As I returned from Florida two weeks ago, I started to work on my commentary piece for the Foreign Service Journal about Hungarian-American bilateral relations and how Hungarians view the U.S. presidential elections. It was a challange for the sheer size of the work: I have never written anything that is even close to the required2,000 words. In my home newroom, an article of half of this size is already exceptionnaly long.
So the work required a lot of background research and I could put into practice what I learnt about structuring stories (which is my biggest weakness, as I realized at Poynter). The first reaction of the editor was encouraging, but the editing work will not start until the magazine's editorial board meets in two weeks. So I will still work with them on the story.
A disappointing, but not surprising experience came from the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. I first contacted the Hungarian Embassy in Washington to get to know the official viewpoint on a couple of bilateral issues, but I was only given a list of articles that were published in the past year in the Hungarian media. Then I contacted the Foreign Ministry in Budapest, which returned my e-mail with questions about my previous work and the magazine I would write for. I answered their questions and never heard from them ever since.
Their indifference reinforces my two beliefs: first, Hungarian bureaucrats have not realized yet they live off taxpayers' money which makes them responsible for answering journalists' question; and secondly, they are not interested in promoting Hungarian interests in international issues. I have noticed as a reporter on the EU that in most cases it is impossible to get to know the Hungarian standpoint before an EU-decision is made, and my guess is it is simply because they don't have a view - they just follow others.
Most of last week, after I finished this piece, I did not feel very well so I was not really pro-active at the Inquirer. I agreed, however, with my mentor and the online editors on how I will spend my time with the multimedia people; the system is quite confusing as philly.com is completely seperate from the Inquirer, and even within the newsroom, on the one hand there is a reporter who shoots videos for the online desk, and there is another producer who works for the photo department. I hope to spend time with both of them, and maybe even at philly.com where sponsored, TV-style videos are shot.
I also had an edifying session with my mentor who showed me how to try to find contact for such a "top gun" businessman as George Soros. As he is Hungarian-born, I tried to do an interview with him but was turned down by the press officer of his foundation (I was naive not thinking that above a certain level of wealth, having the same national origin does not secure an interview). My mentor did extensive research in my presence in the Inquirer archive, on Nexis and on the Internet, and finally came up with the idea that I should contact one of the leaders of Soros' publisher, who used to be a journalist. I am not very optimistic (neither is she), but I learnt a lot from her method.
I started my online stint today, arriving in the office at 7.25am (!) (and still 25 minutes late). I had a conversation with online editor Julie Busby (she arrives at 6am every day) who explained me how she works with reporters and photographers early in the morning to do quick coverage for events that happened during the night. She also posts advance stories. The most interesting thing was the Internet site where she can view all kinds of statistics and information about the traffic on the Inquirer site; the datas are provided by a company and there are people with the publisher who analyze them each day.
And now comes the fun part! My wonderful mentor did no smaller thing than getting me backstage at a concert of one of my absolute favorite bands, Iron Maiden! Yeah, I was having dinner trying to look calm as Nicko McBrain (drummer) and Janick Gers (guitarist) were walking around in the same room. But I was told in advance not to talk to anyone :)
And the concert was one of the best shows I have ever seen, definately the most spectacular with all the stage-sets and fireworks. These guys at the age of 50 are still so energetic and enthusiastic (much more than the audiance, who could have done better).
I can also thank my mentor for a tasty Greek dinner at her house Sunday, June 22. This was the day when I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Arts, and was amazed by some of Monet's best works. Thursday, June 26 my mentor, her sister and I was invited by food writer Craig LaBan to a restaurant he critiqued called Memphis Taproom. It was interesting as he told his comments in his hidden voice recorder, but we think he was busted anyway :)
And one more culinary experience for this weekend: Saturday I joined my colleague Barry Zukerman and his friend Adam on one of their regular roadside restaurants adventure: we went to Bucks County (North of Philly) to a burger place, then to an ice cream place (which is adjacent to a dairy farm and I also bought fine goat cheese) and finally to a donut place.
