Similarities Between 'Chicken Killers And True Heartbreak'

In the literary masterpiece, Shop Talk and War Stories by Jan Winburn, various journalists share their different experiences in the field of journalism. These experiences cover the commencement of news room jobs, the science of reporting, the art of interviewing, writing, beat reporting, investigative reporting, story types, broadcast journalism, computer assisted reporting, what is, ethical journalism, and certain issues that arise on the job of being a journalist. For each topic, several professional journalists share their experiences of their career that relate to that particular topic. In Chapter 1, various journalists share stories about their commencements into their respectable news rooms. In Rick Bragg's piece, Chicken Killers and True
Heartbreak, he talks about how he caught his first big break as a reporter. After a few years of being a reporter for the Birmingham News, in Possum Trot, Alabama, he found a job at the St. Petersburg Times, in Tampa Bay, Florida. Although, it was a dream come true for Rick, his beginning at St. Petersburg Times was anything but ideal. His assignment required him to do a story on a serial chicken killer. Although he felt that doing a story on Mopsy the chicken was beneath him, he completed the story and won over the respect of his fellow employees. After completing the story, he also received a promotion and started doing serious stories. No matter how foolish a story may seem, if one is able to do enough of them and pay their dues, that person will enjoy better times in the future. In Anna Quidlen's Hearts and Minds, she talks about how reporters should respect and feel for the people they cover. Although the main objective of a reporter is to report, respect is also needed to when dealing with people. She talks about how she is both proud and ashamed to report because it deals with opening people up to talk about tragedies sometime. While she is only listening to a person's story to make a story of her own she also understands why she has to do. She understands that she has to write these stories in order to shed light on certain topics to enlighten readers. Ultimately, she knows and believes that she does more good than harm. Furthermore, this fact is something every new journalist should keep in mind. In Garrick Utley's Initiation, he gets a job at NBC News, working for John Chancellor. Although the job's salary was less than meager, it still represented an opportunity was priceless. He was made John Chancellor's personal assistant, coffee maker, bill payer, and NBC Radio stringer in Brussels. As a result of accepting his role for six months, he caught a break and received an opportunity to work on camera. Although he needed a few takes to get the segment right, he had finally gained the respect of his employers.
In Joseph Lelyveld's A Life Not In frequently Thrilling, he started out as a student in Journalism school and ended up as an foreign correspondent at The New York Times. The fact that he traveled to Burma did wonders for his career and planted his foot in the door. Although he did have the perfect credentials, he had been places and wrote about his experiences. The New York Times editing job set him up for many of his exciting ventures in the future, including his trip to South Africa. Sometimes, success is not only based on what you know, but who you know and where you been. In Chapter 2, the topic of reporting and how to report accurately are discussed by various professional Journalists. In Steve Woodward's Power Tools, he break's down the steps to write a successful news story. He is given 36 hours to come up with a news story about how the merger took place between U.S. Bancorp and First Bank Systems Inc. His first two steps required him to ask himself all the questions that needed to be addressed in the report and to put all of the information the two companies in a binder. After he organized the material, he found sources to gather the information on the two companies' transactions and establish contact with the actual subject of the report. After establishing his reporting tools, he establishes how he is going to put the gathered information on paper. Furthermore, he chooses a select writing style, and figures out how he is going to describe certain events, while keeping his language very descriptive. In Jay Matthews' Just Checking, he expresses why accuracy in a story is important. Errors in stories not only make the writers look bad, they hinder the reputation of the company they work for. However, sometimes the errors in paper simply cannot be spotted by the writer or editor. In order to avoid having errors in his report, he allows his source to read his report before it is published. In Journalism, allowing sources to read rough drafts is not acceptable. Reporters run the risk of sources attempting to make them look good in exchange for the report's credibility. Although he had good fortunes by breaking the unwritten laws, he runs the risk of one day creating an error while trying to evade one. In Geneva Overholser's What We've Got Here Is a Failure to Be Skeptical, she blames reporters for not being skeptical in a report involving two murdered Dartmouth College professors. Reports indicated