Hello, everyone. I don't know about the rest of you, but, for the journalist profile assignment, I had far more content than the word limit allowed. Angelia commented in class that, in completing the assignments, we would probably have far more quotes than we could use.
I chose to profile Meghna Chakrabarti, who is the co-host of the popular public affairs program 'Radio Boston' on WBUR, a Boston-based NPR news/talk station. Chakrabarti was very generous, giving me over 40 minutes of her time. The transcript of my interview with her runs almost 6,500 words. I also interviewed her co-host Anthony Brooks, which ran almost 1,900 words, and executive producer of the show Mark Navin, which ran almost 2,500 words. So, I had almost 11,000 words of content, forcing me to be very selective about what I included in the assignment.
I thought I would share with you some of the responses to my questions, most of which did not get included in the final profile, because of space limitations. I was very impressed with how thoughtful each person's answers were to all of my questions.
I asked all three people about the value of formal journalism training to perform their jobs. Here is how each responded:
Chakrabarti:
You're going to be mad at me when I say this. No, and I think journalism school is a waste (laughs), because journalism is still, at its core, an apprenticeship craft. It's a craft. So, the only way to really, really, really learn it is to do it, and to do it every day. So, I really do see it as an apprenticeship type career. That's why my apprenticeship was at “On Point” and that was like boot camp, high speed, high intensity. So, no, I do not see not having a formal training in journalism as being a detriment.
Co-host Anthony Brooks:
You know, I didn't go to journalism school, so I might have a bias. I think the best training that you can get become a journalist is to just start being a journalist. I mean, that's sort of the way I did...I was an English major, and I started volunteering at a public radio station out in Oregon many, many, many years ago, and I pretty much worked for free and learned the ropes that way, and then started filing freelance for NPR. And then, within a year, I had an entry-level position at NPR. So, I really learned doing the work.
You know, I think that if you’re lucky enough to go to a great journalism school, I don't see that it could hurt you. But, I mean, I know the way that senior journalists in this profession think, and the first thing they're going to look at is what experience do you have. And, journalism school, you know, is not usually regarded as the most important experience. The most important experience is, you know, have you written? Can you write? Do you know how to report, and have you done that? The quickest way to get that experience is to do it.
What I like about being a journalist is that there are a lot of different ways to do it, and there is no sort of formal, official stamp that makes you a journalist. I think that's important, that's sort of the definition of the Fourth Estate, in the way that we can sort of check and control and keep people honest. We should be, like, normal people. I don't have a certification from any official body that says I'm a journalist. You know, I'm a journalist based on the fact that I have done it for a lot of years and work for an organization that has done it for a lot of years.
So, you know, I wouldn't be as strong on that as Meghna, because I know there are a lot of terrific journalists that come out of some great journalism schools, and go on to be good journalists. But, I would argue that the most useful part of their nurturing and their becoming journalists is the actual act of doing journalism.
Executive Producer Mark Navin (Navin has a bachelor's in broadcast journalism from Boston University):
Well, first of all, I don't think that having formal journalism training is necessary to be a good journalist, but I also don't think it's a detriment. I do think it can be an asset. I think that the journalism schools are teaching people a lot of really important skills and values, and I think that's it's very important to have those skills and values if you're going to be a good journalist.
Having said that, I don't think it's essential to have a journalism background, because I believe that really what's most important in the world journalism, especially in the changing world of journalism, because it is really changing an awful lot, is having an intense curiosity about the world around you, and being able to express that, your discoveries to your audience. And so, those things are, those are skills that people have without training, you know, a lot of people have without training.
Certainly, you know, having another kind of academic background, as Meghna does, as Anthony does, as a lot of people here do, it gives you a good basis for being a good journalist, because you know, academia is all about research and discovery, and that's what journalism is all about. And, when I talk about the changing world journalism, the reality is anybody with a blog can call themselves a journalist today.
So, the days of, you know, there being a formal gatekeeper on what kinds of stories get out there, the days when the New York Times was the only person who could decide what news was fit to print are over. They really are. And, so, in my opinion, journalism organizations, like ours, our way forward is to try to invite as many voices in as we possibly can, to throw the gates open as much as we can.
I feel like journalism schools are sort of a vestige from the days when, you know, you became a professional journalist, you got your press card, and you were granted access to the kingdom. The gates were thrown open to you. You don't need that anymore. Having said that you don't need it, I think there are a lot of great skills that are taught in journalism school.
(end of Navin comments)
I believe the journalistic "cocoon" that exists in the public radio world is unique. It allows bright, talented folks from very diverse backgrounds to develop their journalistic skills over time, on the job, as apprentices under the wing of more experienced radio journalists. In this environment, there is probably no need for formal journalism school. They learn the principles of practicing journalism as they go along.
But, in the world of print journalism, some formal training is essential. All of these assignments that Angelia is having us complete are slowly, methodically developing our skills. Each of the courses in the ALM journalism program will add to those skills, giving us the basic skills & experience to practice print journalism. I think most of us will work in the print world.
So, I think the training of a public radio journalist & a print journalist should be different. You have to take that into account, when considering the opinions of NPR journalists about the value of journalism school.
Later, Jim
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