Right to Carry

There's a lot of jobs I'd want.

A lot.

I mean, I'd be perfectly happy switching up careers - oh, I don' t know - say, every other week? Maybe start off November as an archaeologist, rotate mid-month to film directing, and finish off the year as a marine biologist...or a singer-songwriter, tough call.

I can, however, tell you one job I would NOT want - Director of the NRA Grassroots Division. Glen Caroline, the towering bald man with surprisingly gentle eyes who did a little presentation for our class today, has to deal with more opposition in a 10-minute time span than I have had to in my entire life (and quite honestly, will probably ever have to).

Glen Caroline   (I forgot to take a picture - oops - but I thought you'd like a visual anyhow - so this is actually from Hupy and Abraham's website)

Among his extensive list of gun-related credentials lies his responsibility to represent the NRA in debates, so after his PowerPoint presentation of carefully selected statistics he had to face questions from our skeptical (to put it nicely) class of journalist-hopefuls - who, I might add, were not at all intimidated Mr. Caroline's surefire competency with a range of deadly firearms.

The NRA was created in 1871 and is the oldest civil rights organization in the U.S., and now, the most effective lobbying organization. Mr. Caroline's main point was that there are two separate goals when it comes gun use, 1.) Reduce gun crime & 2.) Reduce gun accidents. Distinguishing between these two types of problems is essential, he said, and something that "opponents don't do."

Gun control laws fail at reducing crime, he continued, because law abiding citizens aren't the ones abusing their rights - and criminals aren't going to adhere to any laws ("they're not going to stop to register their gun with the state on their way to rob a bank"). Accident-wise, education, not gun-control, is his proposed solution (Eddie Eagle).

Eddie Eagle (pic from NRA's site)

Our class basically spent the time poking holes in his logic and statistical evidence, which was shady to say the least. But from what I've heard, the opposition's statistics were picked and chosen with just the same manipulative intentions.

Interestingly, Mr. Caroline stated very bluntly that his primary motivation is FREEDOM. We are a rare nation, he said, something he realized after seeing terrible abuses in other countries - e.g. Tieneman Square - and the fact that we have these constitutional freedoms is why he is an NRA advocate. It is not the tool, but the underlying meaning, he said, that matters.

I thought it was a very insightful moment; this big intimidating figure suddenly becoming all righteous and founding-father like.

I don't know what I think about gun-control, but if nothing else, I'm at least relatively impressed with the fact that a man has decided to devote his entire life to one cause - and nothing else.

For someone who wants to change careers twice a month, the thought of a life consumed by one topic alone is, frankly, unfathomable.

A Japanese Conquers A Jack

After much careful thought and consideration - and a crucial, though relatively civil, debate over which theme to pursue - "creepy" or "cute" -, my roomate Mine and I decided upon a fabulous design for her FIRST. PUMPKIN. EVER.


Can you believe that? Honestly, what do the Japanese do with their free time!?

She started off a little slow - refusing to choose the pumpkin doomed for our mini-carver of death. After a few minutes, though, I swear, Mine was incredible.  She took to that pumpkin like she'd been making super-awkward-not-at-all-realistic pumpkin visages her entire life! No kidding, she's like, really good at pumpkin carving.

Like, you know how the eyeballs always fall out, and the mouth to nose ratio is always just a bit off, and the eyebrows are just a tad too large? Not our pumpkin. And little strains of pumpkin-gut hanging out of the nose and mouth? Non-existent on our masterpiece. "Our" here is used lightly - considering the one part I tried to carve resulted in an epic failure (I totally slaughtered the mouth to nose ratio, in case you were wondering).

Anyhow, moral of the story, foreigners carve pumpkins better than natives.
Ok, Ok. Let's not stereotype. Just because Mine carves pumpkins 100% more effortlessly than I, it hardly proves that every international student will be able to conquer Cindarella's carriage with such astounding grace.

See how worldly I've become? 

Ultimately creepy, but with a little bit of cute and flirtatiousness built in. Notice the clean lines, symmetry and proportions - None of which I brought to fruition.

District of Curvaceousness

On our way back from the Bloomberg Bureau today (near Metro Center), one of the German girls I was walking with suggested that we stop quickly to look at the sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle.

Who?

The woman who made the lips in the Parisian fountain.

Ohhhh. The lips.

Well, apparently in April of this year, the National Museum of Woman in the Arts launched a public art program, the inaugural artist of which was Saint Phalle. You can see her artwork throughout the downtown area, from 13th street to Mount Vernon Square.

It's eclectic stuff, but kind of cool in what is otherwise a fairly boring city in terms of architecture (there are several exceptions, of course, but admittedly there are also good deal of white rectangles and squares).

According to an article at artinfo.com, a DC congresswoman named Eleanor Holmes Norton was quoted saying that "she supported the project because 'working stiffs' deserved public sculptures in the city". I agree entirely. I mean, what better way to spice up the morning commute than an eyeful of a leotard-clad voluptuous female riding a dolphin?

Fish Food

Walls with built-in aquariums and a fully stocked kitchen : these were the highlights of today's much-too-early field trip.

I admit, I'm growing accustom to hitting the metro before rush hour has even begun - to hobnobbing with the scattering of overachieving office-workers.

Accustom to, not fond of, mind you.

We got to Bloomberg's Washington Bureau at 8:45am, just in time for the breakfast rush.
Breakfast rush, you ask? In a newsroom?

Why yes, friend. Bloomberg does have a fully-outfitted kitchen, complete with a cereal bar, microwave meals, snack bars, an assortment of fresh fruits, bagels ... shall I go on?

