Current events (and formerly current events...)

Not a complete crib sheet for the final, but here's what's catching my attention right now (scroll down)...

... plus links to the most recent current events quizzes:

1. Quiz 1
2. Quiz 2
3. Quiz 3
4. Quiz 4
(and the quizzes from before the midterm.)

You don't necessarily need to know every single item on every quiz, but the exam will include questions that expect you to be familiar with the biggest stories of the last several months, as well as what's in the news right now.  So the quizzes are to help jog your memory, but you'll use your best judgment about which stories were the biggies.

Gawker Media Websites Hacked, Staff and User Passwords Leaked | Threat Level | Wired.com.

Mark Zuckerberg — Not Julian Assange? — Is Time’s Person of the Year | Epicenter | Wired.com.

Julian Assange bail decision made by UK authorities, not Sweden | Media | The Guardian.

Firefighters ratify new contract - Chicago Sun-Times.

Senate kicks off debate over US-Russia arms treaty | Top AP Stories | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle.

The Associated Press: Fla. school board shooter had turbulent life.

House passes 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal - USATODAY.com.

Why House Republicans might vote against Obama tax deal - CSMonitor.com.

Friend of Rahm Emanuel's Family Testifies About Putting Heirlooms in Boxes in Basement | Chicago Mayors Race | Residency Hearing.

Deal brewing for one black mayoral candidate? | abc7chicago.com.

Clout St: Emanuel residency hearing: What's in Rahm's basement?.

Wikileaks Links of Interest

List of available mirror sites: http://wikileaks.ch/mirrors.html

Link to story on Afgahn Pimping PMC Ring: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/12/wikileaks_texas_company_helped.php

Link to download torrent of leaked cables: http://88.80.16.63/torrent/cablegate/cablegate-201012081854.7z.torrent

Note: Will require a torrent download program such as Azerus or Bit-Torrent.


Edit:

I meant to also add this earlier, but here are also links regarding "Operation: Payback" and their various activities. They are also active on Twitter.

Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/Op_Payback

A press released created by Anonymous, the identity used by an undetermined amount of Op:Payback users: http://dump.no/files/467072ba2a42/ANONOPS_The_Press_Release.pdf

A general article covering their identity and how they've been selecting targets by Wired: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/wikileaks-attacks-sputter/

Wendy Donahue powerpoint

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AYVJYiAO8kTXZGd3ZHczNnZfMWNjNmdtZnA0&hl=en&authkey=CMy3wLAL

"Finding Self" Claudette Roper(Media Artist & Writer)

Ms. Roper is an outstanding African American woman. She is extremely intellectual with her words of wisdom and I would be lying if I said our conversation was not inspiring. Her words she spoke in the 5 minutes we had together, was like a outlook on her journey through her success. She graduated from Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts in Radio & Television and Master in Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media. She began her career in media working in a variety of positions for multimedia entertainment productions.

She has also been involved in amount of tremendous productions and provided assistance to: Sara Lee Corporation, Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage, Chicago Urban League, YMCA, National Association of Minority Media Executives, Miss USA Pageant, Black Entertainment Television, National Black MBA Association, City of New York and the White House during President Clinton’s administration.

Her expression when she is sharing with me about also working along side NBC’s Today Show & ABC’s The Last Word with talk show host Phill Donahue was so great that tells me it was memorable moment in her career. A director of Public Relations offered her a portion for NBC series “The Cosby Show” where she also worked closely with Mr.Cosby and was in charge of the internship program, there at the show.

Ms.Roper has not stop achieving many goals in life remains actively involved with a number of organizations and causes. She is currently have a project: The Man Project, a documentary, multimedia installation and a web-based exhibit, was created as a response to the negative imagery that permeates the media in regards to Black men.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orO2wBmLH0w

Q&A from the One on One time with Ms.Roper

Q: As a young girl did you already know what you wanted to be or do in life?

A: I remember as a young girl I got a red typewriter for Christmas and wrote everything with it. So I knew as a young girl I wanted to be a writer.

Q: Who Influenced your career goals?

A: My grandmother most importantly, she always told me I was going to be something in life as a young girl.

Q: Did you ever look into the people who inspired you bios & see what steps they took in life to be where they are at now?

A: I was constantly looking people up, anyone who remotely interested me. This was before the Internet so I would have to go to the library, and I made a list of people that I had to get a book about or read up on. We had magazines in my house like Ebony and Jet. It was a great place to get information on all these people. The ability to work in the environments especially The Cosby show, where living legends and people came through from Miles Davis to Marian Anderson. They were the people I read about and saw on TV. They would look at me and ask what do you do here? They where so proud to see that mirror reflection, of someone young. Mr.Crosby was excited to introduce us. He would say," Yeah, Tell em what you do". It was a great and wonderful opportunity to meet my heroes and she-ros growing up.

Q: How did you get started in the field?

A: I was a student at Columbia and in my second year I actually stared working in the industry. I worked for pretty much every station here at some capacity as a intern or just a PA. I was a good talker and always prepared. I always made sure my work was done because the instructors here were in the industry, and I knew that was big leg up. I knew that if I proved myself to be comp ant, well reverse, and capable in the classroom, I had a potential recommendation from that person. So I was always recommended by instructors and it usually panned out into a job. I had full time classes and full time job but anything that I could do with my hours left I did in pursuit of my career.

Q: Having a B.A. in Television & Radio open a lot of doors in the media entertainment industry?

A: It did for me, I think just being prepared that moment I saw my life played out as if I was in a constant classroom environment. A big part of my life was that my parents involvement in the civil rights. It was critical so I took it as a serious mantra for myself , and “I will march for others, till they can march for themselves. “ was my families legacy. So I was hard to have that mindset as a child then come to Columbia and not do anything about it.

Q: Television & Radio go hand in hand in the industry?

A: I think all media go hand and hand. We are living in a multimedia platform society so if you can get your self together to not just do one thing, to do many things. There are many more options now because media is so much more expansive. If you study, do your homework, and really listen to all the wisdom that is here you have the potential to take those things forward with you and utilize them in a way. It gets you ready for the future and makes you competitive as well.

Q: Would it be best to study in Both Radio & Television?

