Behind Lakeland News

My Opportunity to Look Behind the Scenes at a News Station Serving the Northern Lakes Area.

 I was in search for experience. Something to help me find what I am passionate for. Maybe an idea of what I want to do when I grow up. I sit in the control room at KBSU, Bemidji State's new program, and look over across the hall at Lakeland News. I see the production crew working and anchors read over their scripts. I'm envious.  I feel like I'm sitting on a tricycle on my driveway watching motorcycles pass me by. I want the real deal. I overheard students talking about volunteering at Lakeland. I knew this was my chance to see what really goes on behind a live broadcast. As people turn their televisions on to catch the news and watch what's in front of the camera, I sit in the Lakeland News control room getting ready to watch what happens behind the camera. 


"Five minutes till news, five minutes.” Anchors scurry to make sure they have their scripts, the crew takes their positions in the control room, and the “on-air” signs outside the studio start to blink. The temperature in the control room rises. The floor director focuses the cameras and makes sure they’re in place. The excitement climbs. Matt Matalamaki, the producer of Lakeland News, scoots around from one place to the next on a computer chair, making sure everything is in place. His Hawaiian shirt and his long braid running down it fit his relaxed personality. I quietly sit and watch everyone do their job. Dave Seivert, the master control lead operator, also wears a Hawaiin shirt and takes his spot in the master control room. His voice fills the room over the intercom, announcing the countdown till Lakeland News is on air. It comes down to the last couple minutes. Dennis Weimann, anchor and news director, takes his time into the studio and takes his seat. His calmness confuses me. The noise in the control room builds. 

Lakeland News Public Television, or LPTV, serves northern Minnesota with news around the area. The digital television broadcast station started operations in 1980. LPTV is a non-profit corporation called Northern Minnesota Public Television. The corporation is owned by the public and has two stations: one on Bemidji State’s campus and one in Brainerd. The headquarters is located right in Deputy Hall of BSU.

The opening for Lakeland News plays as everyone gets ready. “Your Public television station presents Lakeland News at ten. News for Bemidji, Brainerd, and all of the lakes country. Dennis Weimann with the news, Stacy Christenson with weather, and Josh Christensen with sports." The news anchors wait patiently as the countdown from ten begins. Weimann organizes the papers in front of him and straightens his tie. The floor director stands behind the cameras and signals the countdown. My heart races. Five, four, three, two… “Good evening everyone, thanks for joining us…”Back in the control room, the control board’s buttons light up the room and the five television screens displayed in front of Matalamaki show fifteen different views of the station and what’s being shown live. Jillian Gandsey runs the teleprompter and Rhea Wawrzyniak keeps a pen and paper close by for mistakes seen on the closed captioning. The two mass communication students volunteer here, as well as other students who come as well. The pressure of a live broadcast is not felt in the room, but that doesn't keep my eyes from being wide open. Everything is running smoothly.

As the program runs, Matalamaki speaks into a microphone to cue the anchors when to talk. Voices fill the room from Matalamaki, the anchors, the video recordings from off-ground anchors, and the master control operator. I don't want to blink. I think I'll miss something. With the hustle and bustle in the control room, the anchors calmly read the script and are very comfortable in front of the camera. As a video plays, the anchors sit and wait until they’re on air again. Weimann even is relaxed enough to sneak in a yawn before he has to speak again.

The control room is full of little surprises. A stuffed Barney sits on the window sill with a cowboy hat rested on top. A painted wooden statue of a bald eagle sits in the corner, looking over the room. A figurine of Gomez, the dad from the Adamm’s Family, is posted  next to the lighting board. Matalamaki says that his wife has Morticia, Gomez’s wife, displayed at her work as well. Next to one of his computers, pictures of Matalamaki’s son and daughter are displayed, which would explain the pink Barbie car that sits near the wall of the control room. The random trinkets placed throughout the room make it a unique and more comfortable setting for the crew.

Dennis Weimann walks into the control room as the program shows commercials. His jeans and tennis shoes don’t match his suit and tie. It’s a clever trick for a news anchor. He comments on my Wayzata Trojan sweatshirt. He seems personable. Weimann has received statewide and regional awards for his work as a news and sports reporter, and news and sports videographer. He has been an anchor and the news director for Lakeland News since 1998. He graduated from BSU with a Bachelors degree in mass communication.  Josh Christensen, the sports director for Lakeland, walks back and forth outside the control room overlooking his script and reading it through making sure he’s pronouncing every word correctly. He graduated from BSU as well in 2009. He started out as a volunteer at Lakeland news while he attended Bemidji State.