I also enrolled in the free library of Philadelphia. I found a book written by John Steinbeck's son, Thomas Steinbeck. It contains stories about the Monterey Peninsula in California, an area I will definitely visit in September. It is the place of several of John Steinbeck's books (who lived in Salinas) and also of one of my favorite Kerouac novel. I might even try to do an interview with Thomas Steinbeck.
I met a Hungarian-born retired architect, who left the country in 1956 and contacted me after my story on John Lukacs was published. Dezso Bacsujlaky invited me for dinner in a restaurant in Cherry Hill, on a Friday evening (probably June 20th).
As I see in my calendar, tomorrow, July 1 is Canada day! So don't miss this one.
Iron Maiden, Somewhere Back in Time World Tour 2008, June 17, Camden, NJ, Susquehanna Bank Center
1.Aces High
2.2 Minutes to Midnight
3.Revelations
4.The Trooper
5.Wasted Years
6.The Number of the Beast
7.Can I Play With Madness
8.Rime of the Ancient Mariner
9.Powerslave
10.Heaven Can Wait
11.Run to the Hills
12.Fear of the Dark
13.Iron Maiden
Encore:
14.Moonchild
15.The Clairvoyant
16.Hallowed Be Thy Name
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Diary - 5
Although I spent the last twoo weeks outside the newsroom, I am writing a few lines to mark this period for my own records and whoever is interested.
I arrived in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday, June 3, met Sopan at the airport, then Lucia, who was so kind to take us to her apartment in Miami Beach where we spent one night. As soon as we dropped our bags we went to the beach which is only a few blocks away from her house; it was a great joy to swim in the surprisingly warm Atlantic Ocean. In the evening, Lucia drove us to take a look around South Beach.
I started the next day with going to the beach again then Sopan and I joined Lucia who went to a conference in South Beach. While she was at the conference we walked around and I swam too. After the conference Lucia drove us to dowtown Miami where we had a lunch together. Then she went to her newspaper's Miami office and we walked to our hotel. In the evening, Sopan and I went to a nice boattrip around the islands of Miami and saw a couple of nice houses of the rich and famous. Then we met Ivan who arrived in the afternoon and stayed at a nearby hotel with Umar and had a dinner together.
The next morning we went to the Kennedy Space Center with Lucia to see a rocket launh - it was delayed, but we spent the whole day visiting the Center. On our way back to Miami we looked around Palm Beach and saw some nice houses there, too.
The IRE conference started Friday, June 6. The most useful sessions for me were those that offered actual help in online research. There were others that I found interesting because they gave me insight to how the best American journalists do their jobs, how they develop sources, socialize with them, etc. Friday, Sonia cooked us a delicious dinner in Lucia's apartment and on Sunday, after some time on the beach, we went out for dinner to Lincoln Road, South Beach.
Sunday afternoon, Sopan and I flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa, and unfortunately missed the train to the airport. The cab was expensive, but at least we had the chance to conteplate on the virtue of resignation.
We met Andrew and Susan at the airport then Susan drove us to our hotel in St. Petersburg. Lucia, Umar, Sonia and Ivan were already there. We went to a pub with a wide variety of beers called Independent, whose owner also joined us for a drink. When the rest of the group - Katie with Samuel and Deepak - arrived, we all had a dinner together.
Monday we went to the beach together and had a dinner at Poynter, where we had our first session too that evening with Paul Pohlman and Tom Huang at the helm. During the week we also had sessions with Roy Peter Clark, Bill Mitchell, Kelly McBride, Ellyn Angelotti and Christopher "Chip" Scanlan.
A great experience for me was a visit to the Dali Museum where I spent more than three hours. Saturday (after a session with Gary Weaver) some of us went to a boattrip to see dolphins (and a couple of nice houses, again). In the evening we all went to Bill's house for dinner where we could try his kayaks.
It was a very pleasant two weeks!
I arrived in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday, June 3, met Sopan at the airport, then Lucia, who was so kind to take us to her apartment in Miami Beach where we spent one night. As soon as we dropped our bags we went to the beach which is only a few blocks away from her house; it was a great joy to swim in the surprisingly warm Atlantic Ocean. In the evening, Lucia drove us to take a look around South Beach.