Needless to say our class was a wee bit preoccupied with the loads of free goods. A little too preoccupied, I might add, to fully comprehend the reason behind the generous office offerings. Why might a newsroom be so well-stocked, so bomb-shelter-esque? Well, when your staff is working 16 hour days, such accommodations are hardly an option - and according to the young journalist, Phil, who answered some of our questions, 16 hour days are hardly a rarity at Bloomberg.

The company is known for really working its employees hard, he said. They're also pretty much the only growing news service left nowadays. By the end of this year they'll have hired 100 new employees, and next year might bring 200 more - at least that's what Bureau Chief Michael Tackett told us. The $18,000/yr they charge for one of their "Bloomberg Terminals" combined with the generous initial contribution of New York's very own Michael Bloomberg, the upstart news agency's mission to digitize Wallstreet appears to have worked out a lucrative financing system. As it should have, being a hub of financial reporting and all.

Terminal (a real one has 4 screens)

Subscription based, and "not burdened by ink, paper and trucks", Bloomberg's ahead of the game when it comes to information distribution.

And wall construction. Did I mention that they have fish in the walls?

So prospective interns, apply your hearts out. Visit their website to find more info about internships. Just keep in mind it's financial journalism (until they expand into other areas - as they are currently in the process of doing) - so read up on your...um.....number...stuff.

Professor Klein and Michael Tackett

Professor Klein (and fish). :)

Freebird

I've always thought that the idea of becoming a freelance writer sounded so, - well...free.

It'd be like goin' rogue - no bureau, no ties, no editors. Your deadlines are the ones you set, your topics the ones you choose. No one to hold you back, no one to tell you "no" or scoff when you want to do a story on, say, cupcakes.

Frankly, it sounds like this totally ideal existence, -one where you get to write about and investigate absolutely anything that might spark your interest. And I guess that's true - provided that you are entirely financially independent and in no way obliged to meet someone else's expectations.

Unfortunately, for most of us (at least the most of us that I'm familiar with) such a reality will probably never cease to be a dream. And, as I've come to learn, even those among us that decide to shun authority and forge their own little path of creativity will, at some point or another, have to tailor their product for a higher power of some sort.

Today Tammy Lytle, a freelance journalist, came and spoke with us about her job. She used to, however, be the bureau chief for the Miami Sentinel, and had worked for several other publications prior to cutting loose. Therefore, Tammy had already built up the oh-so-necessary network of people seemingly needed to do anything in this white city of connections.

She also has to tweak her "tone" and writing style for each outlet for which she gets commissioned to write. It's hard enough relearning to write in one distinct style without having to alter it every time you decide to pursue a different story. Sheesh.

Apparently, as a freelance journalist, you can either write about whatever you'd like, and then "pitch" your stories to various publications with the hope that they will then finance your hard labor, or - if you succeed at building up a good enough reputation - eventually editors from various outlets will actually call you and ask for you to cover a specific story or topic. This is more along the lines of what Tammy has begun to do (though I guess I don't see how different that is from working for an organization - the fact that you now have an array of editors..?). In order for this to happen, though, you have to sort of build your own "brand" - one that people trust and are willing to invest in, and to do this you need to exhibit a staunch set of ethics and a strong sense of moral integrity.

It sounds tough - and kind of draining, to be honest. I'd almost rather have someone regulating my stories than be saddled with the added stress of having to please a huge diversity of employers all while upholding this rigid set of ethical guidelines.

I'm starting to understand that, as a journalist, there's no easy way out. You kinda gotta give it everything, or nothing at all - whether you're "free" or not.

ay karumba.

Duke of Smellington

Marc Stern pulled on a string, and suddenly everything began to unravel.

That's how he would describe his experience of uncovering the shady real-estate deal between "Duke" Cunningham and the defense contractor, Mitchell Wade.

After seeing that Duke had recently made 2 trips to Saudi Arabia (and for no noble purpose, he assumed, noting "the Duke's" heavy drinking and womanizing qualities), he became suspicious. So he went to see if the Duke had recently updated his living conditions. Sure enough, he had recently sold his house in exchange for a new one. Who to? An address. 1523 New Hampshire Ave - a DC address that Stern traced back to Mitchell Wade.

Anyhow, the nice little tale of corruption ends with Duke pleading guilty of accepting over $2.4 million in bribes and going to prison (where he is no longer able to entertain female lobbyists on his boat, "The Dukester", dressed in pajamas, amidst lava lamps and candles, while serving flutes of chilled champagne), and Stern and his partner, Jerry Kammer, winning the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.

The product of having Stern and Krammer speak today was an odd sort of jumbling of messages. On one hand there was Stern, who said that DC politics were a "self-reinforcing loop of legalized corruption", and that Congress is "the largest crime scene in the world".

These themes of tyranny and corruption were then partly counteracted by Kammer's seemingly eternal optimism. "Journalism should be fun", he said, despite the fact that the secrets he was uncovering exposed some very dark sides of society. And not only is he a self-proclaimed "patriotic American", but believes that every good journalist needs a bit of naivety to really trust in the fact that there are good people out there who want to help.

Other key points of the seminar: learn to use databases and be proficient at online research, develop a niche area of reporting that makes you stand out from the others, and don't listen to what people say but look at what they do.

"Journalism is like being a parent," Stern said, you don't need to be certified or have some special qualification. You just need to be motivated and persistent.

Kind of makes you leery of the title itself, doesn't it? Like some odd-ball nosy peeper sort could just start calling people up claiming to be conducting research for a story, because really, how are his credentials any different from a "real" journalist?