A: I think that it is important to log on to the things that your are passionate about. I think you need to ask questions to yourself as far as why a personality verses a journalist. If you are someone who is really interested in controlling your destiny, do you really wanna control based on somebody deciding if they see you as pretty or if your hair is the right hairstyle.?Do you really want to be judge based on those things or do you wanna have tangible skills that can take you in any arena. Get those other studies that interest you to straightens your foundation so you would be stuck in that pigeon hole.

Q: Does the industry run off on networking and getting to know the right people?

A: You have to be prepared for the opportunity so you can network all you want but if you don’t have your act together, you don’t have the skill set, or the determination and drive then it does not matter how many people you meet. If you have that 30 seconds down where you can collapse what you are about and say this is what I am interested in and you grab their attention. They might see that you may have the potential to be the person that can do that job and that opens up a door. You have to be prepared for the moment you can always network but you have to be prepared for the moment.

Q&A From the One on One time with Ms.Roper

Q: What are the steps that I can follow to be a successful black woman in the industry?

A: Do the work and get to know as many people as you can and make sure when they get to see you they see you at your best. When I mean your best they see you doing what you say you do. No excuses.

Q: Is Columbia the right school?

A: I don’t know…(Ms.Roper laughs)

An interview with Wendy Donahue

For the past decade I had been determined to become a fashion journalist, but as I entered college and began taking classes I found myself not entirely cut out to be what I deemed to be successful in this profession. This realization came around the time I chose to interview fashion columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Wendy Donahue.

I came out of this experience with the knowledge that patience and perseverance are two important aspects to good journalism, that interviewing is a large part of journalism, and if you are too afraid to go out and talk to people then you wont succeed. This was a large part of the reason I found myself opposed to perusing journalism- simply because I found myself wanting to back out of the interview a lot because in the initial e-mail I received from Ms. Donahue, she seemed entirely top busy to have time for me. However, I stuck with it, and it ended up being completely worth it, I learned a lot and took away an enormous amount of personal understanding and as it turned out, Donahue was actually honored that I chose to do this final report on her.

After researching many local fashion writers online I found that I envied Ms. Donahue’s writing style more than any other journalists. So I began to read old articles she had written that I pulled from the archives of the Chicago tribune, and I was fascinated by her honesty and ability to capture my attention. I love reading about fashion, but Donahue did a better job than most writers for big time magazines- I was captivated.

The first step for me in managing to get an interview with Ms. Donahue was getting over my nerves. I was super worried at first about having to meet this woman in person, especially when I figured she probably had a lot more important things to do with her day. I’m the kind of girl who doesn’t even like talking on the phone, but I knew I had to get over this fear, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So I began this process by going to the Chicago Tribune’s website and securing Donahue’s e-mail address. After I got in touch with her, she told me that a phone interview would be more convenient for her, so I agreed.

I knew that I wanted to talk about fashion- because that is something I figured we both had in common. I thought that if I started off by asking fun questions I might loosen up, since I would be establishing a sort of common ground between the two of us.

After I thought of a few fashion questions, for example: what item of clothing or accessory could she not live without, and what was it about fashion that made her want to create a career out of it? I moved on to some of the questions that had been suggested for this assignment, what being a fashion journalist entails, how does one go about getting an article published, and what makes something in fashion newsworthy? I found myself super interested in finding out what Donahue does in order to keep her edge in a world that is constantly filled with competition? I also wanted to find out how she got over her fear [if she ever had any] of interviewing for her stories, since that was one of my biggest issues in securing this interview. Considering this is the way one has to go about retrieving information in this industry, apart from other research, I wanted to know how she did it, how she prepared for an interview and how it differed from what I did in preparing to interview her?

Another question I wanted to ask her was what made the best and the worst list of her day. What did she love the most about working for the style section of the Chicago Tribune and what she hated? I have always seen pursuing a job as a journalist to be super individualistic, in a way hoping that the job morphs to fit your style of writing and researching, so I wanted to know if I was correct in my fantasy of thinking of fashion journalism as potentially the most rewarding and entertaining job in the industry.

I found preparing for this interview to be extremely difficult, because I had a hard time finding information on Wendy Donahue. So I figured I would have to go right to the source. After getting in touch with her and securing an interview I went back to the Tribune’s website and read through a plethora of her fashion articles. After reading those, I googled her and found a few interesting commentaries that were made on an article that she had written on Michelle Obama. I found that even an esteemed journalist [Donahue] had her own critics. I was surprised and even a little bit encouraged knowing that her work was causing some uproar in the fashion world.

Otherwise I had a hard time finding any biographical information on Donahue.

I went into the interview with a set list of a few basic questions, hoping that as I became more comfortable I would be able to expand on anything she brought up. My main questions consisted of:

• How does she go about doing her job, how the process works?
• How does she get her information, does she do any pre-research or pre- interviewing?
• What is the hardest part and the best part of being a fashion journalist- or of a typical day in the life?

The interview went pretty smoothly, and even though I was super nervous at first, I warmed up once we started talking. She was really chatty, and even though she didn’t have much time to talk she was very helpful and eager to talk. Our conversation wasn’t very long but she answered all of my questions willingly, you will find the basics of the interview attached. We especially connected over our love for fashion, and I found that I became more comfortable as soon as we started talking about something that I understood. It was then that I realized Donahue and I were not that different.

I find it difficult to try and put into simple sentences what I learned from this entire interviewing process. The most important part of this assignment was learning to overcome my fear of meeting someone new and having to, in a way “drill” them on their life’s work. I had to get over myself, and really throw myself into the actual assignment. I tried to think of it as an actual part of my job, not just a project for school. But I feel as if I learned a lot more about myself from interview Wendy Donahue than I learned about the writer herself.

First of all, I finalized my conclusion that fashion journalism is not for me. I had recently changed my major to fashion business and Donahue encouraged my decision. She explained to me that interviewing and reporting was a large part of her job, and I confided in her that I really wanted to work as a fashion editor for a magazine. She told me my decision seemed fitting.

