SINGAPORE - Forty secondary school students were picked from an animation competition to visit The Straits Times newsroom on Monday (Sept 9) to see what goes on behind the scenes in news production.
They were among more than 300 participants of N.E.mation!, an annual inter-school digital animation competition which centres on total defence.
The students were selected for the visit as their story pitches for the competition focused on combating fake news as part of Singapore's digital defences.
They were shown around the newspaper's video production and photo studios and its newsroom, with the final stop at Singapore Press Holdings' creative and content marketing unit, Sweet. Content generators and animators from Sweet will be training the students in the art of animated storytelling throughout the competition.
Chiera Dione Benedicto Beltran, 15, a student from North Vista Secondary School, is eager to participate in the competition.
"I take art classes so while my animation may not be particularly good now, I'm definitely interested in learning more," she said.
The students also listened to presentations by journalists, including Mrs Rebecca Pazos, an interactive graphics journalist from ST who gave a talk on how visuals have become integral to news production.
The students saw how important topics such as the gender pay gap and Malaysia's general election could be explained through visuals.
Ms Shefali Rekhi, the paper's Asia News Network editor, taught the students how to identify fake news in the content they read, telling them: "Always think before you share."
They learnt about the tell-tale signs of fake websites and fake news, for example, websites with unusual URL addresses and articles that do not contain a multitude of sources.
Lee Zhe Feng, 14, a student from Maris Stella High School, said the tour allowed him to better appreciate the news he reads and watches at home.
"I got to see how much work was put into one headline: the information gathering; people running around and fact-checking," he added.
The organiser of the tour and the N.E.mation! competition is Nexus, the Ministry of Defence department responsible for total defence and national education.
The 300 participants are competing in teams, which were selected for the contest based on their story pitches. The teams will go through further selection and the top 10 teams will each create a 30-second animated clip with the theme "Together We Keep Singapore Strong".
Nexus hopes that by stimulating the students' creativity, young Singaporeans can better engage with the concept of total defence.
The results of the competition will be known in February next year.
