News and information to help journalists serve the public and stay safe.
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Join
Ibram X. Kendi
, a New York Times-bestselling author and the founding director of The Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University, and
Robert Samuels
, Washington Post national reporter, for a discussion of coronavirus inequities and how journalists can cover them. The conversation and Q&A will be moderated by POLITICO reporter
Shannon Young
,
from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, May 4, on Zoom.
Registration is open
.
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As the world endures a pandemic, societies are turning to technology for help. But what is its role in this new normal, and how should journalists cover it?
We reached out to Reuters journalist
Paresh Dave
to learn how life on the technology beat has changed since COVID-19 and what lessons he’s learned from reporting in Silicon Valley.
How has your coverage changed since coronavirus hit the U.S.?
Dave
: In mid-March, my colleagues and I in San Francisco joined a global effort covering the novel coronavirus the Reuters way. Part of that is bringing global perspective to stories. I regularly partner with colleagues in Asia and Europe on stories, but now the communication among us is happening nearly daily because the issues we are tracking, such as app-based contact tracing, are evolving quickly and there are unprecedented debates happening between countries and Silicon Valley.
We also are interested in the role technology plays in what many are calling the “new normal.” So I have been able to work on more “soft” features than I would normally, like
one that gave a view
into these software developers who are ponying up from their own pocketbooks to meet the demand for websites they built years ago to play popular card games like Codenames online.
Photos and videos are important for Reuters and its clients to draw people into our stories, but arranging photoshoots in the current environment can be tricky. That has left me and other reporters with a new task of arranging subjects of stories to take selfies or have someone in their house take interesting shots to go alongside stories.
Fortunately, some stories that I had been working on for months as part of my regular Google beat focused on topics including online shopping that remain top of mind. I have been able to use my existing reporting to detail how the current circumstances have added a layer of complexity for companies.
What are the biggest challenges you've faced covering tech during lockdown?
Dave
: Many tech workers and companies are trying to help out to fight the virus in various ways. Getting their ear when they are focused on this aid work can be slow-going, so it feels like I am relying on email exchanges versus phone calls more than usual.
But the simplest challenge has been knowing when to work. The days can run long when you’re working from home, and there is always an itch to keep reporting since this is a global story and you could literally be chasing a new source in every time zone.
I also miss being in the newsroom, where you can overhear other colleagues’ interviewing and reporting techniques. We’ve lost two months of that quiet knowledge transfer now.
Read on
to see how the technology beat has evolved and some of Dave’s highlights from recent reporting.
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The National Press Club Journalism Institute is spotlighting
the next generation of journalists
, students graduating from college or Master’s programs this spring into
a challenging job market
, in hopes they’ll meet future bosses and colleagues here, who will reach out and support them in building journalism’s future together.
School
: Arizona State University
Location
: Tempe, Arizona
Photography
: Portraiture, documentary, sports, surfing
Degree
: Majoring in journalism, minoring in business
What's been your best moment in journalism?
Thai:
My best moment in journalism so far was being able to travel down to
Nogales, Sonora
near the border wall and cover a story as a photographer and
on social media
for Cronkite News. We were there covering the grand opening of a new migrant shelter right near the border. It was the most memorable thing in my career so far. It was very different from what I've experienced, and I was able to pick up some new things from the short trip. Not many students can say they crossed the border to Mexico for the day to
cover a story
and then come back home a couple of hours later.
If you could meet any journalist and ask for her/his advice, who would it be and why?
Thai
:
I have a strong love for photojournalists and a sucker for strong photographs of people. I would love to be able to talk to many people like John Moore, who recently won the World Press Photo of the Year. I would just love to talk and pick their brains, ask them about how they feel about their photos? Do you let your emotions help you pick photos or is it just known by your brain this a good photo?
John Moore
responds: In my role at Getty Images, I'm almost always photographing for our editorial news wire service. As such, I will edit a take of images that tell the story of a coverage in a fairly broad way. So I don't have to edit too tightly, as I would if I was editing an actual picture story for a publication. In my looser edit, seen on the Getty Images site, I will send both "process" pictures, often of people doing things, and also, hopefully, more emotional frames, which engage the viewer on a deeper level.
The goal is always to both educate with images and to make people feel something about the story. Although single images usually have more iconic resonance, I also try to be more explanatory through multiple picture series or stories.
All that said, here's the shorter answer to your question: I edit with both my heart and my head, but the images that touch people most, they come from the heart.
