Journal XVII

Journal Entry 17: Phelps Family Documentary

The BBC’s Louis Theroux released his documentary “The Most Hated Family in America” almost a year ago, but it has taken a while for news of it to percolate over to the US, where it was never published on television. It was brought to my attention by the Phelps’ protest of the death of actor Heath Ledger. I think that it is a fascinating look at the Phelps family, but also at documentary interview journalism.

Here’s a temperate British journalist who is interviewing one of America’s most controversial families. The Phelps have been renowned for their aggressive evangelism, and can count one journalist among their frightening converts. Pastor Fred Phelps is a notoriously difficult interviewee, yet Theroux manages to do a fantastic documentary despite all that. He spends three weeks with the family, and walks away with film that they love and the rest of the Western world seems shocked at.

I think that it is clear he managed to do all this due to his charming attitude. His ability to show them that he just wants to put out their story, without any judgment on his part, is what won them over. That, and the human quality of seeing yourself as you want to be seen.

One clear example would be seen in Theroux’s interactions with one of the younger Phelps who was pretty clearly flirting with him 80% of the time. I mean, she started mimicking his accent, asked her mum to go to coffee with him and opened up with him much more than the others did.

Louis Theroux’s journalistic style is worthy of study and emulation.

Journal Entry XVI

Journal Entry 16: Berkeley Article

The New York Times recently ran an article detailing the ongoing protests over at the Marine recruiting center at the Berkeley campus. Code Pink, a feminist anti-war group, has been blocking access to the center and calling for the Marines to be ejected from Berkeley. Things came to a head when the City Council made a resolution calling for the Marines to leave, which coincided with an upsurge in protesting.

The resolution was eventually rescinded and apologized for, but news of the event went all over the country. Personally, I was very frustrated by the actions of the Code Pink group, which I see as being counter-productive to the peace movement as a whole. Though this gets more into public relations than hard journalism, I’d like to outline my problems with their campaign.

1. Protest to the people who are actually capable of effecting change. The street recruiter and his civilian secretary aren't capable of changing DOD policy or bringing the troops home. Go talk to a Congressional representative or senator if you want to advocate change; find a corporate sponsor to fund a lobbyist. There are thousands of better people to protest to than a campus NCO recruiter.

2. Actually get involved with politics, meaning run / support someone running for state office. Far too many people seem willing to spend a few hours yelling about government fascists or whatever, but balk at actually going into politics. Don't just talk. Act.

3. Seek public support in realistic ways. Find common ground with people in order to show them that you are attempting to achieve similar goals that are both good and achievable. The only difference between the anti-war movement and the military is perspective and responsibility, neither really wants to be in Iraq and neither has the ability to stop it by themselves.

4. Recognize the full implications of the policy changes you advocate. If you want to disband the military, then how is the state supposed to defend itself against natural disasters, domestic unrest or foreign invasion? If you want an isolationist policy, what should the state do when the next Kuwait / Rwanda / Somalia / Darfur occurs? How will the economy be affected, and how will the poor be affected? What are the full risks and potential benefits of these decisions, and how likely are they to occur?

5. Find a way to communicate your opinions in ways that are neither insulting nor sloganistic. The left is filled with far too many people who love to throw down these ridiculous back-handed superior comments instead of a real message. They don't even attempt any real dialogue, because they are too busy pigeonholing their target into an imaginary corner where any disagreement implies they support fascism or racism, and usually both.

Journal Entry XV

Journal Entry 15: In-class Interviews

The in-class interviews over the last three weeks have been interesting. They have been successful for the most part, but they have also been challenging. Vicki and Elizabeth were difficult interviewees in different ways, but perhaps that is simply a factor of any interview.

Vicki’s interview was very interesting, but it also was hard to narrow down. Her breadth of specific knowledge and responsibility made it difficult to find a coherent path of discussion. Even after concerted effort, the interview seemed to ramble on from questions about Mount St. Helens, to questions of policy, to modern prevention methods, to contemporary examples, and finally to the somewhat painful questions of basic organization (which felt entirely pro forma and designed to run down the clock).

Fortunately, these difficulties were mitigated by her willingness to spend as much time as was needed to answer any questions we had. This allowed the sometimes broadly fielded queries to be answered completely while leaving time for the more central topics. I really enjoyed being able to ask her questions about DOGAMI and the rest, I only wish I had been able to narrow down my focus.