And parents?
Well, judging by the metaphor, it seems they could just as well be the peeper creepers we all fear.

Marc Stern and Jerry Kammer - 

"Journalism should be fun - this guy made it fun when he wasn't a pain in he ass" 

- Jerry Kammer

Goddag

Heyyyyy thereeee fellow earthlings. Or skylings. I won't discriminate based on altitude of residence.

You know me, politically correct is my middle name (aside from my real middle name, of course, which in case you were at all curious, is Lauren. A particularly savvy move by the 'rents, might I add - one that results in my name in full - Gabrielle L. Pedriani - sounding faintly like a certain song by a certain currently much-too-red-haired-artist when read out loud)
 --Ella ella ella, eh eh eh

Whoa. Tangent major. Relevance minor.

Let's just jump right into what I initially meant to address in this fine little piece of literature.

Yesterday, we went to the Foreign Press Center at the National Press Building. It's essentially the greatest place if you're a foreign journalist in need of sources, info, etc. Frankly, I wish it were socially acceptable for me to go to every one of their briefings. Why, you might wonder, would this be at all desirable?

Well, I'm not sure how mindful you are of political norms, standards, traditions, etc...But where I come from, "midterms" means a series of exams given mid-semester, "earmarks" are the holes in your ears your earrings make, and "pork-barrel" is ...umm, well, honestly, not really so commonly used, but I'm gunna go with ... a barrel full of dead pig?

So how great would it be if I could attend a Foreign Press Center briefing, on say, the Midterm Elections? That way, I wouldn't have to frantically search Google for any semblance of a "Midterms For Dummies" word document that might succeed at explaining in somewhat comprehensible terms exactly why everyone in DC is hyperventillating to such an embarrassing extreme.

The Foreign Press center hosts all sorts of briefings and organizes lots of nation-wide tours in which they inform foreign journalists about the current hot-button issues in the U.S. They also help facilitate interviews with sources, because apparently getting people to talk with you when you're a foreign journalist is just about as fun as it is to do when you're an intern.

I empathize.

We had 3 foreign journalists sit in a panel, 2 Germans and 1 Dane, and talk to us (and amongst themselves), about what it's like to be a journalist from another country living in the United States. They were a really funny group - totally honest and completely candid - and I loved hearing about what they found most difficult. Not because I have a perverse sense of enjoyment, but because I could completely relate! Honestly, being an intern in DC is so much like what these guys have to go through.

Not understanding certain current events, feeling like an outsider in the DC bubble, being confused by how and why people are motivated to do an array of odd things, and most of all - Desperately trying to get people to talk to you.

One of the German journalists really emphasized that he misses doing "real journalism", the kind where he really gets out there and grills sources for info. Now, he's forced into using more secondary sources of information than he ever would have ever imagined doing when living in Germany.

Sigh.

Silver lining? At least I know that I'm prepared for the trials and tribulations ahead should I ever decide to do some journalism abroad. 'Cause my second middle name? Bright Side.

I'm a shining ray of positivity.

It was so funny - the 3 foreign journalists moved immediately to the back of the picture, when EVERY other guest we've had assumed the front and center (We had to actually FORCE them to move to where they're standing here). I actually asked one of the German students about this, and she said that this was a very "European" thing to do - to not assume that you're the center of attention and shining beacon of knowledge. Imagine that? Modesty.

the Peninsula

Camille El Hassani lost 12 of her staff during her one year in Iraq.

One year.

Talk about downsizing.

You'd think journalism would be hard enough in Iraq, a country where free speech is persecuted on a daily basis, without the added fear of death looming over you. But there it is - 12 people.

Camille was born and raised in South Carolina - hardly a foreigner. Though her parents were Iraqi, she never planned to go into Middle Eastern journalism, and started off with ITN, went to Reuters, and finally ended up at ABC.

Then, after 6 years at ABC, she took a year off go to Iraq to train Iraqi journalists for a national Iraqi network, and when she came back to ABC, she was struck the dire state of the network - so she interviewed for a job at Al Jazeera English and has worked there since.

I couldn't believe that a she, a woman, had gone to Iraq to train a bureau of mostly men. If men here have a hard enough time accepting orders from women, can you even imagine what it would be like in Iraq? And at first, she admitted, they did have a problem with her teaching them, but once they figured out that she would be the one signing their paychecks, "they became real friendly, real fast."

I guess the most memorable thing about our talk with Camille today was the fact that despite all of our leading questions (How different is journalism in the Middle East? How often do you feel in danger? What are the challenges of being a woman? - goodness, we're presumptuous students, aren't we?) she never failed to give a response that completely deflected any negative attitudes we might have towards the Middle East.

"Standards of journalism are different everywhere," - "every country has its problems", etc, etc.

And all this may be true - but I have to say that rarely do I fear for my life when interviewing a source, or going out in the field, or trailing a cameraman. And I'm not sure how many news agencies here lose 12 people a year to car bombs and stray bullets.

That being said, I think Al Jazeera is an incredibly respectable exception to what otherwise can often prove to be a fairly repressive journalistic atmosphere, so power to them. Hopefully they continues to inspire and train the young journalists that Camille said "got it" - got the need to investigate and unearth secrets that would otherwise remain buried.

Fun Fact: Al Jazeera is privately owned by a man in Qatar whose wife decided that she wanted a news network that would put Qatar on the map. Now Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English are based out of that country.
Women will rule the world.