I started the next day with going to the beach again then Sopan and I joined Lucia who went to a conference in South Beach. While she was at the conference we walked around and I swam too. After the conference Lucia drove us to dowtown Miami where we had a lunch together. Then she went to her newspaper's Miami office and we walked to our hotel. In the evening, Sopan and I went to a nice boattrip around the islands of Miami and saw a couple of nice houses of the rich and famous. Then we met Ivan who arrived in the afternoon and stayed at a nearby hotel with Umar and had a dinner together.
The next morning we went to the Kennedy Space Center with Lucia to see a rocket launh - it was delayed, but we spent the whole day visiting the Center. On our way back to Miami we looked around Palm Beach and saw some nice houses there, too.
The IRE conference started Friday, June 6. The most useful sessions for me were those that offered actual help in online research. There were others that I found interesting because they gave me insight to how the best American journalists do their jobs, how they develop sources, socialize with them, etc. Friday, Sonia cooked us a delicious dinner in Lucia's apartment and on Sunday, after some time on the beach, we went out for dinner to Lincoln Road, South Beach.
Sunday afternoon, Sopan and I flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa, and unfortunately missed the train to the airport. The cab was expensive, but at least we had the chance to conteplate on the virtue of resignation.
We met Andrew and Susan at the airport then Susan drove us to our hotel in St. Petersburg. Lucia, Umar, Sonia and Ivan were already there. We went to a pub with a wide variety of beers called Independent, whose owner also joined us for a drink. When the rest of the group - Katie with Samuel and Deepak - arrived, we all had a dinner together.
Monday we went to the beach together and had a dinner at Poynter, where we had our first session too that evening with Paul Pohlman and Tom Huang at the helm. During the week we also had sessions with Roy Peter Clark, Bill Mitchell, Kelly McBride, Ellyn Angelotti and Christopher "Chip" Scanlan.
A great experience for me was a visit to the Dali Museum where I spent more than three hours. Saturday (after a session with Gary Weaver) some of us went to a boattrip to see dolphins (and a couple of nice houses, again). In the evening we all went to Bill's house for dinner where we could try his kayaks.
It was a very pleasant two weeks!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Diary - 4
On Saturday, May 17 I drove to Cherry Hill, NJ to do interviews with people who went to sell jewelry to a "trading show" that was advertised in a whole-page advertisement in the Inquirer, just in time for me to get some material for my story about diamonds. Although I did not meet anyone with diamonds, I did some good interviews and managed to convince my editor that we can use them to illustrate the story. So I wrote it and was pleasantly surprised when the editor only wanted me to ask one more question from one of the jewelers; based on my previous experience I made myself ready to do a lot more additional reporting.
After I drove back from Cherry Hill I met Umar who came for the weekend to visit Philly. We had a dinner together with my colleague Barry Zukerman, with whom I went to a concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra. They played two symphonies from Schubert, and it was Christoph Eschenbach's last performance as conductor and music director.
On Thursday, May 22 I got a sudden assignment at 16.30 to go to the airport and ask people about their reaction to U.S. Airways' plan of introducing a $15 fee for the first checked-in luggage. It was the third time I was sent to the airport and I totally agreed with my editor who gave me the assignment saying he knew it was "only a pain in the ass". I felt the pain especially intense when in the afternoon peak it took me half an hour just to get onto the expressway just a few blocks from the office leading to the airport. But I was lucky with the persons I approached and in less than 30 minutes I had a couple of good quotes. And in the end my byline landed on the first page, so it was worth it...:)
I spent the Memorial Day weekend in New York. Umar and I met Susan, Randy and Sopan on Sunday for dinner.
For next Wednesday and Thursday, I had three interviews scheduled for my next story about the current restoration on one of Philadelphia's most impressive buildings, the Masonic Temple. I originally wanted to write about the Masons themselves and using the restoration just as a starting point, but then was convinced by my mentor and my editor to focus on the restoration.