that sources said that the deaths of the two professors were crimes of passion. Furthermore, the sources were anonymous and they included law enforcers. Two days later, two teenage boys were arrested in connections with the murders, which indicated that the initial reports were inaccurate. Geneva blames the reporters for being to naïve and gullible when it comes to law enforcers. The same degree of skepticism shown toward everyday citizens has to be shown toward the police. In Jeff Klinkenberg's Reporting the W: Where, he discusses how most reporters fail to elaborate on the settings of the story. He feels that most reporter only focus on plot, characters, and motives. In order to improve one reporting the area of setting, he recommends that reporter actually travel to the setting of their reports. Furthermore, he emphasizes that reporters should ask questions about the covered community, avoid allowing the story to come to them, and to allow the place to become the character of the story. In chapter 3, the science of how to conduct a good interview and link it to the actual report is discussed. In Jack Hart's The Art of the Interview, he points out that a report is missing good interviewing skills if it lacks emotion, full detail, and good descriptive terms. Furthermore, he emphasizes that a reporter has nothing to write about without the information received through an interview. Also, he explains that an interview should be more of a conversation between the reporter and the source, rather than a question and answer session. Developing good question asking techniques is important as well. Many people sometimes feel uncomfortable if they feel like they are being integrated. A reporter has to learn to be suave as well as aggressive in the way they approach an interview. When a reporter interviews a source, they must make sure respect is shown both ways as interest in what the source is saying. If a person feels like they are being listened too, they will be willing to give out more information. In Claudia Dreifus' Preparation, Chemistry, and the Interview As an Act of Seduction, she explains how interviewing and be connected to seduction. Claudia explains how Alex Haley, from Alex Haley: The Playboy Interviews, landed an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After a series of cancellations and the fact that his deadline was almost up, Alex Haley had to befriend Dr. King's secretary in order to get his interview to write his story. Alex used his charm to get the secretary to reveal Dr. King's next location. After taking her advice to be calm when going out for the interview, Alex finally landed the interview and made his deadline. Sometimes a reporter has to get personal and seduce a source in order to get a story or a lead of them. In the high demand for news, sometimes a reporter has to take desperate measures to get results. In Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's Sipping Coffee, Slowly, Carl Bernstein talks about how he received the names of the Watergate crooks from the bookkeeper. Initially, the bookkeeper did not want to participate in an interview. However, Bernstein stayed suave and did not press for any information. Instead his calm demeanor baited her curiosity in. Also, he made her feel comfortable by telling her that she could be an anonymous source. He also persuaded her that she was doing the right thing. The numerous cups of coffee also gave him more leverage for actually staying for so long. The interview resulted in him getting the initials of the Watergate crooks. In chapter 4, various Journalists discuss writing techniques and ways to go about writing in the news field. In Ken Fuson's What Would Yogi Do?, he shares excerpts from Hall of Fame catcher, Yogi Berra's book, The Yogi Book. In the book, Russell Baker believes that in order to be a good writer, one cannot settle and write the way someone else writes. One has to have a distinct writing style, which cannot be traced back to anyone else's work. Also in the book, Yogi expresses that one has to always observe their environment. A good reporter has to keep an open mind and a sharp eye or he or she will surely miss a story. In Christopher Scanlan's Storytelling on Deadline, writing coach, Don Murray tells Christopher that writing does not occur with words, but with accurate information. In order to get this accurate information, Christopher states that one cannot stay in the newsroom. A good reporter is always on the streets trying to gain more exposure to certain events. The more a person gets off the streets, the more effective their stories will be. Also, he states that a good reporter knows what he going to focus on in his report before he goes out to find the story. One cannot wait till he is ready to write to think of where the focus is going to be. One's research and interviewing must go toward the same direction. In Paula LaRocque's Hooking the Reader, she explains that writer need more than technique to be good reporter. They need to be understanding and to have an imagination. He also states that the better a writer thinks, the better his report will be. Deep thinking from a writer will bring an element of clarity in his report and will make it very interesting to read. In John Hersey's The Legend