The commercial break is coming to an end and once again, everyone gets into their spots. The noise in the room continues to build, but the studio is silent as the anchors wait for their cue. Stacy Christenson sits next to Weimann as she gets ready to report the weather. As well as her co-anchors, she graduated from BSU. She started volunteering at Lakeland and also worked for BSU’s new station KBSU. She received her Bachelor’s degree in mass communication in 1998. As she starts reporting the weather, she gets up and moves to the green screen. Looking at the television displayed on the side for her, she can see exactly where she is pointing. Everything she says is from off the top of her head and she knows exactly what she wants to say without a script or a teleprompter to read from.

Matalamaki flips through the pages of a script resting on the control board to make sure he knows what’s going to be coming up. There still hasn’t been a silent moment in the room. The anchors wrap up their stories and the thirty minute news segment is coming to an end. Dennis Weimann, Stacy Christenson, and Josh Christensen sit together at the desk to say farewell to their viewers. “We’re out of time for the night, have a great night everybody. See you tomorrow.” The lights in the studio dim and the credits roll up the screen. In the control room, the crew is pleased with tonight’s show. Everything seems a little calmer and a little quieter. I feel like I can breathe again. With all the commotion, I thought it was only a matter of time before something would go wrong. But it was flawless. It felt incredible, and it was just another night for everyone. I felt a little silly for being so impressed. The chaos of it all drew me in. I want to go back. I think about how I grew up watching WCCO and Kare11 News. My desire for an internship there has never been so strong. The excitement and rush of it all. I'm addicted.

The Rest of Methland with some New York Times Fun!

                METHLAND!

Lori Arnold in an article for The Sun. Picture from the Internet.

         Two words. Lori. Arnold. She was introduced at the end of part one and I can't believe it.  She was dirt poor and became a millionaire by selling meth. I hope no one reads Methland and gets that idea! An image I keep thinking about is the walls of her house stuffed with money. It was shocking that she went back into the business after she was arrested and charged. I read an article on Lori and it was interesting to read about her side of the story.
           When Nick Reding talked about mirror imaging, it made me frustrated to think that Sudafed, Actifed, and Benadryl were being looked at to change it's molecular structure. They'd be doing all that work because of meth addicts. I didn't know that the small percentage of addicts purchasing these medicines would make such an impact on the companies. Larry Murphy seems to be the most sensible person so far. He sees the problem, knows what caused it, and he is motivated to help rebuild Oelwein. Instead of changing the ingredients in medicines or busting every meth lab, he knows that starting with providing steady jobs with benefits is the right step. He knows that Oelwein doesn't need any more meat-packing plants or low-paying jobs with no benefits.


           I thought the beginning of Methland was more interesting and more fast paced. Towards the end it's been more information and facts. It's interesting but I loved the stories that Reding gave us. The Combat Meth Act was really interesting to me and was a great step towards controlling meth being produced. Pseudo companies have cut their production by two-thirds (from 1,130 tons to 275 tons). WOW!


            I liked the ending of the book with Murphy talking to his wife about what he saw in the suburban home. The last sentence is something I have to agree with. "How do you stop it if you can't even see it--if you can't even imagine it?" If I had the chance to go into a meth lab and see what it would look at, I would definitely do it. I'm so curious. We've been learning about meth for the second half of the semester and it's hard to imagine what the stories are talking about. I think it would be fun to have a recovered addict talk to our class about their addiction.


                 NEW YORK TIMES! (Click titles for the NYT articles!)

Learning to Play the Game to Get Into College

         I picked this article as an example for literary journalism, because they turned a story about a program called Let's Get Ready into something a lot more inspiring. They talk about two students, Jessica Charles and most importantly, Nathaly Lopera. They take a close look at Nathaly's life and her background and how she has been a hard working student. Since elementary school, Nathaly has been up and ready to get on her school bus at 6:30 am. After her school activities, she gets home as late as 10:00 pm. THEN she starts studying.

Nathaly Lopera studying. A pic from the article!

           Let's Get Ready is a free SAT Preparation for low-income students from all socio-economic backgrounds. Michael Winerip, the writer of this article, did a good job talking about this program by taking real students who struggle and try hard to continue on to higher education. He got quotes from her teachers who helped her along the way. It's an inspiring story and it opens my eyes that not everyone has the resources that I get.

At Prep School, Rolling Up Sleeves and Working the Soil

        This article is a good example of literary journalism, because it talks about the farm-to-table movement that has been recognized at private schools. For example, the Hotchkiss School, "a prestigious coeducational prep school," is returning to its roots and incorporating agriculture into its curriculum. Not only do students learn about the landscaping, they are using the fresh produce for their dining halls. The sauteed kale, parmesan roasted potatoes, zucchini squares, mixed salad greens, squash soup, pickled beets, braised parsnip, buttered carrots, green beans, and onions are all from their harvest.