I talked to the director of the Masonic Museum and Library, to the Grand Master of the Masons in Pennsylvania, and to one of the partners of the architectural firm that oversees the works. Although I was really interested in who the Masons really are, the interview with the Grand Master was quite boring as he of course did not want to reveal their secrets. But the other two interviews were really interesting, especially the one with the director of the museum who was very kind and even gave me a tour of the building.
So based on what I had I decided not to write about the Masons at all and focus exclusively on the restoration. But my editor did want something about the Masons and more about the history/significance of the building. Fortunately I had everything she wanted on my records and we could more or less get everything done on Friday and today, before my departure to Florida.
I also had a chance last week to observe the editing of an investigative story. It was interesting to see how the writer and the editor discussed which words and expressions to use at critical points, and what kinds of details the editor wanted to be added. One of the deputy managing editors also came by and gave his suggestions and there was an ethical issue that was discussed as well.
Sopan came over for last weekend (we saw a great jazz performance at Natalie's together with Maria) and I had a dinner with Susan yesterday. She came to the Inquirer today and we had a lunch with Maria, Vernon Loeb, Dotty Brown and Tom Ginsberg. I finally got a haircut today and in the evening Maria and I were invited for dinner by Jane Von Bergen. After the dinner, we did a quick visit to the house of one of Maria's best friend who lives near Jane's house.
After I drove back from Cherry Hill I met Umar who came for the weekend to visit Philly. We had a dinner together with my colleague Barry Zukerman, with whom I went to a concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra. They played two symphonies from Schubert, and it was Christoph Eschenbach's last performance as conductor and music director.
On Thursday, May 22 I got a sudden assignment at 16.30 to go to the airport and ask people about their reaction to U.S. Airways' plan of introducing a $15 fee for the first checked-in luggage. It was the third time I was sent to the airport and I totally agreed with my editor who gave me the assignment saying he knew it was "only a pain in the ass". I felt the pain especially intense when in the afternoon peak it took me half an hour just to get onto the expressway just a few blocks from the office leading to the airport. But I was lucky with the persons I approached and in less than 30 minutes I had a couple of good quotes. And in the end my byline landed on the first page, so it was worth it...:)
I spent the Memorial Day weekend in New York. Umar and I met Susan, Randy and Sopan on Sunday for dinner.
For next Wednesday and Thursday, I had three interviews scheduled for my next story about the current restoration on one of Philadelphia's most impressive buildings, the Masonic Temple. I originally wanted to write about the Masons themselves and using the restoration just as a starting point, but then was convinced by my mentor and my editor to focus on the restoration.
I talked to the director of the Masonic Museum and Library, to the Grand Master of the Masons in Pennsylvania, and to one of the partners of the architectural firm that oversees the works. Although I was really interested in who the Masons really are, the interview with the Grand Master was quite boring as he of course did not want to reveal their secrets. But the other two interviews were really interesting, especially the one with the director of the museum who was very kind and even gave me a tour of the building.
So based on what I had I decided not to write about the Masons at all and focus exclusively on the restoration. But my editor did want something about the Masons and more about the history/significance of the building. Fortunately I had everything she wanted on my records and we could more or less get everything done on Friday and today, before my departure to Florida.
I also had a chance last week to observe the editing of an investigative story. It was interesting to see how the writer and the editor discussed which words and expressions to use at critical points, and what kinds of details the editor wanted to be added. One of the deputy managing editors also came by and gave his suggestions and there was an ethical issue that was discussed as well.
Sopan came over for last weekend (we saw a great jazz performance at Natalie's together with Maria) and I had a dinner with Susan yesterday. She came to the Inquirer today and we had a lunch with Maria, Vernon Loeb, Dotty Brown and Tom Ginsberg. I finally got a haircut today and in the evening Maria and I were invited for dinner by Jane Von Bergen. After the dinner, we did a quick visit to the house of one of Maria's best friend who lives near Jane's house.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Diary - 3
May started with a trip to New York. On Friday, May 2, Maria and I hit the road and by 10.30, we were sitting at the morning news meeting of The New York Times. I already knew this newspaper is a leader in multimedia journalism, now I saw why: the meeting actually began with discussing what was already online, including a video showing how a park in the city would be transformed. Then we got a tour of the building from Nancy Sharkey, Umar’s mentor, and I had a lunch with Umar. He was my great host for the weekend, as I stayed in the city until Sunday.
