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| Ask A Staffer Final Round - The Askening: Tengukami |
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| Mimachiro:
What was your craziest childhood belief? Does your daughter have any? What are they? Ammy vs. an Oni: who wins? |
| Hello Purvis:
What was your path through Joinalism like? How did you get educated, how did you get your start, what kinds of things have you done both noteworthy and on the whole, and so on? |
| Tengukami:
--- Quote from: Megane Genichiro on August 23, 2011, 11:28:24 PM ---What was your craziest childhood belief? --- End quote --- When I was 6 or 7 I watched this Disney movie about a guy who gets electrocuted while working on a computer and so becomes a computer himself, mentally. I decided to try the same thing with a toy robot I had. I did not get the results I expected. --- Quote from: Megane Genichiro on August 23, 2011, 11:28:24 PM ---Does your daughter have any? What are they? --- End quote --- I'm not sure if my daughter has any, as she isn't talking yet, but she does engage in a lot of imaginary play, so she very well might. --- Quote from: Megane Genichiro on August 23, 2011, 11:28:24 PM ---Ammy vs. an Oni: who wins? --- End quote --- They say tengu can outdrink oni, but I think oni are probably fiercer in combat. So, let's call it a draw. --- Quote from: Killer Purvis on August 24, 2011, 02:43:09 AM ---What was your path through Joinalism like? How did you get educated, how did you get your start, what kinds of things have you done both noteworthy and on the whole, and so on? --- End quote --- For me it started by picking up a copy of the magazine I now write for, and sending in an article of my own. It was a new publication at the time (2003), so it was relatively easy to get printed there if you worked hard and could write well. I just kept at it, making my own assignments and such. When we started attracting the attention of the Icelandic media (they had written us off as a "tourist paper", because we're in English, and they were frankly surprised when we'd scoop them on actual news, or point out flaws in their own coverage), things began to take off. I worked for a year as a correspondent for AFP in Iceland, which was definitely handy when Bobby Fischer moved here, and when whaling began to make a stink. But being a wire service "runner", as correspondents are called, is not an easy job, because you can get a phone call any time to go report on anyone or anything, with a deadline of about an hour from getting the assignment. It was a fun year, but I'm glad I don't do it anymore. Some of my personal favorite stories that I've covered include the investigation into a murder on the now-closed NATO base, digging deeper into the methodology of a group that was claiming Iceland had zero corruption, an extensive piece I did about city planning (actually more interesting than it sounds) and of course a number of interviews I was able to conduct with people I admire, among them Jello Biafra and Richard Stallman. I actually have no education in journalism. I'm a high school graduate. That I got the break I did can be attributed to sheer, blind, dumb luck. |
| Hello Purvis:
Have you managed to accrue any local infamy via the work you've done? What is the research and creation process of the hour-long notice to submission for a story like? When you say you could get a call at any time, does this mean you were on call 24/7? |
| Tengukami:
--- Quote from: Killer Purvis on August 24, 2011, 01:39:52 PM ---Have you managed to accrue any local infamy via the work you've done? --- End quote --- I have made a few enemies, yes. No one particularly powerful or important; just local flunkies and mid-tier politicians who aren't really active any longer. I experienced much more infamy when I got involved in politics rather than journalism. --- Quote from: Killer Purvis on August 24, 2011, 01:39:52 PM ---What is the research and creation process of the hour-long notice to submission for a story like? --- End quote --- The basic structure for a timely news piece is the Inverted Pyramid - you start with the most immediate core of the story in the beginning of the article, and then work your way outwards as the article moves along. Let's say, for example, that the Ministry of Fisheries has lifted the moratorium on whale hunting. The first person I need to get quotes from is the minister, directly. I then need to talk to who this decision immediately affects - the Marine Research Institute, the head of the Icelandic Tourist Board (whale watching is pretty big business; whale watching groups hate whale hunters), the Icelandic branch of the IFAW, and so on. Quotes gathered, I then need to gather my own research material. How many whales are being hunted? What impact does this have on the environment? What about on tourism? Are we hunting an endangered species? How endangered? Now, quotes take precedent over research, so if the story needs to be out ASAP, I'll put together an article based on the people I spoke to. This article gets immediately sent out over the international press wire. As I gather more research, the story is updated. Many people criticize "instant journalism" for putting quotes over research, but the internet has allowed journalists to be able to update a story endlessly. On the other hand, the first story gets the most eyeballs, so if research later uncovered directly contradicts assertions made in the first release, it can be overlooked. This is why it's important to give important updates as much attention as the first release. --- Quote from: Killer Purvis on August 24, 2011, 01:39:52 PM ---When you say you could get a call at any time, does this mean you were on call 24/7? --- End quote --- Yes, that's exactly what it means. I never received any late late phone calls, but I have been called away from my family to go scurry down to the airport and wait for an insane, anti-Semitic, has-been chess player to land in Iceland, hop in an SUV without a word to anyone, and immediately drive away. Good times. |
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