Quratul-Ain Bandial, also known as Ain Bandial, is a journalist and media entrepreneur in Brunei who co-founded and became the editor of The Scoop in 2017. Ain has written about many different topics in her career, including

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, the environment, and

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

as well as

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

. Her work has been published in

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, AFP, and

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, among various international newspapers, to which she contributes.

Education

Ain graduated with a

Bachelor of Social Science The Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc or BSocSci) is an undergraduate degree. It typically requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. It c ...

(BSS) in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

in 2008. joined the

International Visitor Leadership Program The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is a professional exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The mission of IVLP is to offer current and emerging international leader ...

's (IVLP)

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broa ...

Program for Journalists 2012 and

Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, also known as YSEALI (pronounced ), is a highly-competitive cultural exchange program for Southeast Asian emerging leaders sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. YSEALI progr ...

(YSEALI) Women's Leadership Academy in 2017. She is also a fellow of the Earth Journalism Network.

Journalism

Brunei Times

Ain began work as a journalist for the

Brunei Times ''The Brunei Times'' was an independent English-language daily compact broadsheet newspaper published in Brunei Darussalam from 2006 to 2016. It was owned by Brunei Times PLC. History The paper was introduced at a soft launch on , at The Mall ...

in about 2010. She worked on news concerning Brunei and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. With only a day's notice, the Brunei Times abruptly announced its closure in 2016, citing competition and continuous financial losses. However, it was also reported that the newspaper had previously published a news story—later redacted—about the price of pilgrimage tickets to Mecca, which sparked rumors of a "forced closure." Ain has written about free speech for the

. She believes that censorship in Brunei is not a result of the law but of

self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

by the country's journalists. She contends that the government's failure to address valid criticism is compounded by journalists' reluctance to cover sensitive topics due to the threat of

imprisonment Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

and news outlet suspension for allegedly spreading "false or malicious" news, with accusations of them acting as mere mouthpieces for government officials.

The Scoop

In 2017, Ain helped create a new and independent news source. The website cost $1,700. The Scoop is the first newsdesk in Brunei led by women and it was self funded and founded by four people: Ain Bandial, Hadthiah Hazair, Rachel Thien, Rasidah Abu Bakar. Her and Rasidah served as the editors in an organisation that is lean. There are many contributors but only a small number of employees. Brunei has a very high proportion of its population using

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. It was reported that Brunei was the highest in Southeast Asia with nearly 70% of citizens using social media. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, The Scoop faced challenges as they played a crucial role in keeping the public informed and combating

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

. The rask was not helped as they discovered new restrictions and a sharp decline in

advertising revenue Advertising revenue is the monetary income that individuals and businesses earn from displaying paid advertisements on their websites, social media channels, or other platforms surrounding their internet-based content. In September 2018, the U.S In ...

. They lost 90% of their advertising over a span of five months. The Scoop produced informative videos on vaccination progress, with staff working tirelessly for over 100 consecutive days without a break or holiday. According to Ain, more people than Brunei's population reads The Scoop, with most readers being between the ages of 18 and 34. By 2019, The Scoop has its own

YouTube channel YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...

internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

, and print version offered as a colour magazine. Advertising and sponsored content was paying for six staff. By 2020, The Scoop had 80,000 monthly readers and 70,000 social media followers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandial, Quratul-Ain Living people Bruneian journalists Bruneian businesspeople 21st-century Bruneian people Bruneian women writers News editors People from Bandar Seri Begawan Curtin University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) YSEALI alumni