I was going to write separate posts about the following three anecdotes. Then I realized they all had a common theme so I decided to condense¹ them into one:
I’m starting to get more comfortable interacting with sources. This may not have been a problem for many reporters, but I’ve always been a quiet and non-nosy person. I usually kept to myself and my circle of friends. Rarely would I strike up a conversation with a stranger about anything (not even the weather). In fact, I can’t recall doing anything like that until I got into college and realized part of my intended profession meant I had to leave my comfort zone and meet new people.
Recently, though, I think I’ve made some real progress. I’ve learned to be more comfortable with people I’ve just met. I’ve started talking to people about things not related to the story I’m working on. So, instead of being just a gatherer of information, I’m more of a person. And, probably, more personable.
I can cite three examples.
First, for this story about a fourth-grader who rides quarter horses², I met the dad and son at their house. It was the first sit-down interview I’ve done for the Missourian all semester and I was a bit nervous. Part of that was because I had to interview a 9-year-old (how are you supposed to do that?), but the dad was helpful.³
Mostly, though, I was nervous because interviewing someone in person is different than doing it in person. You have to watch your facial expressions, for one thing. Well, the interview went fine — we spoke for about half an hour. Then it was time to leave. On my way out, since both father and son were wearing Mizzou shirts, I asked if the dad and I had the same Alma Mater.
That question led to us talking about Mizzou basketball for a solid five minutes in his doorway before we said our goodbyes. They’re nice people and probably would have talked to me anyway, but I think having another connection helped me write a better story because I understood my subjects a little more.
Second, I wrote a story about an unearthed monument at the Boone County Courthouse and, well…this anecdote needs a little explaining. I had originally wrote the story about two weeks before it was published. It had just taken a while for me to get the accuracy check for one source done.
Eventually, after a few messages that were not returned, Liz told me to go by the source’s office. Well, once there, I was able to talk to her immediately. Her office’s phones and computers had gone down so she hadn’t received any of my messages.
After she read a copy of the completed story and verified all the facts, we got to talking about her computer troubles, which led to her talking about her personal feelings of the monument. She said some really great stuff that didn’t make it into the article because, at least to me, it seemed like that stuff was just between the two of us. She probably would not have minded having what she told me in the paper, but I kind of like that it’s not.
Third, for the reporting I did yesterday for the Missourian’s election coverage, I struck up a conversation with the volunteer I did the vignette on about an hour and a half before I asked to interview her. We started talking about why she was there and what her plans for voting were. Again, some of the stuff we talked about didn’t make it into the vignette.
When I first started talking to her, I had no plans to do the vignette on her. I slowly realized her story was a pretty good one, though. Hopefully, she didn’t think I started the conversation with the endgame of a story in mind. Maybe since I didn’t she opened up more and was more open to talking to me? Maybe.
Also, I should mention, while talking to voters exiting the polls, I managed to gain some insight into my beat. When I asked what someone’s job was and they answered teacher, I told them I wrote for the education beat at the Missourian. I then probed for their feelings on some issues facing the district, their particular schools and teachers.
I put my notebook and mechanical pencil down for those conversations and I think that paid off: I got some non-PC reactions to some burning questions I had.
In summary, one of the biggest challenges I personally had to overcome in order to be a competent reporter was being comfortable talking to people whom I had just met and from whom I was just trying to gather information. I’m still not great at it because conversing with others doesn’t come naturally to me — it’s a skill that I’ve had to work on.
1. Read: “longer.”
2. I just want to say the photographs on that story are incredible. Better than I had pictured.
3. The interactions between those two are where all those great dialogue parts come from.
Behind Blue Skies 