        This article shows good literary work through its descriptions. I love this sentence, "The new students hiked up to the farm from campus, and shortly after, Mr. Hicks cajoled them into digging up the soil with their hands. They obliged. But the wrist-deep discovery of earthworms elicited shrieks of disgust, and the bulbous acron squash drew quizzical looks for some." It has great visual and I enjoyed the article very much! Very interesting.

A photo from the article shows students going out to gather food. Picture from NYT.

Reporters Meet the Fists of the Law

        This article started off explaining how New York cops have "arrested, punched, whacked, shoved to the ground, and throwing barriers" at reporters and photographers. I realized it was a possible literary piece, because Michael Powell (the writer of the article) began using the word "I." He writes, "I've run across the Brooklyn Bridge as protesters tossed bottles at cops, stood inside illegal squats on the Lower East Side as police massed outside..." I really enjoyed his take on the problem. He didn't put his opinion about the problem in his article, he added facts about his own position as a reporter.

          

          The best part of this article was a report on the reporters. It's rare to read a story on what they go through and it's refreshing! Reminds me of when my professor Valica Boudry has told us that in the past she has gotten punched for trying to take pictures of her subject.

         "As the police carried of a young protestor whose head was covered in a crown of blood, a photographer stood behind a metal barricade and raise his camera. Two officers ran at him, grabbed the barrier and struck him in the chest, knees, and shins."

Story One

THE SCRAPBOOK 
A Woman's Pursuit to Unite Generations

There was no way I was going to email him. “Caley, please do this for me.” My mom always gets caught up in things like this. “It’ll take five minutes.” I open my computer and type in the name Joel Maturi followed by the University of Minnesota. Being the athletics director of the University of Minnesota, he has many accomplishments and is well known. My mom wants me to send him an email asking him if he knew a guy with the same last name as him, even though she knew he is a busy man. “Mom, this is ridiculous.”

January 13, 1995—it was a cold, dark evening. The stillness of the air outside 7500 West Lake St. made the house seem a little too quiet. There was no life inside, almost making it seem like the house, too, had no life. My great grandfather, Chet Isaacson, passed away after being sick. My dad (who was the executor of the estate), his sister and her husband, my mom, and my dad’s parents met outside the house to go through it and pick out who gets what. The house smelled of cedar and the distinct aroma of antiques. On the main level, they started sorting through the silverware, china, vases, and other furniture that was valuable. They walked up into the attic and turned right around, disregarding it, knowing that there wasn’t anything good to take. As they stayed on the main level and went through the items, my mom went back to the attic. The dark, musty room had a twin bed with an old dresser next to it. The slanted ceiling that peaked in the middle made the room comfortable for no more than one. Not finding anything she liked so far, she went to the closet and pulled the string to turn on the single light bulb that dangled from the ceiling. Beneath the hanging clothes and in the corner she found a worn leather-bound book with “Graduation Memories” engraved on the front. Underneath it were two yearbooks that dated back to 1926 and 1927. These were the types of belongings she was looking for.  

She carefully flipped through the scrapbook and was stunned. A girl in her high school years had put it together. She couldn’t believe how detailed it was. Every page was full. There were photos, dance cards, commencement cards and programs, rosters, party hats, etc. And it was all from the 20’s. She picked up the scrapbook and yearbooks and hurried downstairs to show everyone the treasure she had found. “Look everybody! Look what I found!” After a couple uh-huh’s and subtle nods, they continued what they were doing. My mom took a seat on the couch and explored her find. A couple hours had passed and the families started to leave. My mom asked if anyone wanted the scrapbook and they hardly looked up to say no. My mom thought she had scored. In her eyes, she had found the best possession in the house.

She’s always been interested in history. But not the type of history of how the car evolved or how the civil war ended. She likes the history of individuals. Like at an antique store, she’s likely reading the postcards that were sent a hundred years ago between friends, or picking up an old perfume bottle and imagine who used it last. She’s goofy. It wasn’t until I was ten years old that we became really close. My rebellious sister who is eight years older than me moved out and my parents divorced. My mom and I had all the time in the world together after that. It was almost as if we were really getting to know each other for the first time. We took road trips together, mostly to Brainerd or Duluth. We’d talk the whole way up. When we weren’t talking, she’d blast the music, preferably classic rock. When we really got into it, she’d take out her harmonica from the center console and play like she was born a rock star. Even though I rolled my eyes nine out of ten times, I secretly enjoyed it.

