People Behind the News: Journalist Interviews

Our final project this semester was interviewing foreign journalists via email with questions about their work.

Bryan Derballa
Brooklyn-based photographer, Bryan Derballa has taken photos for The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Vice, The Financial Times.
http://lovebryan.com/bryan/

Questions for Mr. Derballa mostly focused on the role of photography in the news and telling a story with an image.

Nodoka described her reaction to Mr. Derballa's response in this way:

"He does not believe that photos alone can accurately portray the news,but he thinks they have a visceral and emotional power that words often lack. I used to think photo journalist believe that photos tell everything and they are so eager to take photos that have strong image. He thinks seeking the truth is the most important. I respect this behavior. However, I felt he has passion to be a photo journalist. He appreciate a photo with strong content captured with a sense of artistry. He said there are so many factors including timing, light, composition, movement, distance, relevance, color, emotion and so much more. He claimed that: 'No photo will have everything,but some get close. Every photo I love is for a different reason.' I really moved this response and understood how much he loves photos."

Masayoshi also added: "In addition, he told that one of his favorite things to see in photos is metaphor,   and he explained how photography functions as a visual language and can produce complex ideas and powerful emotions. I surprised his deep insight and understanded how to enjoy seeing a photos. Next time I see a picture, I will try to see carefully."

Eszter Farkas

Now in Budapest, Eszter Farkas wrote for the German wire service, Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) in Ghana, covering West Africa.

https://twitter.com/farkas_e

So wrote of the interview with Ms. Farkas: 

"Her news chief once said that whenever he had to decide whether a piece of information was news or not, he posed the question: 'would my mother care to read about it?' I was so surprised to hear this story. It's true that journalist should pursue justice, but they must also forget the news that nobody gets interested in and reading in meaningless."

"It's very difficult problem. When journalists decide whether an information is news or not, they should care about contents and readers. If they care about readers rather than contents, news story can probably become something like a 'low' weekly magazine."

In light of this, he noted that there is a need for balance.

Ichiro was interested in Ms. Farkas' motivation to become a journalist:

"The questions that I asked Ms. Farkas were why did she choose to become a journalist, and what is the best thing about journalism. I asked these questions because, to be very honest, I wasn’t interested in Journalism. So I wanted to know what is the attraction or fascination of journalism. Her answer to the former question motivated me a lot. She says she didn’t have a specific dream at the age of mine. But she made an action. She started to work in her field while attending classes, and as a result it was her beginning of her career. I don’t have a specific dream right now. But I feel like I should make an action, instead of just waiting for the moment that I find my dream. Her answer to the latter question, she says the good thing is the contribution to people’s better understanding and the role is not only transmit the news, but also give voice to those who are generally underrepresented or oppressed. Journalists might have some power to change the world. I never knew this big role of journalist before I take this class. Ms. Farkas and this class changed my perspective on journalism a lot."

Derek Henry Flood

Derek Flood has covered conflicts in Georgia, Mali, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan, Kurdistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. He has appeared on CNN, France 24, BBC World Service, BBC Arabic television, and Voice of America as an international affairs contributor.

https://twitter.com/DerekHenryFlood

http://the-war-diaries.com/

Toru was interested in the issue of going to dangerous areas to collect news: "I thought IWhy they go to a dangerous area?'  I heard that Mr.Derek often go to a dangerous area to interview as freelance journalist, so I decided to ask him."

Ichiro also noted his curiosity about working in a conflict zone: " I got interested Mr. Flood because I was always wondering how the journalists in the conflict zones work and feel about the issue. The people’s life in the conflict zones are geographically and psychologically very far from us. I have never felt fear or danger when I sleep. I cannot even imagine what the people in the conflict zones feel and think. I thought the role of those journalist was very big and responsible."

Toru linked this experience to current events in now: "Among these answers and reactions [from the journalists], what I thought it was interesting was about self-protection that I asked Mr. Flood. Now two Japanese are captured by ISIS. I do not intend to say they neglected self-protection. However, when you go to a dangerous area, no matter how you are cautious, you can never be too cautious. I think Japanese freelance journalists should learn from Mr.Derek."

Ichiro noted how interviewing Mr. Flood also led him to new conclusions about current events: "The questions I asked Mr. Flood were what does he feel when he sees war or conflict, doesn’t he feel fear when he is in dangerous situation, and what makes him relaxed when he feels afraid or stressed out. I thought the first question was very deep. I thought I could get a response that indicate why he has chosen the career and maybe he has very strong opinion about the issue. I asked the rest of question because I just wanted to know how the people in danger feel. 

His answer to my question was very to the point, and I totally agreed with his opinion. He says self-sustaining cycles of violence are much easier to foment than to break. I think not only the conflict in the Middle East, but in everywhere this problem could be found. Reading his great answer, I noticed the weakness of human. Since I followed Isis, I thought I knew much about the issue. I thought only destroying them would be a solution, but as he says the real solution would be that one must go there, talk and make them understand the whole situation rather than providing the violence, to prevent violence-cycle. To the question about fear or stress, he says the books, DVDs, humor and love makes him relaxed. These are the stuffs that also make me feel relaxed when I get stressed out. He is a very great guy, but I felt kind of close to him. His answers were very deep and gave me different perspective. It was very great to interview him."

Takumi noted that in interviewing Mr. Flood, who first became involved in journalism after experiencing 9/11 in NYC, he reflected on his own position as an observer of historical events: "In first question's answer, he touched on 9.11. Indeed, it connected chain of events in Afhganistan, Iraq and Syria today. I believe I am also a witness crucial event. Especially, 3.11and Fukushima problem. This accident is element enough to think about society, and to begin more studying .If I am not to be a journalist, I make effort more than ever before."

Martina Kix
Martina Kix is an editor for Neon Magazine, and a former editor for Vice Magazine in Germany.
https://twitter.com/martinakix
https://twitter.com/neon_magazin

Hayato noted that: "I was impressed by her thought that minority group's voice is very important.

I can clearly find the existence of minority stream.
I got to think we should choose topics and discuss about variety of streams.

She also know about Japanese culture and news very well.

I got to know what these people who is in other countries think about current events in Japan."

From his interview with Ms. Kix, Hayato came to feel: "I strongly got to want to know the news using a lot of sources and points of view. Prejudice is not good for knowing news, and we should always think about that."

Overall, the chance to interview journalists via email, and have Mr. Sawa come and visit the class, left us with a deeper understanding about the people behind the news we read.

Nodoka: "Through this interview, I realized journalists were so careful to tell news stories. They must not write uncertain articles. I used to think journalist's works are machine-like, but I realized that was wrong."

Masayoshi: "I have read news papers for a long time, but I have never think about the journalists,and I have not read carefully and think about the contents of the articles deeply. In this class, I can get the opportunity to know about the journalists, and I know journalists take efforts to express the news better. Now, I attempt to know what the journalist try to express when I read and watch the news.
I still have one question. What should I do to understand what the journalist want to express accurately?"

Ichiro: "Through asking these journalists and taking this class, I noticed that there is actually a person who struggled to get information and truth. When I read the news before, I only read the fact, but now I unconsciously read the story. Also I noticed that the journalists connect big news with our ordinary life to make us interested in."

Takumi:

"My impressive things in this class is the class by Sawa-san. This is because, he helped me to understand about making news. I think I can hear just an interesting story at first time. However the accident happened that French media was attacked.Their mood in the press caused this tragedy. All news is made by human. Therefore,we have to pay attenstion some human who make the news, and receive the news."

Takumi ended by remarking that: "You are also one of those behind the news, aren't you?"