A Professional Speaks (Part I)

A little bit of professional expertise never hurt anyone.

The purpose of this blog is to act as a helpful tool for current and future journalism students to understand how journalism is evolving. A main goal to achieve a real-world feel to what journalism is all about at present time was to interview a professional journalist in the field.

I wanted to interview someone who had not been too far removed from attending a journalism school and that could identify some of the essentials that could help in the competitive job market. I chose to interview Jake Kurtz.

Kurtz, a 2006 graduate of Iowa University’s School of Mass Communication and Journalism, has worked with me for the better part of the last year at BlueDemonBulletin.com. Kurtz is the publisher of the college basketball site covering DePaul men’s basketball, along with being an editor and writer.

The 27-year-old is an associate editor at The Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, IA. He also works as a reporter and photographer for a number of community newspapers in Northwest Iowa.

The Series

There was so much great information in the interview that I plan to split up my blog posts to highlight different components of the discussion. This first part of the series details key characteristics that journalists must make sure to have to advance to where they want to be.

The Essentials

With so many ideas of the specific qualities a journalist should have, it is occasionally hard to remember what the most important ones are. When entering today’s field, Kurtz described five qualities that are essential to every journalist.

1. “The ability to write clearly,” Kurtz said.
Kurtz reinforced the importance of the all-important hook contained in the lead at the beginning of the story. The reader must feel compelled to read on, making the effectiveness of a lead crucial.

2. “The ability to edit and evaluate carefully.”
It is a reporter’s job to sift through bad information from sources and find the accurate and unbiased facts.

3. “Keeping your word,” Kurtz said. “Your word, honesty and integrity mean everything in this business.”
Credibility continues to be one of the most important aspects of journalism.

4. “Not being afraid to pick up the phone.”
New reporters have been seen to be too reliant on e-mail according to Kurtz. This can present problems because it is very easy to get lost in someone’s crowded e-mail inbox, and messages may not be returned in a timely manner. Kurtz mentioned that it is much harder to ignore a number of phone calls than an e-mail.

5. “Don’t use five words when you can use two.”
This has been a fact that was drilled into me in my journalism course last semester. It is great if someone has an extensive vocabulary and can use a number of big words, but this applies more to book writing rather than journalistic work. People are reading the newspaper for news, period.

The “not being afraid to pick up the phone” aspect intrigued me the most. In this age, a lot more reporting is done specifically through e-mail or possibly text messaging. In my experience, text messaging has been an effective way to informally let someone know that you are interested in talking to them, but there is not substance to be attained through this.

E-mail will always be a great tool for contacting sources, but it does lose the personal feel a phone call might have. There is more time for the subject to prepare and possibly talk to public relations people to put a spin on their answers. Phone calls offer the chance for spontaneity and possibly more accurate answers.

Next Part

The next blog post will delve into the social media aspect a bit more from a professional perspective.