The big picture lesson learned from this entire process was definitely about time management. I have become such a procrastinator since entering college, and Donahue was so organized and put together that I realized I couldn’t continue along these disorganized and forgetful lines I had been following if I wanted to make it anywhere in the world. I also realized that I absolutely despised the panicked feeling I got when I realized the deadline for this assignment was approaching and I wasn’t prepared. I most definitely learned a valuable lesson on time management and hope to never make the mistake of procrastinating for a major assignment ever again. It is just entirely too stressful, disorganized, and haphazard.

In closing I found myself most surprised by my own efficiency. This is hard for me to even believe but I realized that when the chips are down and I have to complete an assignment I am not prepared for or even motivated to do I am able to pick the ball back up and finish my project. I don’t mean to say that I am not motivated or don’t enjoy school, I just found myself almost too scared that I would fail or not understand to start this assignment. Yet when I did, I ran with it. I really enjoyed it and I loved learning about Wendy Donahue’s life. I was also surprised by how quickly she responded to my initial e-mails and how sweet and kind she was as far as being “ honored” that I would choose to complete my final on her. My point of view has been changed in many different ways because of this entire experience. It has changed the way I look at myself, fashion reporting, journalism as a career, and time management. I can simply say that I now have a better idea of where I am going in my future- as far as my career at least. I now have a better understanding of how seriously I have to take my work in order to succeed, as well as accepting the fact that I have a lot of personal fears and doubts that I need to get over in order to be successful in fashion, as Wendy explained to me. She was so confident and sure of her self and her writing that I now wish to become more like her, even if I only become half as successful.

The next time I have to do an assignment like this I will be more prepared and more confident. Because I find myself to be awkward and uncomfortable I was so surprised that I was able to talk to Ms. Donahue without completely putting my foot in my mouth. I don’t think there was an actual “ worst” part of the interview, but I struggled immensely with my procrastination and poor time management skills. I stress myself out and worry as opposed to actually sitting down and doing the assignment. I think however, that it is most definitely safe to say that I learned from my mistakes, and was able to uncover a perseverance and resourcefulness in myself that I had never reached before.

Mary Ellen Mark by Sarah Lawhead

The process of tracking down and interviewing Mary Ellen Mark, a world renown photographer, was somehow both incredibly exciting and anti-climactic for me. Firstly, let me introduce Mary Ellen to you in case you haven’t heard of her. Mary Ellen, who describes herself as a documentary and portrait photographer, has photographed all types of people from the fringes of society to public figures such as Meryl Streep and Anita Hill. She has also worked on movie sets doing some commercial photography. (Her husband is the film director Martin Bell, by the way). Her photos have been published in Vanity Fair, LIFE, and Rolling Stone, and, to date, she has published 16 books of her own work.

Some of her most impressive work was done amongst the prostitutes and street children in India. One photograph that I find particularly compelling shows a child being hugged by an ape. The ape is so large and the child so small that they are basically the same size. Through Mary Ellen's use of comparative size, analogous color scheme, and framing (leaving any other humans out of the frame, or out of focus) she depicts a desolate landscape where the child's only family or connection is found in these apes. The chains, although not on the child, speak to a sense of being trapped and enslaved in a life of poverty and isolation. To the viewer, the child feels uncared. However I can sense Mary Ellen's compassion through the image she made in two ways. She captured an image of the child looking into the camera- a soul searching image, which differentiates him from the ape, affirms his significance and importance. Secondly, her vantage point is on the same level as the boy, also giving him dignity by regarding him as an equal. Considering the caste system in India, I'm sure that her perspective and compassion is not as commonplace there as we would hope. Pictures like this snap me out of my comfort zone and remind me that there is a very harsh reality out there, one with which I am too out of touch. (She published a book about her time in India called Falkland Road, and was so moved by her time there that she named her NY studio Falkland Road as well).

In another image there is a prostitute in a bed, who appears to be having sex with the man on top of her. Both of them are looking at the camera. The woman looks bold, the man ashamed and kind of sad. It is printed darkly, which speaks to the subject of the photograph. This photo makes me feel uncomfortable and sad. I don't really like looking at it or being faced with the truth that this woman is (literally) selling herself (and I'm watching her do that), but I appreciate Mary Ellen's ability to show a situation for what it is. I think that it is a strong picture nonetheless.

Mary Ellen's work could be compared and contrasted with that of Edward Curtis, who documented Native Americans in the early twentieth century. Both of them have done cross cultural documentary work, although Curtis's work was much more formal and composed. It was later discovered that he actually brought props and costumes with him to make the Native Americans appear as Europeans imagined them to be. He projected the white man's stereotype of this culture on the Native Americans and, actually, his images still deceive us today. The Native Americans of that time dressed very similarly to other white men and women of the day, and only agreed to wear these costumes for the photos. (Why that is, I do not know.) Mary Ellen Mark, however, tends to capture people in their natural, unmanipulated environments, but still admits that biases come across in her work. Both Mary Ellen and Edward Curtis, however, made powerful portraits of a people group while shedding light on an marginalized group of society.

In the world of photography Mary Ellen is quite famous, and for this reason I assumed she would be completely out of reach for me (turns out I was wrong) and I did not even consider interviewing her. I originally planned to interview a guy who is the main photographer for the United Center because the situation kind of fell into my lap. That guy photographs the Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls and musicians who play there. The only problem is that I am really not into sports. After talking with Dan, I decided to pursue my ‘dream’ interview. (Lesson #1- Aim High)

My first question was how I would even get in touch with her. Her website listed an email as a method of contact but I opted not to do that because I don’t believe people will actually respond to emails. I knew she was living in NYC so I looked for her phone number on DexKnows.com, thinking that it was a long shot. There were 5 Mary Ellen Mark’s living in NYC so I searched for Martin Bell on the same site. There were a few of Martin Bell’ also, but I compared results and found and address and phone number that overlapped. All I could think was, “Really? It’s that easy?”