on the License, he places emphasize on the fact that Journalism and fiction do not go together. In fiction, anything goes as opposed to Journalism, where everything must be factual truth. Furthermore, he states that fictional writers invent, while reporters gather facts. Unfortunately, there are always people that combine the two in their work. For an example, Tom Wolfe's, The Right Stuff is supposed to be a book based on data about the Mercury phase of the United States space program. Instead, the facts are exaggerated in order to entertain the readers rather than to simply share facts. In Donald Murray's What I Need from My Editors, he discusses how the typical relationship between the editor and writer should coexist. His main point expresses how he fell that the editor should show more trust that a writer know what he or she is doing. However, the editor is also needed to constructively give tips and suggestions to the writer. Although both are pressure by deadlines, they both have to find a way to work together. In Chapter 5, beat reporting is discussed by several reporters. Although the most difficult job in Journalism, beat reporting happens to be the most promising as well. In Edna Buckanan's "Fire!," she talks about the effects of beat reporting in his field of fires, plane crashes, and accidents. She mentions that even though it is very exciting, she learns certain facts that affect her everyday life. For an example, she does not ever stay on a floor level higher than 10 because she knows that no latter goes higher than ten stories. She also only wears cotton or wool because other materials cause burn the flesh if ever caught on fire. Beat reporting, though exciting and promising, requires one to live their job. If a person likes to keep their home separate from their office, then this profession is not for them. In Diana K. Sugg's Conquering the Beat, she explains how to manage the everyday stresses of being a beat reporter. Whenever she comes in her office there are stacks of papers and her mail stack is always filled. She always receives more stories than she can do and when she arrives home she is always frustrated and burned out. In other to minimize the stressors of beat reporting she places emphasizes on working quickly and to stay organized. Once a beat reporter makes the mistake of falling behind in their work, they will never get back on track. Maintaining good sources will also take some of the strain away from work. Having good sources to gets information from, makes writing a story easier. In Bill Plaschke's Trying Not to Look Like a Vulture, he talks about the everyday routines of being a sportswriter. During baseball season, he usually has to mingle with players, even though they may not like each other. He also has to deal with people who get offended by his reporting. For an example, Raul Mondesi confronted Bill and threatened to punch him because of mentioning of his party habits in the paper. Bill simply told him that he only reports what affects the time. Furthermore, his party caused him to be late to a game. Bill's job as a sportswriter is to report the sports, and if someone's behavior affects their team, it will be reported. Although Bill is looked at as a vulture, he has a responsible to get the factual truth that matters to the fans. In Florence George Graves' What We Investigate Is Linked to Who We Are, she talks about how Bob Woodward and Kate Boo went through childhood experience that shaped their future careers. She explains how Bob Woodward, as a child, used to go through his father's files and discovered secrets about the town's citizens. From that event, he has always attempted to dig up information on people just like he did in the Watergate scandal. Kate Boo, as a child, was always interested in how to live a meaningful life, which is why she won a Pulitzer Prize for covering the abuse in Washington's group homes. Her piece made a different in the world which has always been her deepest desire. In Leonard Downie Jr.'s The New Muckrakers, he explains what an investigative reporter must do in order to write a good story. According to Leonard, in order to be successful, a reporter must find out what someone else does not want to know. Also, a report has to be able to sniff out the lies from the facts. Many of these lies are told by the most respectable people, so it is much difficult to notice the fabrications. After a reporter attempts to rid his notes of lies, he has to put together the story based on less than model tips and leads. An investigative reporter has to realize that his story will offend certain people because of the nature of his writing. An investigative reporter, finds out what people want to hide, which is a dangerous business, should that reporter cover the wrong group of people. In Steve Lovelady's Twenty-Five Words or Less, he expresses that every investigative reporter should make an attempt to work with their editor more than for just the end of a story. According to Steve, it is high recommended for an investigative reporter to work with their editor at the start of the story, during the reporting, after the reporting and during the writing. Establishing a good relationship between the editor and writer will save a load of stress from the job.