Finally, Camille made a really interesting statement ; "TV News is like a movie or a short story, there's a theme, a character, and a message."
     I don't know if that's good or bad (I've yet to fully make up my mind) - but it's interesting, nonetheless, no?

#1 Rule of Foreign Correspondence: If You See a Bathroom, Use a Bathroom

I always wonder about why some people can be doctors and why others can't. Or why it's easier for certain individuals to make it out of war sane, while others will suffer from the after effects for the rest of their lives.
Or more pertinent to today's speaker, why some people are especially competent at dealing with disasters and death and others have trouble just passing roadkill without tearing up? - just a little bit, I mean, not a lot, C''mon, it's sad right? These cute little Pocahontas-raccoons are all smushed up waiting to be scraped off the road by some unforgiving, totally non-ceremonial dump truck.

Well, it turns out that there's actually a test that can determine how well you might fare in a traumatic situation - it measures your "resiliency level".

Our speaker today, Donna Leinwand, is a national correspondent for USA Today. She's also known as "Hurricane Donna", because of all the disasters she's covered.

Donna, after being tested by a trauma center, was found to have a "high resiliency level", meaning that she can bounce back more easily from most terrible and emotionally painful situations - a quality she certainly needs when covering disasters like the Haiti earthquake.

"You'll never forget two things," she said. 1.) The smell of gang green. It was everywhere in Haiti, a horrible limb-blackening disease that, if left untreated, would spread to the heart and kill the infected. and 2.)? The smell of rotting bodies.

Lovely.

And these are only the top two horrors she deals with in the field. In Haiti she had to handle breeding superbugs (when only a single dose of an antibiotic is available, the bug overpowers it, becoming even stronger than before), women giving birth on the street, and vigilante justice (the prisons fell down with the rest of Haiti, so the citizens took it upon themselves to kill the lawbreakers - and brutally so).

Not to mention the sadness and emotional trauma of seeing thousands of people trying to cope with the destitution and loss of loved ones on a disturbingly large scale.

She even talked about how depressing it was to see the Haitians clothed in donated American t-shirts that often read terribly demeaning things - things they had no way of knowing the meaning of.

I found it interesting, however, that just because she can "bounce back" easily, doesn't mean she doesn't experience emotion altogether. I guess I had always thought that people who could cope with such horrible things (apologies for the overuse of the word "horrible" - I'm running out of unfortunate adjectives) were just less feeling - but after today it seems that they do in fact feel, but they are just are more able to move on from these emotional situations and effects than the rest of us.

Anyhow, you can see that why when Donna comes back to the U.S., she has a particularly hard time dealing with the "big whiners" who can't handle the line at Bloomingdale's, or when the air conditioning goes out (though she understands fully the trauma of a lost cable signal).

"I know what catastrophe is," she said, "and we rarely see it here."

As much as I truthfully would hate to have her job - there seemed to be one incredible benefit. Because of all the real horror she has seen, Donna is a self-described "mellow" person in her day-to-day life. Nothing rattles her. And that makes me wonder if all in all, she might be healthier than the rest of us?

If we experience a steady stream of stress every day, all day, might someone who experiences intense stress in short bursts, and extreme calmness in everyday life, be better off?

Scary thought. Kind of makes me think we're all doing to explode from within at some point.

Anyhoo. I'll leave you with all with my favorite quote of the day by Ms. Donna (aside from the title of this post, of course). She said it when speaking about her time in Iraq and her first experience with the Iraqi people - "Iraqi hospitality", she called it.

"If you're not going to be kidnapped," she warned, "you're probably going to have tea."

Dig, Dig, Dig

If you would have told me this morning at 7:00am that later today I'd be excitedly blogging about a seminar on "using computer and database assisted reporting", I'd have --
well, probably done nothing more than not believe you.

But even so! Chris Adams, Robert Benincasa (NPR) and Dave Levinthal (opensecrets.org) really did a fantastic job of explaining how you can get all detective-y and unearth dark secrets from seemingly cryptic databases.

I am not one for numbers. Or math. (or computing or science or raw bananas - are you supposed to chew them or just mush and swallow??) But I've been so inspired to go onto some of the websites they recommended today and dig up some juicy scandals and be a national hero for my astounding and initiative-taking skill set.

Here, for your reading pleasure, are the best (according to top NPR staff member Robert Benincasa) and most revealing/helpful public databases:
RealtyTrac, Census Beureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (a gruesome but telling compilation of accident deaths), Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and National Center for Education Statistics.

Now you have all you need (except maybe a motivating, over-sized triple shot latte) to go digging for days and years and months to break the next big and fabulous news story.

Scandalllouusssss, as Recess's 'Ashleys' would say.

David seemingly doing some digging on his spare time

Also, David Levinthal from opensecrets.org told us some pretty salacious stuff today about the midterms and who's funding them. More money is going into this midterm election than ANY before it - and it's coming from unlikely sources, like professors, NFL officials and players, and journalists (gasp!). So, go to opensecrets.org to enter your zipcode and find out who your area's top donaters are.

Go forth now, my friends, and investigate.

Mr. Gil Klein astutely paying attention to 2 of the panelists

 

Chris Adams (is it just me, or does he not look a wee bit like Mr. Darcy?!?)

Wanna Mingle?

Wowowow. Longgg day.

Long day, but good day.

This fabulous day, October 12, was FedScoop's ("a full-service government media and marketing company, specializing in government IT news, new media advertising and custom turn-key strategic networking events") 2nd annual FedTalks event.