I called the number without any interview questions in mind, just to see if I could even get through. It was a number to her studio and the receptionist told me that in order to schedule and interview with Mary Ellen I must send an email to the address listed on their website. (Lesson #2- sometimes we should just follow the instructions instead of thinking we know better). So I sent an email asking for a 10 minute (or less) interview with Mary Ellen Mark. I mentioned that I wanted to interview her on how she chooses her subjects. (Lesson #3- Pay attention to which address you send the email from when awaiting for a response.) I sent the email from my columbia address on friday but kept checking all weekend for a response in my personal email. All the while, this reinforced the ‘they don’t actually respond to emails’ notion in my head. Turns out they do, and I am the one who overlooked it.

To my surprise and excitement, Mary Ellen’s assistant, Meredith, said I could do a short interview Monday afternoon. She’d sent the response almost immediately after I’d emailed her but, because of my email mix up, I didn’t write her back for two days. Overall, this didn’t mess up my interview process, but I think there was potential for that to happen because to not respond in a timely manner makes me seem disinterested and careless. Also, at this point it was Sunday night and Mary Ellen’s schedule for Monday could have filled up or changed by that point. I wrote Meredith back and confirmed a time and gave her my phone number so Mary Ellen could call me. Let’s pause for a laugh here. (Lesson #4- don’t make assumptions about who is contacting who for the interview). The assumptions I made here were that 1. Mary Ellen would be talking to me on her personal cell phone, 2. that she wouldn’t want me to have her cell phone number so, 3. Mary Ellen would choose to call me at her convenience, oh, and 4. that this interview was important enough to Mary Ellen that she would take down my number and call me on her own.

Meredith quickly responded to my email saying that I could call them at a specified time. Immediately I realized how ridiculous it was to assume that Mary Ellen would be the one to call me and wished I would have thought to ask Meredith how she would like to go about it. In spite of all this, we had an interview time set up for Monday afternoon.

I spent Sunday night coming up with good, atypical interview questions. At least, I though so. I already knew quite a bit about Mary Ellen’s life and work from past research projects, so I tried to aim for questions which would lead to meaningful responses from her. I decided that if I wanted to talk about specifics I would just pick one aspect of her work- the time she spent with the prostitutes in India. Instead of using a tape recorder I decided to type the questions on my laptop so that when I called her I could just add in her responses.

As the interview time approached I started to get nervous (which doesn’t happen to me too often). Then I got nervous about the fact that I was nervous when I needed to be totally calm. And I couldn’t seem to find anywhere quiet to sit to call her. I called 3 minutes late. (I still don’t know if that is super bad in the interview rule book or not, but Mary Ellen was on the phone with someone else and couldn’t talk right then anyway). I was told to call back in 15 minutes. A few minutes later I got a phone call from Meredith who put Mary Ellen on the line (I was a little unprepared at this point) and then the interview began.

The conversation went something like this:

“Hi, is this Mary Ellen?”

“Yes.”

“Mary Ellen Mark?”

(Duh).

“Yes, but I have to leave here quickly so I can’t talk too long.”

Thus there was time pressure put on an already short phone call. I started asking my questions immediately and my nerves calmed down once we got going. What I found disappointing, however, were her responses. I had put a lot of time and thought into these questions, but her answers felt pretty shallow and generic. There wasn’t much thought put into them. (I probably could have guessed most of her responses. Lesson #5- I’m not sure what this lesson is yet but I feel like there is something here related to the interview questions themselves.) Honestly, I got the feeling that she didn’t care too much about the interview.

When I asked her why she picked the subjects she picked she told me it was because she liked them and felt drawn to them. Because some of her photographs show the lives and situations of people who are living on the fringes of society I asked if any of these pictures have a message behind them. She said there isn’t an intentional message and that she wants to take powerful pictures that will touch people while “making an image that feels right to you.” Mary Ellen, who considers herself a portrait and documentary photographer, says photojournalism doesn’t exist anymore. (That’s pretty good to know since I was planning on becoming a photojournalist). Elsewhere on the internet I found an interview (which actually had a lot of similar questions to those that I asked her) where she expounded on the idea of photojournalism being dead. Apparently she thinks the only places it lives on are at newspapers. Everywhere else, she says, wants photoshopped images, which she considers to be illustrations. Since we have talked quite a bit about biases in this class I asked Mary Ellen if she thought biases comes across in her work. Her response:

“Of course it comes across in your work.”

The last thing I had time to ask her before ending our 7 minute interview was what type of camera she would have with her if I ran into her on the street. Naturally, it’s a pretty sweet camera- a Mamiya 7 with a flash. Mamiyas are medium format cameras and pretty heavy (maybe 5-6 lbs.) Thats kind of heavy to have with you at all times. Also, its a film camera.

“I only shoot analog, I never shoot digital,” she told me. That actually isn’t too surprising, but it was new information nonetheless. The time ran out then, so I thanked her and ended our phone conversation.

As I already said, I felt a little disappointed by her responses, but I still think it is really, unbelievably cool that I got to interview her. This interview, however, did leave me with the realization that sometimes the most flashy(not to make a bad joke), well known people are not the best candidates for an interview (Lesson #6). Depending on the purpose of the interview, the best person may be much lower on the tier but care about the interview and sharing thoughtful answers. And lastly, Lesson #7, being famous does sell products. Before this interview I had never considered buying a medium format film camera. But now, I discovered that I want a Mamiya with a flash.

Rick Thornburgh Interview: Brian Costello

“I've been burned before.”

I'll be honest, when I first got this assignment I wasn't sure who I wanted to interview. But when Dan suggested a person from the Fiction department, everything became clear. Professor Brian Costello is not only my inspiration for changing my major to fiction writing, but he is also a fine example of “who” and “what” a fiction writer is. Over night my choice was made. Brian, author of The Enchanters vs Sprawlburg Springs, was my choice.

Okay, I'll admit it, I was afraid. All I had to do was walk up to Professor Costello after class and ask a simple question. All I had to say was “Hey, can I interview you for a class?” To which he could only respond “Yeah, sure” or “No, fuck off.” So there was no reason to be scared, right? “What could possibly go wrong?” I kept saying to myself. We were in the hall discussing the class when the question spilled out of my mouth: “Oh-hey, completely unrelated note, can I interview you for my Journalism class?” His answer as you might have guessed, was “Yes.”