Next week I started to work on a story that had a couple of twists and turns. I had the original idea of writing about how cheap Chinese imports hurt businesses in the region (it came from an advertisement in which a business association complained about the issue). My editor suggested instead that I should write about how the cheap dollar might help foreign-owned businesses to expand in the region. He gave me a list of all the foreign-owned companies based in the region, counting some 500 firms. The only guidance he gave me was to look for smaller companies (the number of the employees were indicated on the list) that are not publicly traded (for this, I should have checked Yahoo Finance).
I soon realized that it just made no sense to randomly pick companies from the list and contact them on a trial and error basis, so I called the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to ask them if they knew about foreign companies with expansion plans. They did. In the next step – following Maria’s advice – I looked up the clips the Inquirer had about these companies. I showed them to Maria who threw them out after one another: none of them seemed to be good to write about from the perspective of the dollar.
There was a company, however, that announced investments last year with the first phase due to be completed by the middle of this year. So I was asked to check up this company. The dollar story was dropped.
As an editor, I must quietly say that it was clearly not a well-thought-out and serious assignment to give a foreigner without the knowledge of the local business environment a list of companies to make a story out of it. It was rather like giving a child a toy (not a funny one, though) just to engage him.
Anyway, I started to work on this new assignment that also held some surprises. When I first called the company, a receptionist simply hung up on me after I introduced myself, saying “sorry, we don’t take any calls”. At my second try, she wrote down my name and number, saying that “if they want to talk to me, someone will call me”. Finally I called directly the president of this company on his cell who immediately agreed to meet me and give me an interview.
But the following morning an e-mail was waiting for me from a manager, saying the president is too busy for the interview. Then I called this manager and asked if he could give me an interview. He said OK but this OK lasted for only a couple of days again as this Monday he wrote me he could not make it.
Meanwhile, my editor told me to get the contract this company had with the state, as it received some state aid for its investment. These “right to know law requests” must be made in writing and who knows when I will finally receive the documents. To be continued at that time, provided I am still at the Inquirer.
The third story I started to work on looked a bit more promising. Inspired by some advertisements from jewelers who seek to buy diamonds from people off the street, I made I couple of interviews with jewelers on the so called Jewelers’ Row. It went fine and I got a picture of the current troubles of the diamond market.
To write the story, however, my editor wanted me to talk to people who are trying to sell their diamonds as well. Finding such people is of course much more difficult, if not impossible, than finding jewelers. I went back to Jewelers’ Row asking for the help of the jewelers – as my editor suggested – without success. My last try will be going to an event tomorrow, where a company will buy everything from people who need instant cash, from gold to antiques. Probably I won’t find anyone with diamonds, but hopefully will find something to illustrate the story with.
Earlier this week, I asked Mike Vitez to accompany him on interviews. I really like the stories of this Pulitzer-winner journalist (and like him as a person as well), so I would like to learn from him. It was not an interview, but I went to an event with him where his goal was to fish for people he could later interview for a story about those who do not have access to proper health care.
Outside the newsroom, I went to a baseball game yesterday. The Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves.
Also yesterday, there was a Big Hollywood Filmmaking in the newsroom, with Superstar Owen Wilson Himself. The title of the movie is Marley & Me, where Marley is a dog and Me is her master, a former Inquirer columnist. This guy wrote a column one day about the death of his dog, and the next day he received some 3,000 e-mails from touched readers. So he decided to write a whole book about Marley (& Himself), which became a bestseller bringing him to riches (so he is not with the Inquirer any more). And now the book is even beeing adopted for a movie. And it's not even just Owen Wilson, but his wife is played by Jennifer Anniston! (I knew who she was before, unlike Owen Wilson).
Next week I started to work on a story that had a couple of twists and turns. I had the original idea of writing about how cheap Chinese imports hurt businesses in the region (it came from an advertisement in which a business association complained about the issue). My editor suggested instead that I should write about how the cheap dollar might help foreign-owned businesses to expand in the region. He gave me a list of all the foreign-owned companies based in the region, counting some 500 firms. The only guidance he gave me was to look for smaller companies (the number of the employees were indicated on the list) that are not publicly traded (for this, I should have checked Yahoo Finance).
