposed rule when facing the camera: SMILE MORE OFTEN!

After the show, I quickly sent text messages to Atom Araullo, the host of KNN, and Angelo Supe, the reporter who interviewed me, to request a video capture of my interview for posting on this blog.

I have yet to receive a vidcap, and I would understand if KNN opts not to grant my request. Can you imagine me not smiling and looking harassed? Did I hear someone say, “All the time”?

Update (May 10, 1:38 pm): KNN has just sent me via email the vidcap I requested. Check it out.

So tired and unsmiling I am! Anyway, let’s see how eagle-eyed you are. Joy is seen three-and-a half times (huh?) in this picture. One is obvious, the other two-and-a-half not so.

To paraphrase that famous Carmen Sandiego computer game, “Where in My Office is Joy Arao?” Any players?