In Craig McCoy's How We Got That Story: The Buried Rapes, he discusses how he uncovered a Philadelphia's police department on ignored rape cases. In an attempt to make the city look safer, the police department cheated on their crime stats. Craig found out about this due to a story he did on a woman, who was raped by her loan shark. The rape charge that was supposed to be given to the loan shark was downgraded to an investigation of person. In order to find out if this was just a single mistake or a string of hidden cases started investigating the matter. Crimes were said to have increased on time due to the pressure reporter like Craig put on police departments to tell the truth. As a result of Craig's good investigating, the police department decided to go back to all the ignored case they found out that there were a case load of solvable cases that were ignored. In chapter 7, the importance of specialized story types, such as nonfiction, obituaries, features, and columns are articulated by several Journalist. In Tracy Kidder's Faith, Truth, and the Facts, she explains that a reporter has the responsibility to make his truths sound believable. When a reader read an article, they want to feel like that can trust what they are reading is true. Not only does the information in the story have to be of pure fact, they have to be articulated in such a way that catches the eye of the reader. In Suzi Parker's When Death Was My Muse, she expresses that her beat writing obituaries won her fame. Although she was in the burnout business of beat writing, she became very successful in her town. Her obituaries were printed in funeral programs and in scrapbooks. Also, she was praised by her superiors as well as other reporters from crime fields. Although she her initial plan was to be an investigative reporter, she ended up in the field of beat writing for the dead. Sometimes, that is just how the community of Journalism works, which is why a person should be versatile in the way one writes. In John Tierney's Finding the Take, he shares with readers that the biggest challenges in feature writing are finding an angle and making the story sound alive. When John interviewed Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, he was unable to get anything involving action from the interview excluding information about Nike or Phil. Instead of having a story with action, he had a story about a person and their company. In a good feature story, something has to happen in order to catch the reader's eye. No one wants to read a biography in the newspaper. In James Bellows' The Ear, he explains how he teamed up with Diana McLellan to form a gossip column called, The Ear. Initially, he did not want anything to do with gossip, however he seen how much it ran Washington, and he figured that he could become successful with it. His column became the best column in Washington. His success was due to the fact that he seen what the people around him want and he simply provided it to them. In Chapter 8, the challenges as well as the opportunities of broadcast journalism are discussed. In Robert Krulwich's Sticky Storytelling, he explains how to be a success television reporter. Television reporting requires one to grab the audience's attention with their own distinct style. Too often people attempt to imitate other journalist instead of creating their own image. A good television report has to be able to work a room full of people with the camera running. In Jeff Greenfield's Bellwethers, Factoids, and Thirty-seven Days, he talks about how television reporters prepare for long coverage hours. According to Jeff, the facts and having dedication to the topic at hand. One has to want to provide the people with as many facts as they come up with. In Jim Wooten's Parachuting into Madness, he discusses the aspects of parachute reporting, which requires a strong stomach and knowledge in separating facts from one's emotion. In parachute reporting, a person covers wars, famines, flood, revolutions and riots. This type of reporting is usually the most life changing due to the graphic nature of the events that are reported. On a regular basis, Jim covers children dying and starving in the country of Zaire. According to Jim, his job requires him to report the darkest crevasses of today's society. In chapter 9, various journalists discuss how the internet affects their line of work and well as how to catch the attention of the online community. In Dan Okrent's The Death of Print, he explains that although print media is dying, that good reporting and editing will still be needed in the new age of the internet. In chapter 10, the definition and the issue of unethical Journalism is discussed.
In Roy Peter Clark's The Unoriginal Sin, he explains the problem of plagiarism in newsrooms. Many reporters steal material from other reporters, encyclopedias and other sources of print. Not only does the act of plagiarism negatively affect the company but it affects the person's credibility. One can lose their job and career entirely for plagiarizing. In chapter 11, the question of what exactly is good news and what is its purpose is addressed. In Anne Marie Lipinski's The Number One Citizen, she explains that her main purpose in Journalism is to help people and to give them something unique to read. Overall, Shop Talk and War Stories, by Jan Winburn, was a very interesting book. Anyone who has read this book has already obtained the blueprint of the field of Journalism. This book goes over every aspect in the field, including writing techniques, reporting, broadcast Journalism, ethics in Journalism to beat reporting. Every aspect able Journalism is covered, which makes this a great read. More importantly, the content is articulated in a way that catches the reader's eye rather than to just simply list down fact like a
textbook.

Shop Talk and War Stories by Jan Winburn