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Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity, Loyola University Chicago
Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership
The world needs more Connectors
these days
—
more people who network on behalf of others. They link people to share ideas and opportunities; to give or get advice and help.
As someone who tries to be a good connector by reaching out to others or responding when they ask to send people my way, I’ve learned there’s an etiquette to this kind of networking.
Here are some tips:
- Knock before entering. Don’t send a “virtual introduction” without doing a courtesy check-in first.
- Provide context. Include helpful information in your message; enough to let the other person know what you’re asking for and for whom. For example, is the person you’d like someone to meet a superstar, a rising star, or your boss’s cousin that you hardly know but were asked to help? That candor is priceless.
- Offer to reciprocate: If you’re asking for information or guidance, let the person know you’re always ready to pay it back or pay it forward.
- Don’t be a pass-through for problems you are avoiding. We sometimes don’t have the heart to be critical or hold people accountable. It’s easier to say, “Here’s someone you might want to talk to.” Make sure you’ve done your best work first - then reach out to others whom you know are likely to help.
A perfect example of a good connector etiquette arrived in my inbox recently from a fellow member of the
Journalism and Women Symposium
. Our relationship would be a classic example of what sociologists call a “
weak tie
,
” but is actually the basis of strong networks. We’re not old friends. We know a bit about each other through JAWS events and Facebook. We share mutual respect and believe in advancing women in journalism.
Her email subject line was “Check-in and a request for a friend,” clearly telegraphing her goal. I could read it at my convenience, knowing it wasn’t urgent - but still important. The note was cordial, personal and brief. She noted the challenges of our COVID-19 constrained lives, then went on to describe a former student looking for career advice. She explained why she believes in her, and why she thought a conversation with me would be helpful. Then she asked, “May I e-introduce you two for perhaps a phone brainstorming session?”
Her message hit every important note for a “connection request.” It made me not just comfortable, but motivated, to respond positively.
Good connection etiquette makes it easy to say “yes.”
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By now, most of you have set up your WFH stations. You may be fortunate enough to have an office in your house. Or a desk in your bedroom. Or maybe you just set yourself up at the dining room table and toil away. (Moving placemats, shoving salt shakers aside
is not new to COVID-19
).
Wherever it is that you set up to work each morning, organizing that space has as much to do with order as it does with boundaries.
So here are some tips if you work in a space where you can isolate yourself:
- Have a regular start time and a regular end time.
- Get non-essential paperwork off your desk and store it away. You don’t want desk clutter to start encroaching on your work space like the trash compactor in Star Wars.
- Place a sign on the door to indicate when you can and cannot be interrupted.
- Take regular short breaks.
- At the end of your workday, tidy up your desk and write tomorrow’s to-do list. It will make your morning happier.
- Step away and close the door. Imagine you just finished your commute home.
Here are some tips specific to the dining room or kitchen:
- Keep your laptop, power cables and essential papers in a box or in a wheeled cart or caddy you can hide in a corner when not in use.
- If you have family in the house, make sure you have ground rules for use of common space that limit interruptions and distractions while working.
- Sit near an outlet. You don’t want your power chords to become the family obstacle course.
- Make sure you have a Wi-Fi printer and keep the printer in a closet or in another room where it belongs.
- Get headphones. You can’t close the door to distractions, but you can close your ears. Play soothing instrumental music.
- At the end of your work day, write tomorrow’s to-do list and pack everything back up in your box or filing cabinet and hide it away.
- Set the table for your evening meal. Make sure you didn’t leave your mouse next to the pepper.
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Two books that illustrate how tenacious journalism can instigate justice and ignite change will face off in the final round of the 2020 Book Bracket.
“All The President’s Men,” by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and “She Said,” by Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey, are the two finalists in the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s inaugural Book Bracket. Voters narrowed the original pool of 64 titles submitted as readers’ favorite journalism books. The winner will be announced Tuesday;
vote by midnight Monday
to choose the champion.
In their book, Kantor and Twohey chronicle the investigative reporting behind their New York Times coverage of Harvey Weinstein, that ended his career and catalyzed the #MeToo sexual abuse and sexual harassment movement. The reporters received a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage.
Journalism school favorite “All The President’s Men” details Woodward and Bernstein’s investigation into the 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and discovery of a deep-seeded scandal in the Nixon administration. Their work led to numerous government investigations and Nixon’s eventual resignation. The Washington Post’s coverage earned a Pulitzer Prize.
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This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, Jim Kuhnhenn, and Julie Moos.
Send us your questions and suggestions
for topics to cover.
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The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement. Support our important work with a tax-deductible contribution today.
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