Elizabeth was a different kind of interview. She was equally friendly and knowledgeable, but sometimes difficult to follow. I felt unsure of the extent of what she was talking about, only that her business was in Public Relations and her interview was on conducting business interviews. I felt that she would have done better with a more comprehensive lecture, because when the time came (quickly) for questions I was left without enough information to have any specific questions.

The questions I did ask were terribly reaching, and the awkward comment about satellites only worsened the situation. Still, I felt it was worse to have a total silence in the classroom, so I figured I would ask her some general questions while I worked out a more topical one.

In the end, I would consider her an amiable interviewee, but also a difficult one. While these are doubtlessly excellent traits as a press relations representative, they make for frustrating classroom discussions.

Journal Entry XIV

Journal Entry 14: Rainbow Optics interviews

The interviews for the Project Homeless Connect story were relatively successful. They really came in two parts, and it was fortunate that I went back the second time because I got a much better picture of the overall story after I went back. The first interviews were prior to the event happening, while the interviews afterward were technically after the event (I’ll explain that in a moment).

Those first interviews got me a basic idea of what was going on. I had managed to luck out and find the actual service providers on my first try, but all the doctors were busy and I had to settle with talking with the secretaries and a distracted off-duty optometrist, and then leave my number. They never called me back, leaving me to scramble for the information I had hoped to get from them.

The second interviews happened after the Thursday PHC event, but I soon learned that really the event was still going on. Due to the numbers of people who needed eye care, Rainbow Optics had held an examination and glasses fitting day on the weekend, and there were still a few holdouts who were finishing up the eye wear fitting after that. This meant I had the opportunity to speak with one of the homeless patients who was getting his new glasses, though I had difficulty actually interjecting the interview into the PHC article (since it was supposed to be an advancer).

I also had a chance to speak with the owner of Rainbow Optics, Sheila Abbott, who seemed an enthusiastic supporter of the PHC event and was glad to speak with me about her involvement with the project. All told, it was a successful round of interviews, particularly for a story that was meant to be something of a puff piece.

Journal Entry XIII

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class that I took last term. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 13: Crescent Village PR interview

While I waited for the firemen to get back from their call, I went over to the nearby Crescent Village to speak with the PR people and get the stereotypical tour. I figured it would be a good opportunity to get some basic pictures, and to put my toe in the door in case I needed to talk with people later, and I could get a feel for how the lease company was feeling about their media exposure.

In summary, once I got my message through the process went quite smoothly. I didn’t get anything I didn’t already know, but it was good to confirm a few little factoids (eg. Expensive housing, non-Eugene tenants, 2012 completion date) that I had heard earlier. I also got some renter’s literature, which might be useful if I need to throw out some official numbers from the developers.

This interview seemed to draw a lot upon the things that were talked about in the short story we read earlier in the class. The PR person, Julie, seemed a little rattled by my appearance, but I threw on my best smile and tried to appear pretty nonchalant. I left my notepad in my pocket, though I did get her permission to take photos of some of the rooms and the scale model of the village.

Journal Entry XII

Journal Entry 12: Fire station interviews

Taking the advice of my professors, I went around the Cal Young neighborhood in an attempt to garner the thoughts of community leaders on the Crescent Village development. I attempted to go and speak with the principal of the Sheldon High School, or really with any of the educational community leaders, only to find out that a) I was pretty dumb, and b) it was President’s Day, and school wasn’t in session.

Fortunately, the Fire Station No. 6 was nearby, so my time was not wasted. I walked over to the station and spoke with a fireman who told me that Captain Steve Kropf would no doubt love to talk with me, but he was out on call. I went over to Crescent Village to burn some time, and one hour later I was back in the station’s office, chatting amiably with the firemen.

After bonding slightly at our collective disapproval of Swiss seats (a minimalistic equipment harness that saves the wearer from falls but straps between the thighs), I was able to get a good 30 minutes of interview from Captain Kropf as well as Roger, one of the older firemen.

The interview went quite well, with plenty of stories and laughter as well as good quotations (he had significant concerns over the tall and narrow design of the townhouses). I was hoping to take some portraits, but I couldn’t figure out a way to easily work them into the conversation. Oh well, it wasn’t all that important anyways.

Note: See, even Eugene firefighters are part of new media.