For weeks, every night she would pull out the scrapbook she found and look at it. Eventually my dad thought my mom was too obsessed, almost getting frustrated that she would spend the time before she went to sleep looking at some old book. Eventually, my mom went from reading it every night to once a month. She didn’t forget about it though. She took it out every once in a while just to imagine what it was like back then. The scrapbook was put together by Julia Isaacson, my great grandfather’s sister. Her family was from Chisholm, Minnesota, graduating in 1926 from Chisholm High School. Julia collected items from her school, such as programs from plays, newspaper articles, tickets from events, a collection of commencement cards of her classmates, and graduate booklets. Other items included party hats, paper flowers, used cigars, holiday cards, membership tickets, photos, dance cards, and hand written notes.

Throughout the scrapbook there was a name that kept appearing—Babe. My mom figured it was another one of her best friends. “Babe and I went to the lake today and stayed out til midnight…Babe and I spent the day in Duluth…Babe and I went to the dance together.” It was only a matter of time until my mom figured out that Babe was in fact a boy. His name was on all her dance cards along with the other boys’ names and written notes that said, “I danced with Babe Maturi all night.” There was an arrow drawn in the scrapbook pointing to a handkerchief saying it was Babe’s and there was an old cigar that said next to it, “Smoked this with Babe.” A commencement card revealed his real name as Alfred B. Maturi. What didn’t make sense to my mom was that he wasn’t pictured in the yearbook with Julia’s class, so she figured he graduated ahead of them.

My mom looked over every item and pieced Julia’s life together. She found out things like who her friends were, where she lived, and that her mother died when Julia was young. She also figured that she had moved in with her uncle and was raised by him because her father had died at a young age as well. Other items showed that she was a great swimmer, was popular in her class, and she danced to all the songs during school dances.

In January 2011, my mom was reading an article in the Star Tribune. There was an article on the University of Minnesota and their sports program. The athletics director Joel Maturi was featured. Something clicked. The name Maturi had appeared in the paper and said he was from Chisholm, MN. “Gosh, I wonder if the Maturi that I have seen in the scrapbook is related to him.” She couldn’t imagine more than one Maturi family from the same town. “Caley, you have to email him and ask who his dad is!” My mom, who is a hairstylist, barely touches computers. I doubt she knows how to turn one on. She needed my help with figuring out how to get a hold of Joel Maturi. “I lost my dad and if anyone had anything of his, I would cherish it.” Being a stubborn daughter, I finally got my computer and emailed Joel Maturi to the email address that the U of M site gave me. All I knew was that I was emailing a big-named guy from the U of M asking if he’s related to a name mentioned in an old book my mom kept in her closet.

January 5, 2011

Mr. Joel Maturi,

   I have a scrapbook from 1926. There is some memorabilia of an Alfred B. Maturi. If it's a relative of yours and you’re interested in getting some items of his, I would love to send them to you.

Thanks, Jane Bakeman

By the next day, Joel Maturi emailed us back:

Jane,

   Thanks for the email.  My Dad was Alfred Maturi and I would love anything you may have.  Thanks for thinking of me.

Joel Maturi

My mom was so excited she had found a match in the names. Going through the scrapbook once more, she marked the pages that had the name Maturi and Babe on them. Instead of taking just the item off the page, she took out the whole page for him, totaling around ten pages of memorabilia of his dad and anything else that was on it. She got a shoebox together and with the pages, she included the yearbook he graduated in. Even though he wasn’t pictured, there were ads in the back, showing the businesses and shops around Chisholm at that time, including a meat market owned by a Maturi. There were also pins and buttons ranging in size of Chisholm high school, Calvin Coolidge (the president at the time), and the University of Minnesota. Along with the items, my mom put a note in the box.

Mr. Maturi,

      I was so excited to hear that Babe was your dad. I’ve had this 25 plus page scrapbook for years and every now and then I would look through it and feel like I almost knew some of these people. I love the era. My first husband’s grandfather’s sister (got that?) put this book together. Her name was Julia Isaacson. She and her brother Chet graduated together. Your father must have graduated in 1926 or earlier, because he isn’t in the yearbook, but I thought you’d like looking at it. In the back there are ads that mention your name. I tagged the pages where your father is mentioned. I also left the rest of the memorabilia on the scrapbook pages. It’ fun to see some of the old cards, articles, programs, etc. My favorite find is your dad’s handkerchief—what a treasure. So enjoy looking back in time and remember your father.

Jane Bakeman

Within a couple days later, my mom received a hand written note back from him.

Jane,

     Thank you for the box of memories. My wife and I enjoyed looking through them. I’m anxious to share them with the family. Thanks for taking the time.

Joel Maturi

That’s it? Now what? Her story had come to an end. My mom was glad he wrote back, even though it wasn’t as exhilarating as she thought. Through years of looking through this scrapbook, she had learned about the life of a teenage girl from the 1920’s. She had passed almost half of the scrapbook to a stranger. My mom hoped that he appreciated it as much as she would if she had received some of her own father’s memorabilia.