I didn't notice initially, but I had already made my first mistake and the interview hadn't even begun. Brian asked that I call him after 11am on wednesday, so I assumed that we would over the phone set up a place and time to meet. The next day when I phoned Brian I discovered my mistake. Brian had thought the interview was to be done over the phone, not in person. Not the biggest problem to have. All I had to do was scramble around the house to find my notebook, print out my question list, and then find a nice quiet place. All with Brian on hold. So I learned my first lessons of interviewing: Be clear when setting a date and always have your stuff ready whenever talking to the interviewee.

After my things were gathered and I had found a quiet place, I did my best to begin the interview. It started off a bit awkward, for me at least. “Are you ready to begin?” I asked him after a bit of pleasant chatter. I couldn't think of anything more catchy. I had some basic questions ready for him since this was my first interview, I decided to keep it as simple as possible. My approach was simple- get him to talk. All I wanted to say was the question, then hear what he has to say. I was hoping the quieter I was, the more he felt it necessary to talk and divulge information. I got lucky, because my plan worked pretty well.

The Questions:

1: “When did you start writing?”

2: “What authors inspired you?”

3: “Were there any defining inspirational pieces?”

4: “How did you start teaching?”

5: “Worst day as a teacher?”

6: “Best Moments of writing?”

I was blown away at the power of these six questions. Something so simple fired off a conversation that lasted a good 25 to thirty minutes. He spoke faster than I could write for the most part, and I remember wishing I had a tape recorder. Brian responded to my first question quite forwardly, and he seemed to gain momentum as the words rolled on. “I started in high school, wrote mostly comedic stories for friends..” which lead to “..I was the editor of an opinion column at a Central Florida College.” Brian would later reveal that he was initially at in college to earn a law degree. But after deciding “There was already enough pricks in the world” he started to pursue his passion. This is when things got really exciting for me. The unexpected happened, this already cool professor got “fucking cool.” Apparently he joined a band in college, started playing the drums, and toured the states with his band, eventually ending up in Chicago. I never expected this. Some teachers are in bands. Most everyone these days can play an instrument of some sort. But this was a guy willing to become a rockstar, and in my eyes, he was one.

I was forced to bite my tongue as things got more interesting, and intense. He got his job teaching through a friend here at Columbia, which is what lead to the publishing of his book. Over the years he had been slowly piecing together a pretty fine fiction novel. After 10 years it was finally completed, only he had no idea how to get it published. Thanks to some help from his friend, he was able to use the novel as his thesis here at Columbia. After earning a teaching degree he decided to stay in Chicago. This lead to the question “What was your worst day as a teacher?” to which he responded very promptly “It was more of a frustration thing. I took place in the no child left behind program, went to a classroom outside Chicago and basically it was very disheartening. Most of these kids were too messed up to understand why they were there. I did what I could but felt this was a strong and disheartening reflection on the whole Bush Presidency.” I nodded my head as he went on expressing his feelings, doing my best to stay quiet and let him talk.

For me that was the most difficult part about all this. Not responding to his words. I wanted nothing more than to slam my fists down and shout “Oh man, I love those bands too. I agree, the Bush administration had a lot of flaws. Yeah, I love that author too!” But I couldn't, because the quieter I was, the more he seemed to want to talk. If I could do it all over again, three things would change. One- it would be done in person. I felt I was missing a lot of the emotion he was putting into what he was saying. How a person expresses themselves physically can greatly help convey their message. Two- I would use a tape recorder. There was simply too much to write, and I wasn't equipped well enough to scratch down every last word. Three- I would have set the interview time up a little better. Everything else went according to plan. His willingness to talk was the biggest surprise during the interview. Which slightly modified my point of view of journalism. Not all journalism is about pulling teeth and getting a dirty gritty story It can be just sitting down with someone you admire, and hearing their story.

After enough time had passed, and I counted three pages of notes, I decided to end the interview. I felt enough of my professors time had been wasted, and that I had what was required. I remember feeling very satisfied when I said “Well thanks, this was pretty great. Enlightening.” Then he asked for permission to review the final product. I was happy to offer it to him. He then said something I took to heart, and will never forget. “Thanks 'cause... I've been burned before.” I hadn't really thought of it before this, but journalists have a decent amount of power. We have the potential to say whatever we like about whoever we're interviewing and it has a good chance of getting published. It's a scarey thought that we 'could' ruin a persons career over a few miss-interpretable words.

Mike Sitcowski: Politics Most Hopeful Campaign Manager

When we were assigned this interview project, I was questioning whether or not journalism is what I really want to do with the rest of my life. While I enjoy searching for answers and exposing the truth within the political world, I wondered whether or not a job in political public relations was better suited for me. Granted, I knew very little about the profession, so initially I decided to play it safe and interview a political journalist. I attempted to interview one of the teachers from Columbia who I knew wrote political pieces but, I discovered that interviewing other journalism teachers is frowned upon at Columbia.

So, back to the drawing board I went. I knew I still wanted a career somewhere within the political realm, so I decided to take this opportunity explore the public relations profession. I considered trying to interview Mayor Daley’s public relations personnel, but I imagine that they have more important things to do so I decided to think more realistically, and decided on my Alderman’s public relations team. I googled Alderman Fioretti, and sent an e-mail saying that I was not interested in contacting the Alderman himself, but instead his public relations team. I received a phone call around 10:30 that night, from a mystery number. The voicemail said that Andy Pierce was returning my call and the number to reach him at. I called him back, expecting an answering machine because it was so late at night. Instead, he answered fairly promptly. I explained that I was a freshmen at Columbia and interested in interviewing the Fioretti public relations team. “Pertaining to what, exactly?” His invasive question and accusing tone surprised me. I explained that I was just a college student researching a career that I was interested in pursuing. “Very good,” he replied and suggested I contact Mike Sitkowski, and gave me his number.

The next day I called Mike, preparing for an encounter like I had the night before. I put on my best professional voice, but instead of a curt middle-aged sounding man, a cheery, younger sounding guy answered. Mike was incredibly accommodating, willing and happy to help; he gave me a better time to reach him later that night and told me that he was actually Fioretti’s campaign manager, so he did work in public relations but not exclusively. Because of the experience I had the night before, Mike’s helpful and happy demeanor surprised me. Almost instantly I began thinking of questions and quickly wrote them down into my notebook.