Journal Entry XI

Journal Entry 11: NYT China Documentary

In some earlier entries, I’ve talked about the concept of the changing journalism industry, the influence of Internet sources of news and the rise of visual media.

Here, I’d like to mention an example of getting it right:

UO Professor Suttmeier introduced this NYT “article” in the first week of his class on China’s Environmental Politics (PS 399). To me, it represents the future of the journalism industry. The article is really a miniature website, filled with multiple yet related articles that together yield a real understanding of the environmental issues at hand. This is combined with video documentaries showing the issues at hand, interactive objects like maps, as well as a narrated/music only still montages. Additionally, you have interactive roundtables, reference links and even Chinese translations.

Clearly, this website is combining the best aspects of the digital media (depth of coverage, interactivity and multimedia) while also providing the content a thorough NYT polish and shine. Readers are able to take as long as they want exploring the topic, which is explored in many different ways and different perspectives. All the while, they are viewing the adaptive advertising at the head of the page.

While it certainly isn’t possible to provide this level of coverage for every item of news, it seems to me that even doing one of these every two or three weeks would be well within the means of any medium-sized newspaper. It would certainly make news a lot more attractive to subscribers.

Journal Entry X

Journal Entry 10: AP Style

I finally got a copy of the AP stylebook, and I came home only to realize that I did indeed have an earlier version of the same. C’est la vie. The new version is still an excellent thing to have, and it holds a wealth of information in it about writing and grammar. In fact, when a friend asked me about getting into journalism I recommended her a copy of Zinsser’s On Writing Well as well as the AP stylebook. The way I see it, if you have the two of those there isn’t much you can’t learn.

I like AP style a lot, though it might seem like a pain in the ass to others. Perhaps it is a latent degree of OCD coming out of me, but I like how well ordered it is. There is a common set of guidelines that are adhered to when creating the governing rules, which means that I only have to understand those guidelines to feel like I understand the style. I might not know the exact rules governing a specific word, but I’ll know enough to be able to check anything that could be suspect and then receive a definitive answer. One of my biggest problems with MLA style is that it attempts to create this kind of system, but fails. This leaves you knowing that MLA has an arbitrary style that it wants you to follow, but it doesn’t cover anything comprehensively, leaving you to come up with your own subjective answer.

AP style still has faults, however. It could do well to update for more regularly, the e-mail/email conundrum is perhaps the most glaring error of this kind. On this issue the AP guide is simply out of date. Then there are the agency’s traditions that are making the style more difficult to use. Italics would make the entire industry more readable, but the editors are resisting change due to heritage. This needs to change just as black and white photographs gave way to color.

Journal Entry VIII

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 8: Oakway Center

One more neighborhood entry. I wanted to talk about the Oakway Center (and by extension much of Coburg Road and the Valley River Center to the West), because it is an interesting element of the Cal Young Neighborhood. These two major economic areas bound the neighborhood by either side to the Southeast and Southwest, and comprise the highest level of contact between the neighborhood and the rest of Eugene. Most Eugene residents have visited one, if not both, of these sites, but few have ventured northward to explore the rest of the neighborhood. While talking with people in the Oakway Center, I found customers who had travelled from as far as Junction City so that they could shop at some of the stores. The VRC attracts shoppers from all over the region, from as far away as Albany or Cottage Grove.

To me, these economic centers of the neighborhood have a lot to say about the values of the community. The influx of nonresidents certainly has an impact on the openness and trust of the residents. The heavy commercialization of the South is reflected in the insular residential districts and the relative lightness of commercial businesses in the residential areas. Another thing to note is that the area provides an in between Eugene and Springfield. Eugene’s preference for small and local business is contrasted with Springfield’s wont for chain stores. Cal Young achieves the happy mean of the yuppie community-conscious chain store, meaning something like a Borders bookstore.

Journal Entry VII

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 7: Harrower Text

I found the course text, Tim Harrower's Inside Reporting, to be an interesting read. Certainly the layout was refreshing, if a little gimmicky. While I could have dealt with a more academic style, it seemed to suit the topic of the book quite nicely. The book was well organized and easy to read. I found myself pulled from one headlined subject to another as the author intended, though I also thought it was easier to skip from nut graf to nut graf.