About six weeks later, my mom got a call from her sister, Amy, who lives in Brainerd, MN. She knew the story of the scrapbook and how my mom sent items to Maturi. “He’s going to be in town, Jane.” Maturi was going to be at a fundraiser in Brainerd to meet with the head coach of their football team. “I’m going to this event, and if he’s there I’m going up to him and ask about what you sent.” My mom was so excited. She didn’t know if he had forgotten about it. When the night finally came, my aunt called my mom and told her she was on her way. It had become a mission for Amy to talk to Maturi.

The goal was for Amy to ask Maturi what he thought about the box of items my mom had sent. My mom kept busy while she waited to hear back from her sister. She put in An Affair to Remember, a movie from 1957. My mom could never sit down to watch a full movie. She’s too hyper. She’ll put one in, but she’ll never watch the whole thing.  And there was no way she could concentrate on one at that point. She put a load in the washer, and folded the load coming out of the dryer. Back in the kitchen, the smell of chicken a la king filled the air. My mom stirred in the peas and pimentos to add to the taste. She went to the living room and sat down. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr shared a kiss on the screen. She got back up. My mom couldn’t figure out what to do. Every ten minutes my mom checked her phone, almost like a teenage girl anticipating a text from a boy. After an hour passed, not wanting to wait any longer, she called Amy. Her phone was off. It went straight to voicemail and my mom left a short message. “Is he not there or what’s the deal? Let me know.”

As more time passed, my mom’s hopes started to dwindle. There goes that opportunity, she thought. She knew she was never going to get the chance to meet him, she would at least hope that Amy would. She could almost hear the phone conversation, “Sorry Jane, he didn’t show up.” My mom started to feel down. The thank you note my mom received from Maturi didn’t sound like he was thrilled. Had she misjudged the situation? Was it not as remarkable as she thought it was? It wasn’t about thankfulness to her. She just wanted to know if the treasure was seen in the light that she had seen it in.

The movie was coming to an end. Her laundry was done. And dishes were stacked in the kitchen sink. She started to fill the sink with hot water and the phone rang. My mom ran to the phone and answered it with her wet hands covered in suds. She heard Amy’s voice on the other end. “He was there! I talked to him!” My mom felt like she had won the lottery. Butterflies fluttered inside her. Amy explained to my mom that she had gone right up to him when she saw him. She asked him about the box of memorabilia of his father that he had received and that it was from her sister. He called out to his wife, who was talking to a group of women. “Lois! Lois get over here!” After explaining to his wife why this woman, my aunt, had come up to him, Maturi’s wife became overjoyed. “Jane, I can’t tell you how excited they were,” Amy explained to my mom. “They couldn’t stop saying how excited they were to have shared it with their family.” My mom glowed. This is what I needed, she thought.

My aunt continued and told my mom that she asked Maturi about why his dad wasn’t in the yearbook. Around the time that the class of ’26 was getting their pictures taken, his father was hit by a train. For months after that, he was at the Mayo Clinic in rehab, recovering from the accident, not knowing if he’d ever be able to use his legs again. Since he was gone so long, maybe that was the answer to the mystery between Julia and Babe and why they didn’t stay together, my mom thought. She couldn’t thank Amy enough. Amy was able to tell my mom about the raw emotion Maturi had. It was exactly what my mom was yearning for.

My mom went to bed that night on top of the world. She knew she had done the right thing. Her story had come to an end, but in the right way. She couldn’t help but think that maybe somewhere out there, in an old house, upstairs in the attic, in the corner, and between some pages would be something of her father’s and it won’t be mistaken for just an old book.



The cover of the scrapbook (left) and one of the pages in it.
Picture taken by Jane Bakeman.

More pages of the scrapbook. Picture taken by Jane Bakeman.





My aunt Amy Ryan, left, stands next to Joel Maturi and his wife
Lois at the banquet in Brainerd. Taken after talking to him about
the scrapbook. Picture taken by Bob Ryan.

My mom, Jane Bakeman.
Photo taken by Caley Jorgensen.

Tripping on meth while watching planes fall into the sea in front of the Hotel del Coronado

(Just kidding…a blog about the reading of The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy, The Jumping-Off Place, and Methland)

                 The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy

The writer, Michael Paterniti, of The
Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy.
Pic from the internet.

The story starts off extremely descriptive. Sometimes I don’t like introductions that are full of details, but in this story it works for me. In class we talked about how the writer would get such explicit detail on the man and the woman making love. I just re-read the part and I really want to know the answer! Unless he talked directly to them, I don’t know who could’ve told him that “the hair [was] standing on their arms” or how they “clasped tightly—their bodies turning as frigid as the ocean.” It makes the story really interesting and its great detail. But as a student of literary journalism and writing literary pieces, I wonder how he gets the information!