It was this great, and surprisingly hip & stylish, event where speakers came to talk about how technology and new/social media can be used in government. I know that doesn't sound incredibly interesting, but it actually is (and that's coming from me, someone who requires an obscene amount of stimulation).

I spent the day (7am-7pm) helping out with set-up and registration, and got to meet and see some pretty cool people. I met Craigslist's Craig, and got to hear Arianna Huffington speak. I thought her speech was pretty motivational, especially when she talked about how democracy should not be a "spectator sport". She joked about how we vote once every 4 years, because every 2 years is "just too tiring" (something I am, ashamedly, so so so guilty of). She also emphasized that government needs to highlight the good things that social media is doing for our society, instead of consistently harping on the negatives, because some people are doing some really noble and productive things using all these new platforms. (see http://wevegottimetohelp.org/)

terrible Arianna Iphone pic

My favorite comment of hers, however, was that every time a politician talks, a bubble should appear next to his or her head (on whatever platform they are speaking through) that reveals all their alternative motives (i.e. funding, affiliations, ...). Then, she said, let's see how eager they are to get up and keep talking in front of everyone.

That would be pretty great though, wouldn't it? Everything they said would be seen in an entirely different light.

Anyhow, the event was fun - lot's of free stuff, like t-shirts, POPCHIPS!, Veggie Booty, pens, notebooks, and food food food galore. Everyone was super nice, and the whole thing was essentially a big networking event.

Because of it's networking/making connections nature, FedScoop hired the "Mingle Stick" guys to come and hand out these cool new-age business cards. The "Mingle Stick", a small USB drive that was handed out to everyone at the event, is equipped with a small button that you click as you point your drive at someone elses. Once the light turns green, you've essentially exchanged business cards - but with your social network of choice attached.

At first it's pretty easy to make fun of (which believe you me, we did - especially since "mingle stick" sounds unfortunately like "Disco Stick" - the Lady Gaga song that was then consequentially stuck in my head for the entire rest of the day) - but after a while it really starts to become handy (I say this, though I never actually got one). Later, on the metro, Mine and our new friend were about to write down each other's info, when they both realized that they had carried with them their "mingle sticks"

"Wanna mingle?" They said, and everyone on the metro very overtly turned their heads to watch the strange little awkward point & click ritual take place. I'm convinced that we could have gotten paid for our outstanding example of stealth marketing.

Anything for an additional source of income. 

Zethiopia

Mysh bzi. Hallo.
   Moremble.
Salaam. Hola. Ciao.
        Guten Tag. Namaste. Konnichi Wa.
Bonjour. Salut. Chao.

Hello there, and welcome to my pseudo-ethnic greeting; a place where I pretend for just a moment that I am, in fact, perfectly capable of listing all of these diverse forms "hello" off the top of my head, and that I didn't, in fact, type "hello in many languages" into Google search.

And now we return to reality.

Today, Angie Chuang, a professor of ethnic journalism at American University, spoke to us about - you guessed it - ethnic journalism.
It's so funny, because despite all my talk of being overwhelmed by the amount of diversity in D.C., until today I never once thought about how all of these multi-ethnic groups deal with journalism and the news. It was really eye-opening to hear about all of the different ways that ethnic journalism can be approached. There's so much variety in who commissions it, who writes it, who it's aimed at, who reads it and the areas and issues it covers.

Ethnic media also serves an essentially different purpose than "mainstream media" - whether it be 'immigrant media' or 'minority media' (minority often being a sort of falsity in itself), and Angie spent a lot of time talking about some of the deeper differences inherent its approach.

Journalists often claim that they are not out to change anything - and if they are, it is only in the sense that by exposing something it will in turn affect people. Their mission is not to alter the state of events. However, ethnic media is more concerned with enacting change. A lot of the articles address an issue, and serve as a sort of "how-to" guide for how to deal with it.

For example, before today's class we read an example of an article that highlighted institutions' propensity not to hire those with "African-American sounding names", and it essentially explained how to better ensure being hired if your given-name falls within this category.

Angie asked us to think about how this article would fare if placed in, say, The Washington Post. She said people would be outraged, because it assumes that the state of things are as it says, and provides very little contrasting data or observations. It doesn't approach the issue in a 100% objective method, something that more mainstream publications are supposed to always do .

This however, she says, is just how ethnic journalists write - they look and write from inside a community, rather than from an outside perspective.

Because they're writing for a specific audience with specific needs, they approach topics in a manner that consists of less plain explanation, and more advice-like qualities on how to deal with day-to-day issues that their readership faces.

It was great to hear her speak, especially since she has so much experience in the area - and I'm definitely going to pick up an ethnic publication next time I see one, if only to see what types of issues it speaks about.

I also came away from today with an appreciation of some of the difficulties of being a member of a "minority" group and working in journalism. People always expect you to know and to want to write about your respective ethnicity - and I think that would get incredibly tedious. Angie seemed to deal with it really well, but I know that I'd get really sick of people's assumptions. I guess that would apply to all areas of my life, though, and not just my journalistic duties.

So go read El Tiemo Latino and expand your horizons!

Ciao.

Ps: I totally failed today and forgot to take a picture - I was a wee bit distracted (read: I was about to go shopping). So here's a picture of Angie Chuang for your reference, courtesy of AU's website [you go ahead and feel free to mentally photoshop some cute journalism students in behind her - your imagination could use a little practice anyhow]

'State Beverage: Milk, The perfect complement to cookies'

I used to hate meeting people from my home state. Seriously, I'd avoid Wisconsin natives like the plague. God forbid some of their Midwestern-ness would rub off on me, or even worse, that they'd expose me as being from....ugh, Wisconsin. Yuck.