That night, our interview was delayed because Mike was in a meeting. I started to get nervous, maybe Mike had talked to the Mr. Pierce about the interview and wasn’t that willing to help me anymore. But right after Mike got on the phone, he instantly apologized for the delay, sounding just as eager and inclined to help as he had earlier in the day.

During the interview, I felt like both Mike and I were nervous. I was nervous because this was my first ever interview with someone in a field I respect, who believes in things I also strongly believe in. I think Mike was nervous because this is first campaign, and I would imagine his first interview as a campaign manager. Both of us said a lot of “um”s and “uh”s, and there could have been a much better flow during it- more like a conversation and less like interrogation.

My questions were part trying to learn more about his line of work, and part trying to expose him as a person who manipulates the news and headlines of the day. I asked him things like, "What does a campaign manager actually physically do?" and "How do you feel about spin?" He was very informative, he explained to me that campaign managers are in charge of not only the public relations aspect but also the organizational and financial aspects. He also cleared up my misunderstanding that campaign managers were paid via tax dollars, just like the official he or she may be representing.

Trying to expose him as some heartless manipulator proved to be a much more difficult task, because Mike isn’t heartless. He honestly believes in the candidate that he represents, “to work with a candidate I have to believe in what they’re doing, believe in their message, you know, that’s a pre-requisite for me.” He also strongly believed in honesty during campaigns, as opposed to spin that seems to dominate campaigns. “I just think that it’s more necessary when you have a product or a campaign and you’re trying to paint it in a different light, in a better light I guess. I think if you believe in what you’re doing, if you believe in your product, if you believe in your candidate then you don’t necessarily need some spin, you [can just] explain everything as is.”

Now, as I said previously, this is Mike’s first-ever campaign. I think it is entirely possible that the business just hasn’t burned him out yet. His confidence in honesty and hope for honorable campaigns is something I share as well however, I also understand its near impossibility. I yearn for the day that all campaign managers are like Mike, and hope that he never becomes jaded. His political purity was the biggest, and best surprise of this interview process.

Tyler Rentsch: Sam Smith Interview

From Politics to Slam Dunks: My Interview with Chicago Bulls Writer Sam Smith

On Tuesday December 7, 2010 I was given the chance to interview Chicago Bulls writer Samuel Smith for a few minutes as he relaxed at his home in Arizona. In our interview I learned that journalism has no determined path to success; it is about following your passion wherever that may take you. How I reached this discovery was not only because Sam himself said in the interview, “I didn’t necessarily go down the traditional path so to speak,” he said to me over the phone, “But is there a traditional path? Journalism is constantly changing so your path is always different.” This spoke volumes about the rest of our interview, his answers heavily relied on the phrase, “follow your passion” but he truly meant it and I believe that it was Sam Smith’s passion that made his path to success. That is how our paths will be determined, by how passionate we are about our subject matter, how deep are you willing to dig to find the real truth behind the story?

I started off our interview by thanking him for taking time out of his schedule to let me interview him, he was hushed but said it was no problem and glad to help. Then my first question: Before you became a writer for the Bulls you wrote for other papers like one in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the Chicago Trib. What is it like writing about one specific topic all the time?

Sam has been writing about the NBA exclusively for 15 years now, he originally started out as a political writer and his first job was with a wire service for Congress in D.C. In 1979 he moved to Chicago and became a general assignment writer specializing in politics, then transferred to sports. “I originally never wanted to write about sports.” He said to me as I downplayed my faint shock; I read Smith’s writing and I truly see his heart on the paper, he loves to write about basketball so it surprised me when he said that. “It just hadn’t really intrigued me but I did enjoy writing about it.” This was true as he went onto to reveal he had done some free lance sports journalism in the 70s for Black Sports Magazine where he wrote an article about the NBA All-Star game in Washington which featured NBA legend Magic Johnson. After a few years of free lance writing the Bulls contacted him and asked him to exclusively sell his work to their organization. This meant he was not officially apart of the Bulls, but he did have an influence on their fan base. Smith ended his answer with the quote I used earlier about the path to success, how there really is not a , “traditional” path due to the ever changing landscape of the field. I asked for a few moments as I frantically typed down his words and thought about his conclusion to my question.

Looking at Smith’s resume you can see the variations of writing he has done, from politics to slam dunks. He suddenly had a change of heart and fell in love with the idea of writing about sports, so he followed his passion for sports and he is where he is now. As I mentioned earlier passion was a big theme throughout his answers, I asked him what advice he has for a writer like me: a young journalist who one day dreams of having his job. He was kind of mixed of what you need to do, “Journalism has a 24/7 reset button now because people are clicking on the new every two hours,” He told me, “But as long as there are writers out there who have a passion for a particular subject, there will always be someone who will read it.”

I kept on thinking about my passion for sports writing, I partially feared that I would tired of writing about sports and move onto other subjects much like Smith did. Sam put my worries in perspective and told me that as long as I follow my passion I will be subconsciously following my path to success. I believe Smith’s philosophy to be vey true to our modern journalism field because we are constantly changing as young adults. Too often I read the newspapers and read only facts that I already knew about the Bulls game the night before. “Derrick Rose sored X amounts of points to lead the Bulls to a X-X win against the (insert team here).” Was a common line I found in the articles about the games played. I go to www.bulls.com and see Smith’s articles about the game and see something completely different. I see facts combined with his passion for writing about the game. It is simply in his words, the way he describes a play makes you feel like your right there with the player, feeling his emotions and movements. It was Sam’s colorful writing or as he would call it, passion that got him his job. Much like all of us, it is our duty to follow our passion as students to truly find success and make the change that the world needs.

Karen Bokram's Life

I squeezed my way into the tight schedule of Girls' Life magazine's publisher and founding editor, Karen Bokram. She did, however, take the time to mention that most of the people in the business are psychos.

