When journalists become the story

For most people, appearing in the newspaper is an unforgettable moment. A story written about them is clipped, saved, and tucked away as a lasting reminder that their achievement was recognized and shared with the wider world. For journalists, however, seeing their names in print is an everyday reality – their bylines quietly accompany the stories of others. It is routine, not rarity.

And yet, sometimes the roles reverse. The reporter becomes the reported, the storyteller becomes the story. In those rare moments, a journalist finds themselves featured in the very pages they usually help to fill.

Although I am more of a newshound than a newsmaker, my first appearance in Kuwait Times was as a 9-year-old, when I took part in a fancy dress competition at a party hosted by the Malaysian ambassador. (My father worked at the embassy as a translator.) My photo — dressed as a “sheikh” and performing the Ardha dance — appeared in the Weekender magazine in November 1988.

As a young adult, I occasionally appeared in the paper for my Scrabble exploits in Kuwait, across the Gulf, and beyond. More recently, I found myself in the news as an artist, after painting a mural in the disused printing press.

May 2004

January 2009

November 1988

I see this shift as more than novelty. It is a gentle reminder that journalists are not only observers but also participants in the life of their community. They volunteer, create, mentor and achieve in ways that extend beyond the newsroom. When one of them is recognized in print, it highlights the shared humanity behind the headlines – that journalists, too, belong to the same fabric of society they cover each day.

For the individual journalist, the experience can feel almost disorienting. Many are more comfortable wielding the pen than being quoted, more at ease asking questions than answering them. To suddenly be the subject of a story is to surrender control of the narrative – an act both humbling and revealing.

But perhaps that is the quiet beauty of it. When journalists become the story, it reminds us of a simple truth: Those who chronicle lives and milestones also live their own, full of meaning and worthy of recognition. Their names may appear daily, but every so often, they appear differently – not as bylines, but as headlines. And that, for a journalist, is something special indeed.