I soon realized that it just made no sense to randomly pick companies from the list and contact them on a trial and error basis, so I called the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to ask them if they knew about foreign companies with expansion plans. They did. In the next step – following Maria’s advice – I looked up the clips the Inquirer had about these companies. I showed them to Maria who threw them out after one another: none of them seemed to be good to write about from the perspective of the dollar.
There was a company, however, that announced investments last year with the first phase due to be completed by the middle of this year. So I was asked to check up this company. The dollar story was dropped.
As an editor, I must quietly say that it was clearly not a well-thought-out and serious assignment to give a foreigner without the knowledge of the local business environment a list of companies to make a story out of it. It was rather like giving a child a toy (not a funny one, though) just to engage him.
Anyway, I started to work on this new assignment that also held some surprises. When I first called the company, a receptionist simply hung up on me after I introduced myself, saying “sorry, we don’t take any calls”. At my second try, she wrote down my name and number, saying that “if they want to talk to me, someone will call me”. Finally I called directly the president of this company on his cell who immediately agreed to meet me and give me an interview.
But the following morning an e-mail was waiting for me from a manager, saying the president is too busy for the interview. Then I called this manager and asked if he could give me an interview. He said OK but this OK lasted for only a couple of days again as this Monday he wrote me he could not make it.
Meanwhile, my editor told me to get the contract this company had with the state, as it received some state aid for its investment. These “right to know law requests” must be made in writing and who knows when I will finally receive the documents. To be continued at that time, provided I am still at the Inquirer.
The third story I started to work on looked a bit more promising. Inspired by some advertisements from jewelers who seek to buy diamonds from people off the street, I made I couple of interviews with jewelers on the so called Jewelers’ Row. It went fine and I got a picture of the current troubles of the diamond market.
To write the story, however, my editor wanted me to talk to people who are trying to sell their diamonds as well. Finding such people is of course much more difficult, if not impossible, than finding jewelers. I went back to Jewelers’ Row asking for the help of the jewelers – as my editor suggested – without success. My last try will be going to an event tomorrow, where a company will buy everything from people who need instant cash, from gold to antiques. Probably I won’t find anyone with diamonds, but hopefully will find something to illustrate the story with.
Earlier this week, I asked Mike Vitez to accompany him on interviews. I really like the stories of this Pulitzer-winner journalist (and like him as a person as well), so I would like to learn from him. It was not an interview, but I went to an event with him where his goal was to fish for people he could later interview for a story about those who do not have access to proper health care.
Outside the newsroom, I went to a baseball game yesterday. The Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves.
Also yesterday, there was a Big Hollywood Filmmaking in the newsroom, with Superstar Owen Wilson Himself. The title of the movie is Marley & Me, where Marley is a dog and Me is her master, a former Inquirer columnist. This guy wrote a column one day about the death of his dog, and the next day he received some 3,000 e-mails from touched readers. So he decided to write a whole book about Marley (& Himself), which became a bestseller bringing him to riches (so he is not with the Inquirer any more). And now the book is even beeing adopted for a movie. And it's not even just Owen Wilson, but his wife is played by Jennifer Anniston! (I knew who she was before, unlike Owen Wilson).
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Diary - 2
The most important, interesting and edifying work of the second half of April was my interview with Hungarian-born historian John Lukacs. I agreed with the editor of the Pennsylvanian region (as the professor lives in Phoenixville, PA) Ned Warwick that I will write the interview for him, and that I will focus on Lukacs’ views on the state of American democracy. This was the topic of one of his most recent books, and it is particularly interesting now at the time of the presidential race.
I received a company car and drove to Phoenixville on April 21. I spent almost three hours with the professor, talking about not only about the U.S., but about Hungary as well. I spent the following day on writing the interview.
Several things came up while I was working on this story. The lessons started even before I visited the professor. My mentor Maria asked me about how I agreed with him to interview him. I told her that Lukacs had asked me why I wanted to make this interview.
