WMNF's Future of Journalism Series

Fake journos O.K. too. With Rob Riggle in Largo, FL 2007 

Although I love talking to anyone about anything, my favorite people to interview are other journalists.

I want to know what they know, how they got started, what they're covering, what they'd rather be covering and when the book's coming out.

Maybe it's because I've always been a freelancer. I miss creative pow wows and staff meetings, opportunities to be a mentor & be mentored.

I'm still hungry for the knowledge and experience that will make my work better. So I live vicariously by asking the questioners lots of questions.

And as a media activist at heart, I'm also particularly fond of spreading my love of (good) media and journalism to those outside of the industry. I think everyone in any field should know how media works and how it can both bring benefits and do harm. 
  

Which brings me to my latest project: a Future of Journalism series on 88.5 WMNF. I started by making a list of all my journalism & media heroes, and then asked them for interviews.

©2007 NPR, by Stephen Voss

On Monday the first of these interviews aired. The premiere episode featured NPR's David Folkenflik, who talked about being editor of Page One, a book of essays on the New York Times and journalism, which he says picked up where the documentary of the same name left off. 

There's also an extended interview in which David talks about his early career in newspapers, making the switch to radio, and how after seven years at NPR he's still referred to as the "print guy".

It was exciting to hear how excited he is by the current state of journalism. While the news business has been gloomy since I entered it and suffered immensely this recession, Americans are consuming more news than ever.

  

Next week's interview is with Peter Osnos, who has my nomination for godfather of modern American journalism. He began his career as the lone assistant to independent journalist I.F. Stone (whom he calls one of the first bloggers), spent many years overseas with the Washington Post, gave my generation one of our finest journalists, founded PublicAffairs Books, and much more. 

Happy listening.

Memoir-ies

I've been reading biographies and memoirs since I was a kid in South Jersey. I used to think my life was so boring (it really was), and I was dying to know how others lived theirs.

In high school when I was a shy but budding performer I devoured Love, Janice, Gilda Radner's It's Always Something, and Kurt Loder's Bat Chain Puller. 


In college I veered off towards radio and film and was first introduced to the business of Hollywood from They Can Kill You But...They Can't Eat You by Dawn Steel, the first female head of a movie studio. Also, Quivers: A Life by Howard Stern's sidekick Robin, and even Kelsey Grammer's So Far...  

Now after several year's experience as a professional interviewer I've had plenty of people say to me: "I'm boring. I wouldn't make a good story." But I never believe that.

As Peter Osnos, senior fellow for media at The Century Foundation, wrote recently in his weekly column: "Everybody has a tale to tell."

Every life has struggles and history and demons and light, but it's the average people, not the celebrities, who usually have the most original untold stories.

I've finally reached the point where I want to write about my own life as much as I want to help others share their life stories.

So Tampa Do-Gooder has taken more of a personal turn lately because of this, but the theme hasn't changed. I'll keep on writing about the folks I see and hear about around Tampa Bay, but I'd also like to keep opening up about how I got to where I am today.