Therefore, I've gotten pretty good at pretending I'm from some cooler, big city - especially since I apparently have a permanent, cheer-repelling 'stink-face' - if I take into consideration the first impression of every person who's ever met me.

But lately, I've been all proud of my nerdy, hick-heritage. Now, when I meet people from Wisconsin, I'm like, "You're from Wisconsin?! REPRESENT! Do you like cows??! I totally love cows! And isn't cheese, like, the greatest!? And couldn't you just watch the opening credits from "That 70's Show" all day long?? God, our homestate is the best, right?!"

I know. It's shameful. I honestly don't know what's gotten into me. All of a sudden I've become this disgustingly staunch advocate of midwestern culture.

Anyhow, this little guilt-ridden rant does in fact relate to our guest speaker today, who was, if it hasn't already been made painfully obvious, from Wisconsin. And I guess I wouldn't really have thought that much about it, except for the fact that he works as a spokesman/communications director/press secretary - a job that he emphasized (more than once) absolutely requires humor.

"Humor penetrates", Mr Ron Bonjean said. It relaxes people and allows you to then have an honest conversation. "So many people take themselves too seriously", he continued, which was so so SO refreshing to hear someone here say. I'd started to think that "seminar" was synonymous with "brag fest" - because, honestly, how many fabulous things can you say about yourself in that shamefully I-should-be-humble-but-let's-be-honest-I'm-pretty-great manner.

I should say that all the speakers have been really interesting, and I totally understand why they'd want to brag about their accomplishments - especially since that's kind of why we have them come to speak for us. But even so, it's refreshing to see a little bit of self-awareness.

Anyhow - I seriously could type for like 5 pages about all the cool stuff Ron Bonjean told us today. He was spokesman for the Senate Majority Leader, Trent Lott, and communications director for the House Speaker, Dennis Hastert. He's this cheery, smiley, and really affable guy - but hearing his resume you'd never have guessed it. Ron's been through some serious crises, including, though definitely not limited to, Trent Lott's stepping down from his post due to a racist comment, 9/11 and all that came with it, the anthrax crisis, and the Mark Foley page scandal.

He talked a lot about how, as a pr man, he pitches stories to reporters so that he can have a significant input in how it plays out/ is portrayed. ("An objective reporter can be influenced from various forces, and you want to be one of those forces.") I thought there was just a slight ethical dilemma here, considering that obviously he's not going to pitch a full story to the reporters, complete with sufficient opposing viewpoints. He insisted, however, that he always presents both sides, even if he admittedly leaves out some of the opposing details. He emphasized that a good journalist will get other sources besides him, so he doesn't have to do their job for them - he's just one source of many.

My personal issue with this arises from the fact that he also talked about how nowadays, so much less energy goes into investigative reporting than used to, so some of these reporters do actually just rely on him for their stories. That, I think, is scary.

He covered how it's important to figure out how to best avoid feeding a scandal's fire - how to best stifle it. Usually, he says, it's an apology (as long as you avoid pandering). Isn't that funny? Mom was right (again) - just saying sorry really does work.


The greatest part about the whole speech was when he told us that really, they're all buddies in Washington. A reporter may write a bad story about him, and he may get angry, but in the end, they'll all go out for drinks and be like "hey man, that was a crazy story, yea?" - and all's good. They go to each others' weddings and hang out on the weekends and at the end of the day (for most people, that is, congressman being the exception, he made sure to note) it's just a job and you can't take yourself so seriously.

Disappointingly, he added, recently some people in Washington are actually pretty angry at one another. All this partisan stuff is splitting up the capital city - but not him, he ensures, cause he's a "funny guy".


And I'd like to think it's because he's from Wisconsin.

Feed the Beast

You can't blame the customer. They may not be right - but they're never wrong.

That was one of Ed Lewis's main points today, when he spoke to us about his career, a large portion of which he's spent in the public relations section of the auto industry.

Now, working for Toyota, he's been dealing with all the acceleration claims - so he's been in crisis mode (a term I heard a lot of today) for quite some time now.

It was interesting to hear about all the intricacies of his job in public affairs - like how he saw the media as attack dogs, and his metaphor of having to "feed the beast".
Journalists, he said, are continuing to stir up new issues and come at the same story from a bunch of different angles, because they have to fill the 24-hour news cycle. This makes his company's problem all the more difficult, because it never ends. If the journalists don't want to let it go - it'll never fade into the background.

Gotta love 'em.

Alsooooo...he said that when working in public affairs, you need to ask tough questions and be skeptical of your own management, because they're not going to want to tell you things at first. But, he said, they'll thank you later when you're prepared for questions/comments on that info.

It's weird, because it's kind of like being an investigative journalist for your own corporation, but then once you find out all the dirty facts, you have to tweak how you deliver them to give them a positive spin.

He also talked about "planned leaks", and how you want to leak bad news on a Friday, and good news on a Monday. Then, you have to have "experts" or what not, lined up to interview - ones that you can be guaranteed will reflect positively on the corp.

Tricksy, as my dear friend Gollum would say.

A lot of stuff goin' on back there behind the scenes at those big corporations. A lot of people making a lot of money to keep a lot of stuff quiet.

Ed Lewis and some of the gang

Filibustering First Graders

Today, Monday, our class trekked through DC's worst weather yet to get to the Capitol, where we got a wee tour of the Senate Press Gallery, and then worked our way over to the House.