As the story starts I couldn’t tell what was happening but for what I found out what it was about, it’s a great intro! I really feel like I had to read the story slowly, because I was confused at points. Like how he lists random things like, “plans for time together and saving the world, for corralling AIDS and feeding the famine-stricken and family reunions.” What he’s trying to list is the backgrounds of all these different people. They’re all on the same plane heading to the same destination, but for different reasons.

I really liked the paragraph of page 27 about how these people are marked with an invisible X. “There were 229 people who owned cars and houses, slept in beds, had bought clothes and gifts for this trip, some with price tags still on them—and then they were gone.” It’s a powerful sentence that reminds us that in any accident where hundreds or thousands of people die, it’s not only a group of people who die, but it’s each individual who had a life and each individual family was affected and hurt by their death.

This must be a reason, too, why the writer described each person as a feature they had or by their occupation and not their names. That way, it doesn’t get too specific by having characters in the story, but more as each person is looked at as having their own life.

                    The Jumping Off Place

                Before the story started, the background information was really interesting. I found it incredible for people not wanting to report (or maybe not knowing how?) about the depression until years into it. The reporters who were doing coverage on the depression before actually reporting it stood out to me. “Their reporting tended to be about the impoverished, the unemployed, and the underprivileged—exactly the groups that the newspapers wanted to avoid.” I like this sentence because usually if there is ANY story that is worth reporting, if it’s ethical, reporters and journalists will jump all over it. It’s interesting and I wonder why exactly. They didn’t want to admit it was a huge problem? They didn’t want to cover the poor? I do not know.



My cousin and I standing in front of Coronado Beach Hotel
in 2010.

As the story started, it was talking about the Coronado Beach Hotel. I was just there last year and he did a great job explaining the appearance. But why was he talking about it? I thought the story was going to be about people jumping off a bridge because of the hard times. I was having a hard time wondering what was going to happen. Over half way through the story, it takes a turn and finally starts talking about the troubles and how people committed suicide from it. Rather than going to the poorhouse, people had been killing themselves.

What I like about the story is that it unexpectedly takes that turn and readers are surprised at the change of context. Was the writer doing this to signify the unexpected depression? I don’t know why the Coronado Beach Hotel was used. It’s on the west coast, but it didn’t seem to make sense to me.

Readings like these have made me slow down and pay more attention. I enjoy stories that are easy to understand and have a smooth path from start to finish. These readings have challenged my ability to take in stories. I like discussing readings in class because then I can hear stuff about the story that I didn’t pick up while I was reading it the first time.

                   Methland



Reding, left, sits next to a man named Jeffrey Rohrick who
has the same description and story as Rolan Jarvis.
Wondering if he used a different name in his story?
Pic from this article.



                I was really looking forward to reading this book about meth, because I don’t know much about it. It’s something I don’t hear about and I don’t do research to answer questions about it. I’ve seen a few key pictures that stick out to me because I saw them when I was younger in school. As I type, I’m watching a documentary on meth that’s on the tv called American Meth. We’re reading about meth and there’s something very mysterious about it! I really enjoy the style of writing that Nick Reding uses. I think the story moves very nicely and it’s interesting how he talks about his perspective on starting the research. Background information also made it helpful for me.

Someone had mentioned in class that they almost felt sympathetic for these meth users in the town when it first started—I agree. I assumed that the users were just run-down drug addicts, when in reality the change in the economy and their jobs affected them. There was money in producing and selling meth.

The description of people who are introduced in the story is very good. It helps put an image in my head, then when they are mentioned again in the story, I can picture who they are. Some of the facts shared in the book have stuck with me. “Like dioxin, meth residue possesses a unique ability to bind to food, countertops, microwave walls, sink basins, and human lung tissue for days after being synthesized.” When it talks about the high can last for up to 12 hours, it is astonishing.

The story Roland Jarvis stuck with everyone in our class. The imagery was so good. I could see the place, hear the sounds, felt the emotion, etc. He went through a near death experience, and he STILL uses. So far I feel like the book has only scratched the surface of the effects of meth. I can’t wait to read more!



                                           

This is a video for the Montana Meth Project



I looked up more information on the Montana Meth Project and is "a large-scale prevention program aimed at significantly reducing first-time meth use through public service messagin, public policy, and community outreach." It was founded in 2005.



Interviews of Krakauer and Cramer Blog #5

                     Jon Krakauer

                The interview with Jon Krakauer was different than what I expected. He seems extremely intelligent in his interview and it makes me wonder what kind of guy he is. An interesting fact he brought up was that he had never taken any courses on writing or journalism. He read a couple books about it, but other than that, he considers himself a self-taught writer.