I liked the addition of an extensive reference library at the back of the book, even though I did not take advantage of it like I should. This format seemed much more accessible than a CD, which often drives up the price and is too awkward to use. Flipping to the back of a book I’m already reading is much more palatable than findinga computer and putting in a CD and navigating through a dozen menus just to find something I’m probably not interested in anyways. The morgue was definitely a good call.

Similarly, Harrower provided a wealth of information on writing methods, note-taking methods etc. that were truly valuable, but I did feel that it was unfortunate that such a comprehensive book would neglect to include information on covering international news, war, or how to interact with world presses like the AP or Reuters. However, this lack seems to be mirrored in the other texts that I am reading, leaving me to think that most authors find that kind of information unnecessary.

Journal Entry VI

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 6: Photojournalism vs. Reporting

As I am taking both writing and photography courses, I have made a couple of observations. Both take a good amount of skill, time and observation. They both have ethical dilemmas that concern them, and remain to be solved. When a reporter enters the scene, they take a moment to write down their notes on the area, then proceed to speak with witnesses or contacts, etc. When a photographer enters a scene, they take general shots of the setting to situate themselves, then starts chatting with their subjects while they work their way into doing close-up portraits. Not too different.

Yet I have found that there is a real disconnect between reporters and photographers. Writers don’t seem to think much about the multimedia that will accompany their text, even though this is widely-acknowledged (in the vaguest of ways) as the future of the media. They seem comfortable in their chairs writing articles for text-filled newspapers that don’t really exist anymore.

Conversely, photographers feel their work is largely secondary to that of the reporters, despite studies that suggest images are far more significant. They feel in competition with the writers, and pen in long captions so that the writers can’t screw up their work. Of course, at the same time, neither group is doing particularly well right now outside of magazines. More students are going into television news, or getting out of news altogether, in lieu of entering the fracas that is the newspaper industry.

Photographers would do well to improve their writing skills, some of whose are abysmally low, so that they can do better to interface with the writers they contend with. But the writers need to exercise their visual acuity as well, or risk becoming side-lined in an ever-changing industry.

Journal Entry V

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 5: VFSA Interviews

Meeting with the Veteran’s association was interesting on several levels. They were good people with complex histories and opinions. Their community was purpose-driven but also difficult to penetrate, and their story was equally difficult to understand and tell.

All told, I spent about two hours or so interviewing various members of the group in their EMU meeting room. The co-director, Shane Addis, was my first interview. He provided some good information, but was also very issue driven. I went back to talk with the members to try and get a more human face on their issues, which also gave me some of the best quotations.

Speaking with military folk comes pretty naturally to me after spending so much time with them, but the real trick for me was finding a good way to write down what was being said. While I only sat down with one person, a bull session quickly developed that had my pen racing across the page in a near illiterate fashion. Three people chatting are difficult to cover, even though I managed to retain their attention on me and my questions. While I managed to attribute just about everything, I was constantly worried about getting a great quote and not know who said it.

I later went back and covered their meeting with the PFC funding committee, which ended in disappointment for the VFSA members. I found myself wishing that I could write up a follow-up article on the group and on the meeting itself, which I thought was very interesting in how the personal dynamics played out. Clearly there was more story to tell, and I wasn’t surprised to see a follow-up in the Emerald the following Monday.

On a personal note, after seeing the funding committee, I’d agree with an unnamed interviewee who thought that the PFC seemed like, “a bunch of kids playing government.”

Journal Entry IV

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 4: Neighborhood Meetings II

Continuing from my previous entries, I wanted to talk about the meetings themselves. The first meeting was the city-wide Neighborhood Leader’s Council meeting, mentioned earlier. Assuming the neighborhood reps were a good demographic stereotype, it was a valuable comparison between the neighborhoods. Cal Young reminded me of my Hewlett-Packard neighbors from Corvallis, with the liberal values of the valley but the money (and glasses) of an engineer.

The next meeting was the quarterly Cal Young meeting with everyday citizens. It had about 30 people there, and I took copious notes of all the minutia that was covered there. Primarily they were focused on land-usage issues, like the building of the Delta Highway pedestrian bridge or the new Eugene-Springfield hospital (a real sore spot for them). Also of concern was the growing expansion of the neighborhood, where high-density housing was sprouting up around the Coburg road area and threatening the established neighborhood values.