And here, as it turned out, I made a mistake: I should not have told the professor that one of my reasons was my personal respect toward him. Maria said we should never let the subject know about our personal feelings as we might be regarded biased by the person we are interviewing.
I made another mistake when I yielded consent to the professor’s request to fax him my draft before the story is published. This is not at all unusual in Hungary, and as we talked about politics, I understood Lukacs’ concerns.
But I had to learn that here it is not acceptable: we can call the subject to clarify his/her quotes when we are not sure about them, but we never let him/her edit our stories. This is a principle I will hold to when I am back in Hungary, as it reflects both independence and responsibility of journalists. And we want to be independent and responsible, don’t we?
We are still in the process of editing my interview, but it is already clear that this is a much more time-consuming and thorough process than what I am used to. First, Ned gave me suggestions on how to rewrite the top of the story to get the reader “engaged”, but then he said he was very busy and passed it on to another editor, Dorothy Brown.
Surprisingly, she did not just read my story but started with researching online on Lukacs so that she can have an idea of who this person is, helping me to get out more of the story. Then she came up with the even more surprising idea that I should talk to other historians about Lukacs’ views.
Well, I still don’t know what the outcome of this process will be; at the beginning I did not really understand why all this fuss was necessary, why my story wasn’t just good as it was. I felt that I was required to write a totally different story to the one I planned. In Hungary, editors are not engaged in shaping the stories to such an extent. Now I see this is also an example of how to dig deeper, writing not only what a single person tells us, but trying to put it into a context.
Another bigger story I was working on in the last couple of days was an obituary; something I had never done before. Although it was much simpler than the interview, I still had some difficulties with getting all the details on the deceased person’s biography the editor wanted.
Two smaller stories I wrote during this period: on Monday, 4/14 I wrote an article about the acquisition of a local company by ADT, which is a subsidiary of Tyco. On Wednesday, 4/16 I went to the airport again, and interviewed travelers about the announcment of U.S. Airways that it would introduce fees for those who check in online and select one of the "best" seats.
This week, starting from 4/28, I was supposed to work for the City Desk. Maria figured that it would be useful for me to learn there some basics of how things are done here, with simpler stories to those of the Business Desk. But I was pretty much ignored, I must say.
During four days, I was sent to two press conferences with other reporters (one was held at the police headquarters and one at the Phillies stadium), and was not assigned to write anything. As Maria had told me that at the City Desk I would have actually more opportunity to write than at the Business Desk, I was of course disappointed. But at least I was not bored, as I had the stories mentioned above to work on.
Outside the newsroom, on Monday 4/14, I went to see Obama and Clinton on a campaign event. The next evening was also about American politics: I went again to the Pen & Pencil Club, where Jonathan Alter of Newsweek and MSNBC and Jonathan Martin of Politico.com held a discussion about the presidential race. On Thursday, 4/17 I got a bike from Chen Sterling, who works as a page designer. He was so kind that he lent me his bike for the whole period that I will spend in Philadelphia.
On Friday at noon, 4/18, I went to a free concert of Kate Nash with Library Supervisor Michael Panzer. On Sunday 4/20, I was invited by a college, Mike Zebe to his house in Ambler. There was a pleasant barbeque party with a couple of neighbors.
Next Wednesday, 4/23, I went to New York after work to see Megadeth on their Gigantour in Hammerstein Ballroom. I spent the night at Umar’s place and returned to Philadelphia next morning. That evening I was invited for dinner by a colleague at the business desk, Jane Von Bergen. On Saturday, I went to North Wales to meet a Hungarian journalist, Joe Szabo, who has lived in the Unites States for 30 years and knows some people from the Inquirer.
The next day, which was Greek Easter, I was invited by my Maria to her sister Helen’s house for lunch. Helen has a lovely family, his husband is Mike, and their kids are Maria, John, Paul and Grace. They live in Pennsburg. Maria’s other sister, Diane took me there with her car, together with an Argentine colleague of her, Ana.