I LOVED our tour guide/director of the Senate Press Gallery, Joe Keenan. I have never seen someone who loves his job SO much. It was eerily contagious - and after 5 minutes I couldn't believe how interested I was in U.S. political history. I was asking all these questions, and getting really into Senate policy, and starting to seriously consider one day becoming myself the director of the gallery.

joe

Then, within about 5 seconds of leaving I realized that I know absolutely nothing about government, politics, or anything relatively related to what such a job would entail.

Anyhow, he was so chatty and into his job - and it was so great how he told us all the funny little quirks about the people who work in government. How Ted Kennedy always sat in the corner so he could be the first to leave, and how one senator had to pee so often during one important hearing that the entire senate & press had to break once an hour - just for him. (I definitely empathized with this fellow, god bless the weak-bladdered).

old senate

The best part was the senate desks. First of all, they have this whole rotation system worked out, so seniority determines who gets to choose where to sit. That means the freshman get the crappy desks, while the old folks get all the prime real estate.
Then, every senator who sits in a desk immediately carves his name into it. How colloquial and old-school is that?
There's also a "candy desk", where the occupant is required to have a 24/7 supply of candy inside, one desk that won't open because some senator was making a statement against using constituent tax-dollars to construct new desks with tops that open, and one desk with a bayonet hole through it from when the south seceded and the right half of the room was used as an army hospital.

Honestly, I came away from the whole speech convinced that we never, ever grow up. All the senators just came off looking like big 5 year olds. Freshman corners? Carving names? Bathroom breaks? Candy desks? And this is in the U.S. Senate, the 'elite' group that we elect to rule our dignified nation?

And then Joe Keenan goes on to tell us that the most fun that the reporters ever have is when they get to smoke, drink and order in pizza at 2am in the press gallery? Seriously, am I the only one who gets the mental image that DC is an amalgamation of kindergartners in suits and ties?

Anyhow, despite the freezing cold and rain, it was a nice visit all in all. If nothing else, I've been inspired to get a job that I'm half as passionate about as Joe Keenan was about his.

I've also lost about 80% of my formerly held fear of government officials. Big babies.

 

Elementary, My Dear Rosenstiel

I think one of my favorite parts of having people come speak for us is getting to hear what they were going to be before they decided on becoming a journalist.

Tom Rosenstiel apparently lived in the ghetto, had a fro, and was all set to be a musician, when Mike McCurry (future Clinton White House Press Secretary) recruited him to work for the school paper, at which point he "caught the bug" (as so many of these speakers tend to do), and decided to pursue journalism instead.

He eventually went on to be the media critic at the LA Times, a job that people told him would ruin his career. I guess the staff of the paper grows to hate you when you're constantly criticizing them - can't imagine why. 

During said 10 year stint, Mr. Rosenstiel decided to mix things up a bit - and instead of debating the current state of the media for pages and pages, he decided to go out and actually get some hard data that would reflect the condition of the news. He was very focused on statistics. In fact, I'm a little bit unsure of where he stores away all of his data. I guess if you do enough speeches you sort of memorize the facts (though I'm not sure this theory works, as the statistics he told us change fairly often.)

Nonetheless, it was really cool to hear all these hard facts backing up the claims he was making. I guess I see the point now in adding some statistical data to your story - definitely beefs it up a bit.

After his time at the LA Times,he went on to be Director for the Project for Excellence in Journalism (something I've heard referenced incessantly here - so it's obviously a pretty big deal in DC journalist world, at least). And THEN (drum roll please) he wrote our beloved class text, "The Elements of Journalism" - which, yes, I have completed in full, thank you very very much.

One of Mr. Rosenstiel's main points was that journalists are no longer "gatekeepers", 'cause there's so much info out there (internet, etc), that they don't decide what we get anymore. He also reiterated something his book stated many times -  it is the means and method that should be objective when writing a story, not the ends.

He was also very into having a scientific method for completing journalistic work - something I could have guessed from his love of data.

Another interesting point he had was that people no longer turn specifically to a news organization to get their news, but instead search for a topic, and as a result wind up reading something put out by a news organization. 2/3 of people end up at the New York Times website after a search like Google, as opposed to directly seeking the site out. We don't turn to the newspaper, we actively look for the news, - it's "shifted from a lean back to a lean forward experience"

He also mentioned the love of my life, NPR, saying that its audience has doubled when everyone else's is experiencing problems because (1), we have more drive time, (2), other radio news has decreased, and (3), it provides explanatory journalism - something we've come to like more than straight reporting (for better or for worse...worse, if you agree with the majority of our speakers).

Finally - and I promise this is the last thing, he told us that newspapers have not lost their audience, only their ad revenue. (online newspapers draw a ton of readers). Craigslist sucked the power of the classifieds, there is no longer scarcity so advertisers don't rely on papers, they have their own websites so don't need ads, and they're not following the papers online (here he noted how people hate pop up ads, a revolutionary concept, I assure you, for I don't know about you, but I adore when a giant sparkly iPod suddenly obscures the entire page I'm reading and my computer starts screaming "YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN TO RECEIVE A FREE IPOD" - especially when I'm in the library and have forgotten to put my volume on mute) ... ahh, precious moments.

WOW. That was much too long of a post - and yet I have even more information I want to write, even if I know that .1% of people made it to this point.

Mr. Rosenstiel had so many cool points and facts and little tidbits of info that I didn't know - so, even if it was the ugliest, rainiest, most freezing day ever, it was still worth walking the arduous 1/2 block to Dunblane to see him.

