While working as a video journalist at The Wall Street Journal, I reported, animated and produced an explainer about Why China and the U.S. Are Vying for Dominance in Pakistan. This was a major growing experience for me because, although I had written my own scripts already, this was the first time I called sources and acquired/analyzed data sets – the first time I did in depth reporting. After this project, I was able to call myself a full fledged journalist, and not just an animator. Watch the full video here.
The video garnered over 1.7 million YouTube views, and even more on The Wall Street Journal website. I also got to work with some awesome journalists and editors around the newsroom, including Josh Zumbrun.
The map below shows data I got by calling the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it was so cool to be able to show the exact projects China would be undertaking in Pakistan. And it was also awesome to be able to present a map nobody had seen yet.
This project also hit close to home, so I pushed myself to cover all angles and do the subject justice. My family is from Pakistan, and, although I was born in the U.S., I spent many of my childhood years there. I spoke Urdu before I spoke English.
09.10.2018