Girls' Life is the magazine of worship for 10- to 15-year old females. It has the best boy and friendship advice, the most creative seasonal activities, dessert recipes, make-up tips, the latest fashion trends and is the magical realm to the thoughts of the moment's hottest teen male celebrity. Like a bothersome boy who GL columnists would advise readers against, I was persistent with Bokram after she kindly but bluntly denied my request for an interview. "Would Tuesday or Wednesday work for you?" I offered. Finally, she offered me a date on Thursday. "11 A.M." she simply demanded. Rule number one: When you're calling someone in Baltimore, Maryland, make sure you pay attention to the time zone difference.

Thankful for my anticipation, it seems I called the GL office an hour early, but I called right on time, according to Eastern Standard Time. I didn't even have time to be nervous. A rushed, stern female voice greeted me. I stumbled a little, trying to introduce myself as thoroughly as possible. "Uh huh," Karen Bokram encouraged after I mentioned the e-mail I had sent. I got her hint to get straight to the point. "What's a normal day like in the office of GL?" I asked. She nearly scoffed at the question. "There is no normal day. There's always something different to be done: advertising issues, circulation, working on the book." I shouldn't have been surprised. "Okay," I said, trying sound enthusiastic and prepared. "Is there any certain routine you use for motivation, like music, coffee..." I trailed on, holding the phone against my shoulder so I had two free hands, ready to type. Unfortunately, this only muffled my voice and delayed our conversation. "No--no coffee. I do have a Vitamin Water sitting here, though. I went to the gym this morning and I listened to my iPod. We have music in the office too," she said, expanding on the topic. "I was listening to the Mumford Sons, in the gym. I don't know if you've heard of them, but they're kind of like the new Kings of Leon." I continued to ask her about her entertainment interests. Keeping her audience in mind, I asked her if she watched the Disney Channel. "No, not so much Disney Channel. I watch reality shows." She mentioned she watches it for her own personal entertainment, even though some of her readers may be able to relate. As far as reading goes, she adds, "I read tons of stuff--it's crazy. Trade magazines, mashups, competitive...I read everything," she gushed.

Karen Bokram was into journalism for as long as she could remember. She started Girls' Life because there was nothing for the younger teen-aged girls when she worked at Seventeen magazine and she felt the age group needed a focused magazine. "Seventeen is too old, American Girl is too young, and we don't have too much of Justin Bieber. Ours is different," she said. "Who did you turn to for advice when you were your readers' age?" I asked. Bokram hesitated. "...my friends?" she questioned. There was no other magazine that she could turn to for advice like girls have now, with GL. She enjoys many parts of her creation, however. "My favorite part of GL? It changes--sometimes its the fashion spread article, the cover," she said. When answering on how Girls' Life knows what its readers want, Bokram states confidently, "We pretty much know after so many years of running the business."

The GL office is incredibly motivated. Bokram said the worst part of her day "is when it ends. And when not everything gets done." I asked for advice on how she copes with deadlines and she replied with a booming laugh. "We just work until then," she said, simply. As for up-and-coming writers, Karen Bokram isn't too impressed. "None really spring to mind," she said. "I guess my friend from Glamour. Quality must count. Editors can completely clean up someone's writing and then you see their name and think they're a genius, but they're really not. It's misleading," she admits. Speaking of writing skills, I asked, "If I wanted to work for a magazine like GL, would help to take women's psychology classes, or classes similar to that?" Bokram was kind of stumped. "Sure," she insisted. "Well, since most of the people in the buisness are psychos, that would help," she said matter-of-factly.

I burst out laughing. Judging by her fast, semi-complete sentences and enthusiasm on deadlines, I interpreted this as most of the people in the magazine business were stressed-out psychopaths, instead of a short-hand way of implying that most people in the business are "psychologists". Later on was when I realized that I had completely misunderstood her comment. I thanked Karen Bokram for her interview and she wished me luck on my project and thanked me back. She ensured her picture could be found "all over the place" on Google.

I realized how much preparation and research counts before conducting interviews. Researching other interviews gives a greater insight to what to expect from the interviewee and helps avoid questions that are probably asked most frequently. Unfortunately, for me, I felt a bit caught off-guard due to the sudden realization of time-zone differences. I also had a hard time relating to Karen Bokram because basically everything she said that was work-related, and even entertainment related, was completely different to me and so I found it hard to produce natural conversation during my interview. I was thankful that I made as many questions as I did, but with her short, quick answers, I felt that I should have dug a bit deeper with my questions. She answered most of them so certainly as if she were bored and had heard them all before. In the future, I would also make sure I had a way to record the fast conversation more conveniently than type to it all with one hand.

- Lisa Schulz

INTERVIEW by Joslyn Moore

INTERVIEW: JEFFREY T MOORE

For this assignment, I started out wondering what aspects of journalism mean the most? Who could I talk to, other than the normal journalist, who knows about these aspects? I didn’t want to interview another journalist because we have been the audience to so many during class this semester. We students have already learned some of the most resourceful hints and tips from the class speakers. I wanted to get tips and hints from other people, outside the journalism realm, that may apply to our jobs in the future. So, I decided to go to a wise man I have known for a very long time, my father. As many children do, I have learned a multitude of lessons from my father. Jeffrey Todd Moore owns an electrical contracting business, Trident Construction, in Northern Michigan (about ten hours north from Chicago). Throughout the years, I have accompanied him on electrical-runs, jobs, and material pick-ups. I have encountered his meetings with clients and business partners, employees. I have admired his keen skill with networking in the greater Michigan area and beyond, and spreading his business name across the countrysides and cities.

So, when I was preparing for this interview, I recalled on my father’s networking skills. I wanted to know more about how he used them to advance in his career, what networking meant--what it’s value was--and whether he thought his success would still be standing today having the skill of networking absent. I picked up the phone a few weeks prior to the assignment due date and asked Mr. Moore if he’d be willing to partake in an interview, coming soon, relating to his business, career, and the skill of networking. First my dad was surprised that me--being placed in a large city--would decide upon little old him as the first person I would want to interview. However, I reassured him that his lessons about business that he taught me over the years have left an indelible mark on my growing mind. I knew that everybody in our class would benefit from a short tidbit of his advice as well, so I persuaded him to be interviewed.