WAMU-FM: 88.5

Wednesday we got to hear from some of my all-time favorite rock-star idols : the folks over at NPR - that oh-so-fabulous public organization that consistently refused (well, if we're going to be completely honest, failed to even acknowledge) my several internship applications.

I guess I assumed that my status as a passionate and committed listener would somehow heighten my standing among the endless list of hopeful interns-but we all know how far assuming gets us.

But don't fear, NPR, I have not deserted you. I shall remain a loyal devotee as long as you continue to provide your slightly high brow, but ever-so-intriguing, material, cost-free to us humble plebeian folk back home.

Anyhow, you can imagine how thrilled I was Wednesday to be able to share the same air space with these legendary and elusive elite, even if the chairs in said space were packed so unnecessarily close to one another to make for some lovely and considerably uncomfortable shared moments between me and the random girl seated next to me. (awkward shoulder brush, anyone?)

Susanne Reber, NPR Deputy Managing Editor of Investigations, and Keith Jenkins, Senior Supervising Producer for NPR Multimedia, along with Kathy Kiely who works for USA Today, talked with us about journalism and new media - a topic we've heard nothing about thus far. (note the sarcasm)

They made some interesting points, about having to be a "lifetime learner", and how the medium should be driven by the story. Ultimately, the theme seemed to be to not let technology or new media determine what the story should be, but instead adapt the technology in whatever way will best tell your story.

Quality over quantity came up again and again. Don't just throw together whatever bits of multimedia you can, but really think through how best to present your topic and subjects. "Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should."

The people from NPR then gave us some good examples of the types of unique stories that NPR investigates, and why it is different from so many other news organizations and outlets. For example, instead of focusing on the BP oil spill, they decided to find a blast survivor and tell his story. And instead of leaving the Virginia coal mine when the hard news story began to die out like all the other reporters, they stuck around to gain the trust and respect of the community, and are now better able to investigate the causes behind the tragedy.

They focused most, however, on their recent "Brain Wars" series, a look into the brain damage that returning soldiers suffer and how it's been largely ignored by doctors, psychologists and most other organizations - to the enormous detriment of the soldiers. (see it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127402851)

It was really eye-opening to see the amount of work that goes on to produce such a comprehensive story; first researching the best "character", then building a relationship with the subject, choosing the right media to document his struggle, finding supplementary footage and images, editing it all together and eventually designing a web page to support the carefully assimilated material (and don't think that just because they're this prestigious organization that they're not plotting and planning and devising the best ways to increase web-hits like the rest of 'em, because they certainly are).

I came away from the little forum just salivating at how cool it would be to work for someplace like NPR. You'd have all of these resources allotted to you (not to mention the NPR name to throw around) with this expectation that you are going to create a news piece different from anything else the other mainstream news outlets are producing. Your story is going to have a deeper meaning, and it's going to delve into issues that go beyond the hard news to find the underlying concerns and the affected parties - It won't just stop at the who, what & where - but really examine the how & why.

*sigh*

and thus I reluctantly end my ode to NPR (and don't think I'm not aware of how desperate I sound - because I very very very much am) to retire to the comfort of Netflix Instant Play - after all, there's nothing a good episode of Veronica Mars can't fix.

Cheerio mate

Kathy Kiely & student

Susanne Reber

sorry, man, this one made me laugh too hard not to add it

Keith Jenkins - I loved his glasses

Clouds... strange clouds.

Wingapo
and Oh. my. goodness. I just finished reading my terribly awfully horribly boring book for class. Admittedly, it's a very comprehensive and detailed outline of the thought processes and moralistic behavior that should taken into consideration when pursuing a journalistic career.

Regrettably, it's no Harry Potter.

All truly worthy books require one or two good quality spells to spice things up a bit, wouldn't you agree?
Or a three-headed dog.
Or butterbeer.

mmmm. Butterbeer sounds so good right now (even if I'm fairly certain I have no idea what butterbeer actually is). So does apple-picking. I LOVE fall. I love all the wonderful things about it. I love really badly carved pumpkins and dorky-non-revealing-totally-asexual costumes and leaf piles (one of which I made a valorous attempt to jump into today, before being alerted by my slightly more practical roommate that not only was I in a public place, but in the middle of a busy street surrounded by pedestrians and speeding cars).

Alas! it's OK! And whyy, might you ask, is my thwarted attempt at a return to a childhood happy place causing such a disconcertingly small amount of emotional scarring?

Because, my dear companions, I am going to be Pocahontas for Halloween! (if all goes as planned and I don't catch pneumonia or fall or have an exam or just decide to be lazy).

Today my roommate and I walked into a Halloween store in Georgetown, and I was astounded by the number of Native American costumes they had - and also by how wonderfully politically correct they all were! Of course Indian princesses wore sweetheart-topped fringe laden mini dresses, complete with precariously placed loin clothes and ruched bodices! Obbbbvviously they had nothing more important to concern themselves with than the deep-v plunge of their strategically revealing attire.

Let it be known that I will not be wearing one of these generic store offerings, but conjuring up some totally earthly-inspired little do-op of my own, -

for I channel the colors of the wind.

Georgetown Halloween is, as rumor has it, a pretty big shin-dig, so I'm looking forward to flaunting my fringe-laden (or possibly non-fringe laden, depending on how ambitious I attempt to be) frock for the DC world to see. Watch out stuffy politician and executive bound Washingtonians, your earth-child neighbor is preparing to bust out the Que que na-to-ra so highly recommended by Grandmother Willow and to follow her dream-giver just around the riverbend.
(can I cram in one more Disney reference?? can I do it? can I?!?)



Ana.
(did it)