REPORT: Notes From… Sig Gissler lecture on covering beats
Another in our “Notes From…” series - short notes by volunteers summarizing various events around the school, to help those of us who didn’t/couldn’t attend. Watch for several other “Notes From…” throughout the year (if you have one, send it in - or let us know in advance that you’d like to do one).
Below, highlights of the Sig Gissler’s talk about how to cover a beat. Many thanks to volunteer notes-takers Sheena Tahilramani and Irene Liu. Feel free to drop them a note or post a comment below (free, one-time registration required).
Notes From… Prof. Sig Gissler’s lecture: “How to Cover Your Beat”
By Sheena Tahilramani, J2007; e-mail: sat2127[at]columbia.edu
and Irene Liu, J2007; e-mail: ijl2105[at]columbia.edu
Listen to audio recording here:
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/students/class_lectures.asp
[Introduction by Dean Sreenivasan]
It is my honor to introduce Sig Gissler, professor and administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes.
Sig Gissler is one of my favorite people at the J-school and one of this University’s treasures. You are all very lucky to have him as a professor - either in RWI or in sesssions like this. When I was a student here, we weren’t lucky enough to have Prof. Gissler on the faculty. But he has been a teacher and guide to me ever since his arrival here in 1994. I have picked
up tips on reporting, on editing and how to be a better professor - but I feel like I am always trying to catch up. He came to the school after a distinguished career as an editor in Milwaukee and brought with him decades of journalism experience - and a bucketful of midwestern, Scandinavian aphorisms. Those aphorisms and a unique teaching style that encourages you
all to “go there” have inspired generations of students and colleagues alike, resulting in his being named the school’s Teacher of the Year in 1998, and his winning Columbia’s highest teaching award in 2003.[ Despite his folksiness, he has a geeky side. He was one of the first professors here to edit stories with the “tracking changes” in Word and he embraced digital photography, wireless networking and similar technologies long before most of the faculty, as has his wife, the wonderful Mary Gissler, who offers his students brownies and invaluable advice of her own.]
As administrator of the Pulitzers, he has been given stewardship of one of the journalism’s most imporant institutions and he has taken that to another level as well.
Everywhere in the world I go, his former students, friends and colleagues ask me to say hello to him and many of them say to me what I started my introduction with: You are lucky to have him.
Ladies and gents, Sig Gissler…
WHAT IS A BEAT:
It’s a topical or geographic area assigned to a reporter for regular coverage.
Examples of topical areas are education, politics and business. Examples of geographical areas are a city, county, neighborhood.
ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD REPORTER:
- Works on the three fundamentals–sources, story ideas and execution plans (the “trifecta”)
- Works rigorously on three levels — short range, medium and long — juggling a mix of ideas
- Serves as a watchdog — accountability journalism
- Shows good organization
- Organize your sources by affiliation
- Get contact info: mobile, work, home numbers, email
- Have these numbers so that if you have to, you can call late at night; you can say that you are “calling in the interest of accuracy.”
- Cultivate sources
- Keep a running list of story ideas, compiled by topic and subject. - Stays in touch with editor (without being a pest) “Don’t interview the city desk, interview the city.”
“BEAT NOTES”
Make the best use of your time in August. This is an opportunity to put “hay in the barn” (if you are from the midwest), or “nuts in the nest.” Use this month to find sources, issues, story ideas.
Step 1: See what has already been written
Step 2: Make some initial contacts.
ATTRIBUTION:
All you know is what you’ve been told. Attribute everything, over attribute.
HOW TO APPROACH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD:
- Attitude and appearance: Have a positive attitude, one of “joyful entitlement”. Build sources one at a time; don’t get bogged down by the enormity of the work. At the end of a meeting/interview, always ask for additional sources. Polite persistence. Don’t be needlessly confrontational. Be a sponge. We reflect the university and our profession so it’s important to maintain a professional appearance. Men should carry a tie wherever they go because you never know when you may be assigned to cover a funeral or other somber event.
- Good start: U.S. Census, “community district needs” handbooks (books created by the 59 community boards that identify “greatest needs” of each neighborhood. Take with a grain of salt, but a good starting resource. RW1 professors have copies), website for Department of City Planning.
- Libraries: Libraries provide back issues of community newspapers and other great sources that can be used to learn about this history. The histories of your neighborhoods are important to investigate. Look for defining moments in the history of your community…for example, the burning of the South Bronx.
- Community Boards: 59 districts, largely advisory bodies. Try to talk to the district manager. However, don’t despair if you are rebuffed. The community board is not the golden fleece.
- Museums in boroughs
- Local historians: Residents who serve as informal historians to the area. Can give you a sense of the history, changes in the neighborhoods over time. The burrough presidents’ offices may be able to point you to them.
