Journalist Interview

Richard Obert, also known as the "Man Who Never Sleeps" to his readers, is a journalist for my hometown's newspaper, the Arizona Republic. He focuses on Arizona high school sports, and the personal story behind the final buzzer. Attached are questions and answers I asked him regarding his career that he loves and enjoys every single day.

1. Why did you go into journalism?

Part of it was my love for writing. Ever since I can remember, I was writing, whether poetry or short stories or reports on my friends' games just out of fun. It never felt like work to me.

2. How did you break in the field?

I was kind of nervous for a while, because all throughout college you hear journalism teachers tell you how hard this profession is to crack. There was a notice on a bulletin board at ASU that the Mesa Tribune was seeking a couple of free lance writers for Sports. I jumped at it, tested well enough to be accepted, and got paid something like $20 a story.

3. How do you define “good” journalism?

Good journalism comprises of balance, accuracy, and complete coverage of the story, not just one side.

4. Do you feel like your news organization practices “good” journalism?

Yes, everybody is quite professional and with the economy the way it is, everybody is going beyond the normal workload to produce a great product.

5. How would you define the type of journalism you do?

I cover high school sports for the most part. Sometimes I help out with college and pro. I also blog every day, sometimes twice a day, on my beat. I'd say at least 60 percent of the work I do goes online and the rest in the paper, just because the news print is shrinking and the Internet has become so huge. I work every day. It is actually rare that I have a day off. But that is what you have to do to find good stories. You have to contstantly look for ideas nobody else has thought of, and call lots of sources.

6. Does your organization allow you to do the type of journalism you want to do?

Because of azcentral.com, yes, it helps a lot. Because it doesn't put any restrictions on me and allow me to be even more creative with my stories.

7. How does the journalism you practice serve your community?

Families love reading about their children, alumni love reading about their schools, and, most importantly, I try to find a good human interest stories to help others and that family with what they've gone through.

8. What is your opinion about recent movements such as community, citizen, civic, and public journalism?

It's all good, as long as people are getting what they need for news.

9. Have you ever had an experience in which you felt your work as a journalist really made a difference?

Yes, when a mother or father calls or writes and tells me how the story I did gave them hope and helped their during whatever adversity they were experiencing. The story was cathartic and helpful for them.

10. How have your views about journalism changed over the years?

My views are the same, that without journalism there would be no watchdog and there would be utter chaos, especially when it comes to governement and business. It's important that there is always journalism. That can never possibly die.

11. Have you been affected by dropping circulations, ratings, layoffs, and growth of citizen journalism?

Luckily, I've dodged bullets. It only drives me harder to work harder, because it would be like having my heart cut out. I truly love what I do. Has never felt like work.

12. What advice would you give students wanting to go into journalism?

It has to be your passion. You have to wake up wanting to do this and go to be bed excited about your work. And make sure you get your facts right and both sides of the story is covered.

What the World Needs Now, is Love Sweet Love

Countries of the world will always have its imperfections, but on Sunday, we witnessed one of Iraq's bloodiest and depressing days. Two suicide car bombers killed at least 132 people and more than 500 people wounded in the city of Baghdad. "Surrounding streets had been blocked off and were under more than a foot of water because the blast apparently also damaged a water main. Pools of water were colored red with blood", states Timothy Williams from the New York Times. As American soldiers and governmental officials are trying to resolve the issues presented daily in Iraq, alleged Saddam's followers or members of Al-Qaeda are reversing the resolutions by taking their lives and many innocent others. It weakens my heart to see all the sadness and pain over in their country. We need to be grateful for the peace and tranquility in the United States. Here is the link to the article, click here.

Where The Wild Things Are

Since 1963, Maurice Sendak has written a book that has touched people's childhood for multiple generations. I will never forget lil ol' Max in his animal costume with that crown on his head and that thrown in his hand. I will never forget those huge, scary, wild things befriending this young boy and making him their king.

As of Friday, October 16, 2009, Where the Wild Things Are, became a box office hit. But not everyone has ranted and raved about their favorite childhood book becoming what it was. Some thought it was too scary for adults, yet others thought it was a perfect family film that everyone can enjoy. Some believe that the details of how Max lived with the Wild Things were too extravagant and trailed away from the true version of Sendak's book, while others believe how the movie focused on his adventures with the Wild Things was ingenious and made the film brilliantly creative. Personally, I loved the film. I loved the special effects, the costumes, the humor within the Wild Things, and its differentiation between childhood adventurousness, comedy, and sadness meshed well.

Here are what other critics examined about this movie, click here. I suggest you watch the film and decide for yourself.

Jon&Kate+8?

It seemed like the whole class was shocked on Monday that Dr. Cressman had no idea about the latest scoop regarding Jon and Kate Gosselin and their adorable eight children. Everyone asked, "Dr. Cressman, where have you been?" As all others were shocked, I realized he is the only one who has his head turned in the right direction. He tweets, follows, reads, and understands the important things going on in today's society. I'm not saying that everyone who knows about the Jon&Kate scandal does not know about important facts, but our minds become cluttered with useless facts about this couple we will probably never meet.

See, Dr. Cressman follows hard news. Hard news is facts, formal topics that are the core of what we need to know in our daily lives. Jon&Kate is definitely soft news, which is entertainment news that deals with less formal and less serious topics. While both play their parts in this journalistic society, I personally believe hard news is more important.

Constantly keeping tabs on the couple's recent divorce, the lives of the children, and their potential significant others have no affect on our lives. Being updated on their lives do not make our lives better or easier. I feel hearing it would just save someone from their boredom and give them a laugh or two. I don't know about the rest of my class, but I do not feel satisfied or my day does not get better by just hearing what the Gosselin's family did that day.

So in the end, Dr. Cressman, you're not missing much. But if you're compelled to peek and see what you've missed, go nuts.

"You Haven't Lived Until You've Almost Died"

Brian Boyle of Maryland just graduated high school. Just when he thinks life is going smoothly, he becomes T-boned by a dump truck on his way home from swim practice. The impact knocked his heart across his chest, shattered his ribs and pelvis, and tore his spline. He was pried from the wreckage and air-evacuated. Multiple doctors told the family that he would not make it. But he survived, despite he was in a comatose state. He says, "I try to raise my arms, then legs, but I can’t move them. My head won’t budge either. I can’t blink or wiggle my fingers." His family was trying to be strong and couldn't believe their son's smooth road was coming to a dead end.

Miraculously, Brian pulled through and found the inner and outer strength to come out of his coma and start the rehabilitation process. He transgressed through all of his stages to where he was able to walk. Yet his journey did not stop there. Not only did he survive and prove the doctors wrong by walking and living a normal life, but he also trained and won the Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Iron Man Competition.

He stated in his interview that someone told him, "you haven't lived until you've almost died". That quotation is the centerpiece for all his accomplishments and his battle. He went above and beyond to live a large, healthier, happier life.

We should all try to live in his example. I'm not saying we should go get in a car accident and defy doctor's orders, but it shows that he found self-determination and motivation to pull out of some of life's biggest tests and trials. Here is the video link