A week later I called home once again, and the interview process began. I could hear the familiar sound of my dad sipping some coffee in the background, dark-blend no doubt. Being a businessman in the slow, country-oriented Northern Michigan, a work day means five thirty A.M. to six or seven P.M.. It is necessary for him, then, to get multiple cups of Joe in the morning. I asked him questions about the job market (slow), and how he was holding up (fine). These were questions that helped ease the beginning of the interview, and we got on a more comfortable level before proceeding to the more difficult questions. “As I have learned, one aspect of your job regards the skill of networking. Explain how networking plays a role in your career,” I offered. Jeffrey replied with, as usual, a philosophical response relating to not himself, but all characters in his work field. Again he thinks of the big picture. But that of in itself helps me understand networking: Mr. Moore immediately answered the question in third person. Not once did he say “us,” “we,” or “I,” but rather “one,” “oneself”, etcetera. This reveals how his business oriented mind is ticking: he thinks of his customers, his clients, his relations first before himself. He was answering as if on behalf of his branch of work, not just his specific company. His oral answer, paraphrased, went along the lines of how the best thing about networking is being able to find people with the proper problem solving skill sets that will help another person face their specific challenges. It’s like using other people’s skills that you don’t/can’t possess, and applying their skills to fix your problem, or to make better your situation.

After my dad finished consuming no less than 16 ounces of coffee, he took a short phone break and (as I imagined) wondered over to our fireplace-lit kitchen to brew some more Folgers’s Premium Dark-Roast Blend coffee. I heard our large, white refrigerator pull open, accompanied by some bottles and plastic ruffling sounds, and then the fridge door glued shut. The phone line welcomed his voice again, and crunching noises followed thereafter. Well, that’s dad for ya! I took that as my signal to proceed to the next question. “Do you think that networking has been one of the major tools in your job that have led you to a level of success? Could you imagine being where you are today without knowing how to network?” I inquired. Mr. Moore began as a master electrician signed on to a company in Northern Michigan called Sky Electric. After some years, he decided to open up his own business, called J n’ C Electric. A few years after that, to expand to a wider audience, he hired on more employees and renamed the company Trident Construction. Now his company, still a thriving business in the quick-sand environment of Northern Michigan, is able to provide electrical contracting services to a number of residential and commercial clients. Jeffrey basically said that in no means could he have survived Michigan’s treacherous business climate and reach success without knowing how to network, and network well. It is a skill absolutely necessary to his business relations.

One of the most interesting, rather surprising things that I have learned about my dad and his business is that, even though he deals with electrical issues and construction matters, the skills he uses can easily be applied to journalism, (among many other careers). The most prominent of those skills being networking. As my dad mentioned to me after refilling his glorious liquid remedy to life (coffee), networking allows you to develop far reaching relationships and resources. Everybody you meet can be a valuable asset to you, your company, and/or your work in some way. It is important to be respectful to those members of the workforce older than you, as well as those younger. Anybody may have skills or talents that can develop your ideas further. I can clearly recall my dad, in his beginning years, trying in everyway to spread the name of his business around. My mother would bring business cards to her work, I would always have spares in my pocket, and my dad of course would hand them out incessantly. Now today, because of his hard work and effort put into networking, he has close relationships with many other businesses (of all sorts) around Michigan, neighboring states, and across the country. When he needs a handful of new employees, advice, help, or job offers, he can call upon one of the many people he has come to know. Networking is a skill that I plan to practice thoroughly as I try to make way for my name in journalism. Thanks to my dad, I have learned the pure importance of this skill. I hope many of the students in our class take away with them this advice as well.

Like Sisyphus with Love

If there is one thing 27 year-old Grayson Currin would suggest to college students with their eyes set so dreamily toward music journalism, it would be that college should “be less about journalism school,” and “more about learning something you may never have the chance to study again”.

Currin, who graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in Biology, is now the editor of Independent Weekly and writes freelance for countless other music news sources (Pitchfork, Spin, and The Washington Post, to name a few). While in college, he wrote for the student newspaper between his dissections of small amphibians. “Like a madman, for two years...” he says, which was enough to garner attention from Independent Weekly, who sought him out to hire in his Sophomore year. “They needed more help writing about music in Raleigh,” he says. “They hired a college Sophomore, me, who really didn't know what he was doing.”

He began working with them full-time two months before his graduation in 2005, and quickly became editor in February 2006.

Further extending his reach, Currin dabbled with other magazines and papers, and even had a brief stint as a janitor to bring in some extra money to support a modest lifestyle.

After submitting a total of three critiques to Pitchfork they hired him in 2006 as, in his words, “a sort of retained freelancer”. He now writes twenty to thirty articles for them annually, does several feature pieces, and has a monthly column composing a review and think-piece called “The Out Door”.

Currin’s writing style stands out among his colleagues at Pitchfork, as it is particularly spacious and colorful. He hopes to avoid the “self-referential bickering” that often plagues music critics and journalists (though he admits, he is guilty of it), and reads articles centered around a more focused, journalistic narrative and extensive art critiques in order to combat the hold of that style. People sometimes consider Pitchfork writers to be pompous, nose-in-the-air snobs, and when asked whether this has impacted his style, he simply replies that he would rather be seen as pretentious, than pretend that he does not have an articulate, academic opinion. He goes on to say, “This isn't the elementary school playground; I'm OK if people feel the need to call me or my colleagues names, you know?”

When he is not writing, editing, or co-directing the North Carolina music festival “Hopscotch”, Currin keeps in contact with record publicists and friends involved with touring bands, scours Twitter and several music blogs, and reads interviews and essays about artists that interest him, in order to keep up on the latest releases and music news. “[I try] to pay attention to music wherever I am,” he says, but I’m sure the one-thousand-and-some emails he gets regarding music every day helps a little as well.

Considering the best and most frustrating aspects of his work, Currin says that it all revolves around the amount of work left to be done. “There is so much music, which makes my job endlessly entertaining and endlessly frustrating, like Sisyphus with love,” he laughs, referring to the Greek king Sisyphus, forced to an eternity of rolling a massive boulder up a mountain. “[It] applies on a daily, weekly, and yearly level, forever.” But at the end of the day, after all of the boulder-pushing, Grayson Currin remains happy with his position; “I’ve gotten better at it, I hope.”