Your Next Assignment: The Profile Piece (Due Tuesday, Oct. 18)

Profile Pieces/Field Work
Guidelines


1. Backgrounding
Use a variety of sources to find out as much as possible about your subject, preferably before you do the interview. Useful sources vary according to subject, but some possibilities include Internet research (Google, etc.) on both your subject and his/her area of expertise, media sources (newspaper articles, newsletters, etc.), resumes/curriculum vita (may be available from your source prior to your interview), work samples, talking with people who are close to your subject, talking to professionals in your subject’s field, and more.

2. The Interview
Remember to map out key questions in advance. Write your questions down, then read through them. How can you shape your questions to avoid yes/no answers? Are any of your questions obviously biased? If so, how can you make them more open? Do any of your questions lead your source to tell you something you already know? If so, how can you shape questions that might give more surprising answers? Also remember that even though mapping out questions in advance is important, the best interview is still a conversation. During the interview, don’t be afraid to stray from your original questions. Listen to what your source is saying. Be open to letting your story develop out of the interview.

Think about the logistics of the interview, too. Will you tape as well as take notes? Where will you conduct the interview and why? Try to do your interviews in person, preferably in a location that is meaningful to your subject. If you must do an e-mail interview, follow up with a phone call and/or an in-person meeting. Remember that unless you’re interviewing a writer, an e-mail interview is likely to lack human spark. Take notes during your phone/in-person follow up and see if you can get better quotes/information that way.

3. Color/Luminous Details
Description is important. Try to use all senses when you observe your subject and your surroundings. Look for small details that offer insight into the personality/character of your subject. Don’t just rely on visual detail. Sound, smell, touch, and taste can be important, too. For instance, if you’re interviewing a sushi chef, the sound of a knife on a cutting board, the smell of fish, the feel of a rough pair of chopsticks in your hand, the kick of wasabi on your tongue … all of these can be part of your story. Observe your subject. What does he/she look like, move like, sound like? What does his/her clothing say about who he/she is? What do you notice about your subject’s hands? Your subject’s eyes? What does the interview space look like? What does it smell like? Sound like? What small luminous things can you notice there? Recreate all of this on the page. Your job is to make your readers feel as if they’re in the room with you. The only way to do this is through vivid, precise description.

4. News Peg
Why is your subject newsworthy now? What is he/she doing now? Why should your readers care about this person now? Be sure you can answer all of these questions, and be sure the answers are clear to your readers very early in your piece.

5. Secondary Sources
Your profile piece should include at least one other source (other than your subject, that is). Who your secondary source will be varies from subject to subject. Just make sure your source is relevant and credible. Be sure the source provides meaningful insights and deepens your story.

6. Follow Basic AP and News Style
Get the 5 Ws/1H. Use your Stylebook if you’re not sure about what to do with things like titles, dates, numbers, locations, etc. Whenever you’re in doubt, open your Stylebook. The answers are there. Also, don’t forget the importance of all-around precision. Grammar counts. Spelling counts.

7. Write a Piece You’d Want to Read
If you’re bored with your piece, your reader will be bored, too. No subject is boring. Not one. If you’re bored, assume it’s your fault, not your source’s/subject’s fault. Be sure your questions are engaging, that you choose the best quotes, and that you are – truly – fascinated by your subject. Curiosity is the hallmark of a good journalist. Be curious. Be attentive.

Also, consider your audience. Most of you will be writing for a college-aged audience. If you’re writing for The Insider, for example, who are your readers? What are they most interested in? What should you highlight? What tone should you take? Write with a specific reader in mind. Write to be read.


Profile Pieces:

Length: Between 900-1000 words
Due: Tuesday, Oct. 18

Class canceled Thursday, Sept. 29

I'm ill and have to cancel our class tomorrow, Thursday, Sept.
29.

Please take the weekend off, or re-read Ross' "Portrait of Hemingway."

Your exam on the book will be on Tuesday instead.

Examples of Immersion Journalism

Excerpt from A.J.Jacobs' The Year Of Living Biblically

Excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed

An immersion in gluttony: Life in the Fat Lane


Lillian Ross/Portrait of Hemingway

Doug Heuck, I Am Homeless

Clarifying: What is Immersion Journalism?

Immersion requires that you choose a situation -- any situation to which you can gain reasonable access. Then you enter the situation and report from it, on it.

The situation could be anything, really -- a workplace, a public event, the life of a public or private figure (with permission, of course), an activity you've always been curious about but never tried.

Once you choose your situation, you immerse yourself in it and in the lives of the people/person involved. You'll use firsthand reportage to cover the story. You'll use research and backgrounding to put the story in context for both yourself and your readers. You'll use basic narrative techniques -- scene, dialogue, description, luminous detail -- to bring the experience alive for readers.

Immersion is a personal kind of reportage -- the I in the story is the I who's reporting the story. However, it's unlike Gonzo journalism in that it's not completely personality- or ego-driven. It is less focused on you, your life, your feelings and more focused on the experience itself.

Examples of popular recent immersion journalism include Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America and H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights.

Reminders about Immersion Pieces/Guidelines

Your proposals for your immersion pieces should be very specific, very thorough, very thought-out.

Remember: An immersion piece requires you to go into a new environment, observe and report from that place, and then write about the experience.

If you're not clear about this from discussions we've had in class, please review the Jacobi text, particularly the sections on information gathering and reportage. They're very helpful.

Don't try to reinvent the format -- simply pick a subject you're interested in, pick a place that will allow you to report on that subject, and pick something and someone (source) that will allow you a great deal of access.

Your final immersion piece will be somewhat similar to what Lillian Ross does with Hemingway. She followed him for a few days, then wrote about him. You'll do the same thing with the subject you identify.

Please look closely at Portrait of Hemingway and notice Ross' technique. Then think about what kind of subject you might choose that would allow for a similar kind of reportage. You won't necessarily end up writing an extended profile piece, but your method of reportage will be the same.

Your proposals should include the following things:

* The subject you'd like to immerse yourself in (literally immersing -- meaning you'll be present and reporting from a specific place on a specific topic)and why it might be of interest to your target audience

* The audience you envision for the piece (target audience/target magazine/s)

* The approach you'll take (hands-on, fly-on-the-wall, traditional reportage with interviews, etc.)

* The sources -- with names and contact information -- you'll use in the story. You should have at least two sources, but more is better. Not all of them need to end up in the piece, though. Some can provide background, context.

* Degree of access you'll have to your subject (permission for hands-on participation, permission to observe, permission for extended interviews, etc.)

Format your proposal by using the above requirements as subheads, then insert your specific information.

Hemingway: The Paris Review Interview

Before Rolling Stone became the center of masterful interviews, there was The Paris Review. And there was this interview with Ernest Hemingway.

Please read this as well as Ross' portrait. We'll compare and contrast next week before Thursday's quiz.

Love, Loss and What I Wore

So fashion week was so last week.

Here's another fashion trend in pop culture you can connect with:

Love Loss and What I Wore, the play.