February 18, 2024

Ep 138: I Don't Believe in Prince & Princess Journalists - Steve Chao [x2 Emmy-nominated investigative journalist & Al-Jazeera Senior War Reporter]

59 minutes

Steve Chao was just a kid from Toronto who loved reading encyclopaedias. Who later chose a career that would lead him to the middle of opium fields during harvest time surrounded by hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Just another “day in the life” of his career as a x2 Emmy-nominated and multiple award-winning investigative journalist and filmmaker who’s led programming for the likes of CNN, Al Jazeera, VICE, CTV (Canadian Television), CBC, ABC News, Tencent & Channel 4.

Steve has also spent decades covering conflicts, including America’s longest war in Afghanistan, and produced programs and feature docs like HBO’s Traffickers, Netflix’s Midnight Asia, and Discovery Channels’ World’s Biggest Druglord.

In STIMY Ep 138 - which was recorded in front of a live audience at KL Podfest last weekend! - we uncovered his journey as a war correspondent. Some things we talked about:

✅ Going undercover to report on the Honduran drug cartel, human trafficking rings, selling of Nepali ancient artefacts & a Chinese spy

✅ Being nearly crushed in Egypt during the Arab Spring

✅ Uncovering the UNCHR “mafia” & notorious wildlife traffickers in Malaysia (his feet was stuck in a fire ant hill for 5 minutes!!)

✅ The sacrifices he’s made & friends he’s lost

✅ Why Steve doesn’t believe in Prince & Princess journalists

✅ Why journalism is dying & the impact of cancel culture

✅ How he wants to raise the next generation of journalists and the vision behind his new production house, Signal Flare

It’s an exciting episode so get ready for a wild 1 hour ride with Steve Chao!

Highlight:

2:10 Surrounded by Taliban fights in an Afghan opium field during harvesting season
4:19 Suicide Alley
8:49 Just a kid from Toronto
10:33 His first big break uncovering a drug cartel from Honduras
12:40 Gaining a global perspective
14:56 Going undercover as a refugee trafficked by the Snakeheads in Vancouver
15:55 You have to learn on the job
18:03 The unsung heroes or ‘fixers’ like JoJo
21:25 Broken trust
23:24 PTSD
25:13 How does Steve ensure he isn’t crippled by what he’s seen?
26:44 Mentors like Ted Huang
29:42 Has Steve ever regretted any sacrifices made to cover a story?
32:29 Do these stories have an actual impact? The Chinese spy
35:08 Malaysian reporting on the UNHCR Mafia & Anson Wong - the notorious wildlife poacher from Penang
39:56 Identifying the stories he wants to work on
42:11 The next step to crafting the story
43:34 The keyword in reporter is ‘porter’
44:26 The state of journalism today
47:27 Cancel culture & its impact on Steve’s work
50:11 What makes a great investigative journalist?
51:48 Have you done enough?
54:26 What does Steve need help with?
55:35 Do you feel like you’ve found your why?
56:15 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
57:11 What are the most important qualities of a successful person?

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/138

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/KnoMe-pTbJc

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

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By Ling Yah

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