Maverick Indonesia

Click Of The Week #22: Bagja Hidayat

Is it cool being a journalist? Ask this question to Bagja Hidayat, a Tempo Magazine journalist, and find his answer in his latest posting: “Wartawan Itu Enak, Kata Orang” (It’s fun being a journalist, so people say).

I know Bagja from his blog, but we’ve never had the chance to meet in person in the “real world”. A journalist friend of mine mentioned his blog to me when I was browsing through the Internet for tips on writing good articles. And what do you know…Bagja got all the answers.

When I read his blog for the first time, it reminded me about a book that I read years ago: Seandainya Saya Wartawan Tempo. The book presents basic news-writing skills and portrays some of Tempo journalists’ experience at work. I would say that his blog postings really represent what the book says about news writing.

Bagja’s blog is not focused on one particular issue. He tackles everything that catches his interest: social, economy, soccer, parody, and of course, journalism itself. Almost all of his postings are interesting because Bagja has the ability to deliver a common theme in appealing ways, making his postings enjoyable to read.

Check out his blog and decide for yourself: Salju di Paris.