A picture of Jon Krakauer from the Internet.

To get story ideas, he says he is always alert in case a story idea pops up. He likes to ask people simple questions and maybe have it lead to a story idea. For example, he asked a cop outside of Colorado City about the place and it was a start to his piece Under the Banner of Heaven. 

I found it really interesting how he describes the main character in his pieces. After reading other writers’ interviews, I would expect his main character to be really interesting and nice. However, he doesn’t look for the nice type of person. He is looking for someone who really sticks out—whether they’re extremely ignorant, have a great sense of humor, etc. He says that a single fascinating personality can make a book.

I always assume that writing comes easily for journalists but as I read interviews, I have found a pattern. They all think that writing is either hard, boring, tedious, etc. Krakauer mentioned that writing a book is so hard and painful. He also says that it demands a huge commitment of time and energy. To be able to write a good book, he says a writer must have talent, be stubborn, and have luck. Even I agree when he says this. Not anyone can be a successful writer that easily. Obviously you need talent, you need to be stubborn and persistent with research and interviewing, and you need to be in the right place at the right time sometimes!

A video of Jon Krakauer on the Oprah Winfrey show.

I learned a lot by this writer. He is wise and he knows what he is talking about. I really enjoyed how he talked about how he’s wanted to pay his subjects for allowing their time and all the information. That is unethical in the journalism world, so a lot of other journalists have gotten angry and have strongly disagreed. I like his point though. Everything he says makes me intimidated, but I still have this desire to read more about him and read his stories.

Other facts about him I found in the interview: He hates interviews in restaurants, would rather go on a long car ride or be at their home with the person. He sends a letter and a piece of his work to people he wants to interview. People have called him an asshole for his piece on the climb on Mt. Everest. He uses a blue fine-point Pilot Precise Rolling Ball pen when taking notes (why on earth did they ask him what kind of writing utensil he uses during interviews?). He believes that even removing 5% of unnecessary material from a book can make it twice as better.

                  Richard Ben Cramer

           I’m starting to read the interview on Cramer and I really enjoy it. He seems like a great writer. In the introduction, it stuck out to me that he takes so long to get a story done. It’s almost comical the way it sounds, because he ends up writing amazing pieces. I love how he describes himself as being hooked to a story. He is able to do these so-called “impossible” stories because of how interested he is in them.

It’s really interesting with his point of view on interviewing candidates in presidential elections. He is able to manipulate them by not interviewing them right away, but rather just “hang out” and wait for the candidate to come to him. He is then on their side of the desk. He doesn’t want to be just another reporter interviewing him with the same questions.

Richard Bem Cramer. Pic from
the Internet.

He uses great techniques when it comes to interviewing. He doesn’t prepare questions, doesn’t use a notebook, and doesn’t ask questions that they’re expecting. He only takes out his notebook when there are important quotes or facts he wants to remember. He doesn’t like using a notebook throughout an interview because he thinks you can’t connect with a person when you rarely look at them and they’re concentrating with their head down in their notebooks. His goal is to be personable and really make them feel comfortable with his presence, allowing them to give a lot of good information.

A sentence stuck out to me in his interview. He says, “The thing is that people want to tell their stories.” I’ve learned this in my class reporting and writing. I’d get so nervous that people wouldn’t want to be interviewed when, in fact, people naturally like it. Something that is different about him compared to the other writers in this book is that he allows the people who he interviewed to read the piece before it is published. If something is wrong about how he said something, he wants to know. I find this to be very respectful and a smart way to avoid backlash.

Other random facts that were interesting: He prefers kitchens over living rooms when interviewing. He likes to take the person he’s interviewing out for dinner, but not ask any questions until the sixth or seventh dinner date. His goal is to write a thousand words a day. He never puts himself in a piece unless he’s involved. He likes to use the “f” word during his interviews.

Interviewing the Interviewers --Blog #4

                Alex Kotlowitz



Let me just first say that The New New Journalism is AWESOME. I really enjoyed how the writer of this book gives a literary journalism piece and background information for each writer. After reading two interviews, it was a great way to see what their point of view is. Our first interview to read was for Mr. Kotlowitz. I really enjoyed reading about him.



Alex Kotlowitz. Photo from Internet.



Something that stuck out to me is how he prepares for the interviews. If he knows he can stay in contact with somebody and see them more than once, he doesn’t prepare any questions. He’d rather see where the interview process goes and not expect where it will take him. If he visits a public figure or a prisoner, he makes sure to have questions prepared, assuming he won’t be able to talk to them again.