- Elected officials: Know the elected officials in your area… city council members, district attorney, congressmen/women, assemblymen/women, etc.
- Police: “Destined to be a murky relationship”. “America’s only fully-armed minority group.” Start at the precinct level. Talk to a community affairs officer or youth officer. Crime statistics by precincts will give you a sense of crime patterns. If referred to the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, be persistent and you might get lucky. Cops really do like to talk.
- Firefighters: Firefighters can be a wonderful source. They’re considered heroes in NYC. They see a lot, they know a lot and they’re often gregarious characters. (if you are a freelancer, see
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/dcpi/presscred.html - Mayor’s Management Report
- Churches, mosques, synagogues: “Havens in a heartless world.” Churches are a safe haven in the community. Be sure to talk to leaders and members.
- Community Based Organizations: They are everywhere. Some have storefront offices, many are connected to umbrella groups.
- Schools: Try to meet the principal, PTA, Parent Coordinator (a staff liaison to parents), union reps, etc. Getting inside may be difficult due to “bunker” mentally, so you might have to report from the outside in. You might need a “passport” but you need to keep pushing.
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Hospitals: A good source on neighborhood health issues. Walk in and just wander around, better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission.
- The Old: “Wallpaper of the human existence.” Senior citizens are the “eyes of the neighborhood.” They can provide you with a sense of history and context, they’ve witnessed the history of the community. They also have a lot of time. Can be found on the porch, in senior centers.
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Shopping Areas: Show a good cross section of humanity and are good places to spot fashion trends among the young. Oftentimes, people are more willing to talk while shopping.
- Community newspapers: Give a sense of what is going on it the community, issues, etc. Talk with editors and reporters; they can give you a sense of the problems and issues in the neighborhoods. An opportunity to pitch articles and get clips.
- Parks: Look for places, like parks, where people slow down. People may be more willing to pause and talk to you.
- Colleges: There are colleges all around the city. You may find story ideas. For example: welfare mothers trying to get an education to get out of their situations, innovative efforts to include minority kids in education.
- Sanitation workers: Rarely get interviewed, but are great sources, as are janitors, custodians, building superintendents.
- Real estate offices: People in the real estate industry watch/are aware of trends in the area.
- Bus depots: Drivers go up and down the street day after day, they know what’s going on. It is also a good place to catch cops coming home from work.
- Coffee shops, bodegas and bars: Don’t forget the bars.
A LITTLE ABOUT TECHNIQUE:
- Review safety tips.
- Take a list of professors and phone numbers in case you get in a bind/trouble.
- Build up your comfort level and go with your gut.
- Don’t get complacent; it’s still a big city. The buddy system is a good option.
- Get a map.
- Don’t wait for phone calls…go there, go there and go there!
- Look up…look at the signs, second floors. We are constantly seeing things at eye level but, if you look around, there is so much more.
- Subway life is fascinating. A parallel of the world above.
- Talk to strangers.
- Try the back door when stymied by a source. If you cannot talk to the principal, talk to the PTA.
- Get the Green Book: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/features/greenbook.shtml
- Find the “mayor” of the neighborhood or the block. Every neighborhood has a self-appointed know-it-all.
- Think of creating your own “board of directors” made up of four or five people that are connected in the community, people you can go to get quick information.
- Establish “listening posts”; find your places to go and get info.
- Never burn a source. If you say you won’t include a quote, don’t include it. If you make a commitment, keep it.
- Nurture your sources; you can learn a lot from them. Show them your “published” story. This helps future Columbia students.
- Finally, learn to treasure the indomitable spirit of New York City.
Q&A:
- Q:Do you recommend tape recorders?
A: Tape recorders can be useful, especially if a confrontational interview/story, but one of the problems is transcribing the tape. It is a tool and you should use it depending on the circumstances. - Q: How should we deal with translation?
A: Maybe try to find a young person that can translate or help you communicate with a subject. Beyond that, you have to try to deal with it. - Q: Is there anyone that you we should not talk to on our beat?
A: As a class or kind of person, everyone is fair game. - Q: What if you’re interviewing and the person becomes uncomfortable with a certain topic or wants to take something off the record?
A: You can go on and off the record…people have a right to wall-off portions of the conversation that they don’t want published. - Q: How do you deal with a source that provides you with great information but wants to remain anonymous?
You need to set some ground rules at the beginning of the interview. If you do this, the source knows that what he/she says is fair game. If you leave the situation very murky then it can be much more of a contentious situation. Clarity, clarity, clarity! - Q: Offering and accepting things from sources?
In a professional setting, you don’t want to be accepting things from sources. But don’t worry about accepting a cup of coffee.
SOME GISSLERISMS:
- “Keep an open mind, but don’t let your brain fall out.”
- “Taking information off the Internet is like taking food off the street. Be careful.”
- “Sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug.”