While there was a showing of elderly citizens, most of the members appeared to be in their late 40s to early 50s, with a smattering of those above and below. Most were women, through there was a good showing of men in the positions of authority. Almost all were white and straight, though there was one trans-sexual who seemed to be meshing well with the community (they all seemed familiar with her and used her chosen pronouns, for example).

Altogether, the neighborhood meeting gave me a better perception of the community.

Journal Entry III

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 3: Spot News

I got in contact with the Neighborhood Leader’s Council the other day, and found that they were having a quarterly meeting Downtown on 10th Street near the library, so I decided to attend. I stayed for only about 40 minutes, at which point I realized that my time could be better spent doing just about anything else. Not to say that it wasn’t informative going there, but once I realize how ineffective their bureaucracy was there wasn’t much more to gain from staying.

As I was leaving the building, I noticed that there were a couple of police cruisers flashing their lights in the parking lot across the street from me. Having my camera on me, I decided I’d pull it out and find out what was going on. It seemed that there were a group of red-shirted security guards, two cruisers, a bike cop, and one small forlorn figure.

As I took photos, I realized that this girl in question was clearly quite young, as well as clearly drunk and in handcuffs. Sensing good photos in the making, I wanted to get closer and get my flash going, because the light was quite dark. Yet, I couldn’t get myself to come near. This was not my first spot news, but I couldn’t justify further embarrassing the girl.

I continued shooting with my long lens, as the girl waited for her mother to take custody of her. After the girl had left, I spoke with the police, who said that she had been 14 years old and had been publicly intoxicated and resisted arrest. While the photos I took were of a much poorer quality than I could have got, I still think that I did the right thing. Though I’m sure I’ll argue that when my spot news assignment comes due in week eight.

Journal Entry II

The following is part of a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 2: Snowden Program

When I spoke with Greg Kerber in the onset of this year, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to graduate with the rest of this year’s fourth-year students. I will have to wait until at least next fall. Still, I hoped to use that time in effective ways, and I think that I have. I converted my political science minor in a double major, began learning much more about photojournalism and multimedia, and found more time to succeed in the courses I was taking.

However, I also want to continue my education through the summer, in an attempt at wringing the most knowledge from my undergraduate education as I can. Kerber recommended that I look into getting a summer internship, preferably in my field of interest. While fulfilling my field of interest might be difficult, I know that many of the smaller newspapers here and around the area would give me valuable insight into the journalism industry – an industry I remain unsure about.

When the Snowden program was mentioned, it perked my interest. I looked into the program, and it seems to be what I was looking for. A mix of journalism skills, with opportunities for writing and photography, independence and mentorship. But, I feel that the program could be better advertised. While there are a variety of boards and e-mail lists available to students about activities around Allen Hall, they tend to be last minute affairs, with information being distributed shortly before it is obsolete.

It is very frustrating, and I complain only because I don’t know what else to do about it. For a school of communication, it seems to fair poorly when tasked to inform. This holds true for telling first- and second-year students about class availability, telling students about the role of the tech support office, or simply giving people notice about upcoming events in time for them to schedule time to attend.

Journal Entry 1

The following is the first in a series of reposted journal entries made for a reporting class I am taking right now. They aren't particularly edited, or necessarily even interesting (though hopefully they are), but they do a pretty good job of expressing what I am doing right now. And, of course, they are pre-made content. Reader beware.

Journal Entry 1: Neighborhood Meetings

In following the neighborhood coverage, I have travelled all over the Cal Young Neighborhood in an attempt at finding out what made the neighborhood tick. I went from Coburg to the VRC, North to the tip of Eugene, and East – deep into what I consider Springfield but is part of the neighborhood. But in addition to my exploration, I made contact with the neighborhood association in an attempt to find out more about the concerns of neighborhood members. The association president invited me to a couple of their meetings, which I gladly accepted.

As I drove into the heart of Cal Young, I could not help but make comparisons between the neighborhood and that of my home town of Corvallis. The populations are very similar demographically, with a predominate white, liberal, upper-middle class. They are educated, many professionally, and are willing to get motivated for causes they believe in (often local issues). Corvallis has many of the same little streets leading to big houses, with few big roads but lots of cul-de-sacs surrounded by two-story houses with front yards. The houses are neither old, nor young, and tend to be guarded by children’s toys instead of iron bars. It is very different from my expectations of a divided-class neighborhood.