I really liked how he said that reporting can be hard for him, especially if he really has to push for an interview, because he is more of a shy person and more reserved. He says it can be difficult to “put himself out there and meet people.” I can relate, because I feel like I’m not shy, but I don’t want it to be an inconvenience for anyone to interview, especially if I have to go back to them for more answers. When people reject you, it’s hard to get back up and keep finding people to interview. It was hard in reporting and writing for me, because a couple occasions I would ask to interview a person and they would say, “Well, what are you interviewing for? Where is this information going to be shown?” Already I felt like I was wasting their time. Kotlowitz does a great job with saying that it’s okay to think that reporting is hard sometimes.



I like what he said about not taping. Even though I have always used a recorder during interviews, he makes a great point. He says that taking notes instead of relying on a tape recorder really forces you to listen, which actually helps and makes it easier to think of the next question.

                   Leon Dash



This was a great interview to pick. After reading it, I checked out one of his pieces of work called When Children Want Children. I really enjoyed his style of writing and how he places himself in his work.  While reading his interview, I felt like he was extremely professional and very independent. He seems genuine and he enjoys his work.



Leon Dash. Photo from Internet.



He starts off by explaining what kind of stories he likes and I like how he says it’s important for him to live among the people he is reporting. When choosing a character to write about, he says he’s looking for somebody who allow Dash to pose a lot of “why?” questions.

He talks about how he usually doesn’t know how much time he’ll need with a person, but he has found that no one really shows their true self until you’ve known them for at least four months. I respect him for the way he says the basic rule to his reporting is to keep a professional distance. He’s very strict about not crossing ethical lines during the interviewing. Another interesting fact was that during his one piece, Rosa Lee, under no circumstance would he give the family money. He knew where the money would probably end up, so no matter what he needed to stick to that.



I noticed something in his interview that I thought wasn’t right. When asked if he shares information about the people he interviews, he said yes. He said that it helped in one situation, when he told a woman he was interviewing about another woman who had told him she was raped, the woman being interviewed gave him information about her rape incident. He thinks sharing information about other people he has interviewed is a strategy to opening up people. I think it’d be more appropriate to start fresh with each individual, instead of saying, “Yeah the last girl I interviewed told me about being raped,” hoping that maybe they’ll talk about their raping (if they even had one).



Similarities between the two writers:

·         They both appreciate the help from their editor.

·         They both know that people don’t let their guard down, or show their true self, until after a few months.

·         They both know the importance of interviews in person versus on the phone and email. It’s more comfortable and a better way to get good responses.



·         They both have had incidences where they would have became too involved with the subject (telling a person what’s right from wrong) and they both knew that wasn’t the responsibility of the reporter to intervene, unless it was a life or death situation.

·         The writers both want to be in the spot of where their reporting from for long-term. They both have moved temporarily to be closer to the subject to really submerse themselves.

Differences:



·         When it comes to “off the record,” Dash still records it, just doesn’t write it. Kotlowitz doesn’t want to know at all, he’ll find another way to find out.

·         While writing the story, Dash gets opinions from friends and his editor. Kotlowitz doesn’t discuss it with anybody until it’s done.

·         When it comes to not using somebody’s name, Dash would rather leave the person out all together. Kotlowitz thinks it’s a good idea to change a name if it protects their privacy.

·         Dash uses a tape recorder, Kotlowitz doesn’t.

·         Dash likes to interview in restaurants, Kotlowitz can’t stand interviews in eating areas.

 

    New York Times Article - Behind the Wheel, Moving Up

                In the Friday New York Times, I found an article that I thought portrayed literary journalism quite well. It starts off with the sentence, "The man whom I shall call J showed up at my friend's apartment one evening. Already, it is starting off with a narrative style. Along with the introduction, he puts dialogue from the character "J." For the next section of the article, he gives background information and history on cars in India.



Siddhartha Deb, writer of Behind
the Wheel, Moving Up.
Photo from Internet.



       The writer then tells the reader about what the conditions are now in India. What I thought made it a good literary piece was how he puts himself in the story and uses "I." As he talks about India and their culture with cars, he is a credible writer because he has gone to India himself. In fact, I researched him and he is from India. He is a novelist, journalist, and associate professor from the New School in New York City.

      Anyway, he ends the article by going back to the apartment, where it started, and ends with a quote from J. What I've learned from reading New York Times articles is that it's hard for me to be interested in articles that I don't know too much about. I honestly had no interest in cars in India (I'm sorry!). It is a really well written article and it allowed me to picture scenes he was describing. I feel like if a person is writing about a different culture, but is part of that culture, I find them more credible. For example, Deb is from India and visits there. I'd rather read an article about India from him then a person born in the United States and has never been there.