Yesterday, 4/30, I was invited to a concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra by a colleague, Mike Vitez. They played Mahler’s 8th Symphony. And now I am just about to go to with Maria a dinner at another colleague’s house, Chris Mondics.
Megadeth Gigantour 2008, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, April 23
Sleepwalker
Wake Up Dead
Take No Prisoners
Skin O’ My Teeth
Washington Is Next
Kick The Chair
In My Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Gears Of War
A Tout Le Monde
Tornado Of Souls
Ashes In Your Mouth
Burnt Ice
Symphony Of Destruction
Trust
Peace Sells
Holy Wars
I received a company car and drove to Phoenixville on April 21. I spent almost three hours with the professor, talking about not only about the U.S., but about Hungary as well. I spent the following day on writing the interview.
Several things came up while I was working on this story. The lessons started even before I visited the professor. My mentor Maria asked me about how I agreed with him to interview him. I told her that Lukacs had asked me why I wanted to make this interview.
And here, as it turned out, I made a mistake: I should not have told the professor that one of my reasons was my personal respect toward him. Maria said we should never let the subject know about our personal feelings as we might be regarded biased by the person we are interviewing.
I made another mistake when I yielded consent to the professor’s request to fax him my draft before the story is published. This is not at all unusual in Hungary, and as we talked about politics, I understood Lukacs’ concerns.
But I had to learn that here it is not acceptable: we can call the subject to clarify his/her quotes when we are not sure about them, but we never let him/her edit our stories. This is a principle I will hold to when I am back in Hungary, as it reflects both independence and responsibility of journalists. And we want to be independent and responsible, don’t we?
We are still in the process of editing my interview, but it is already clear that this is a much more time-consuming and thorough process than what I am used to. First, Ned gave me suggestions on how to rewrite the top of the story to get the reader “engaged”, but then he said he was very busy and passed it on to another editor, Dorothy Brown.
Surprisingly, she did not just read my story but started with researching online on Lukacs so that she can have an idea of who this person is, helping me to get out more of the story. Then she came up with the even more surprising idea that I should talk to other historians about Lukacs’ views.
Well, I still don’t know what the outcome of this process will be; at the beginning I did not really understand why all this fuss was necessary, why my story wasn’t just good as it was. I felt that I was required to write a totally different story to the one I planned. In Hungary, editors are not engaged in shaping the stories to such an extent. Now I see this is also an example of how to dig deeper, writing not only what a single person tells us, but trying to put it into a context.
Another bigger story I was working on in the last couple of days was an obituary; something I had never done before. Although it was much simpler than the interview, I still had some difficulties with getting all the details on the deceased person’s biography the editor wanted.
Two smaller stories I wrote during this period: on Monday, 4/14 I wrote an article about the acquisition of a local company by ADT, which is a subsidiary of Tyco. On Wednesday, 4/16 I went to the airport again, and interviewed travelers about the announcment of U.S. Airways that it would introduce fees for those who check in online and select one of the "best" seats.
This week, starting from 4/28, I was supposed to work for the City Desk. Maria figured that it would be useful for me to learn there some basics of how things are done here, with simpler stories to those of the Business Desk. But I was pretty much ignored, I must say.
During four days, I was sent to two press conferences with other reporters (one was held at the police headquarters and one at the Phillies stadium), and was not assigned to write anything. As Maria had told me that at the City Desk I would have actually more opportunity to write than at the Business Desk, I was of course disappointed. But at least I was not bored, as I had the stories mentioned above to work on.
Outside the newsroom, on Monday 4/14, I went to see Obama and Clinton on a campaign event. The next evening was also about American politics: I went again to the Pen & Pencil Club, where Jonathan Alter of Newsweek and MSNBC and Jonathan Martin of Politico.com held a discussion about the presidential race. On Thursday, 4/17 I got a bike from Chen Sterling, who works as a page designer. He was so kind that he lent me his bike for the whole period that I will spend in Philadelphia.
On Friday at noon, 4/18, I went to a free concert of Kate Nash with Library Supervisor Michael Panzer. On Sunday 4/20, I was invited by a college, Mike Zebe to his house in Ambler. There was a pleasant barbeque party with a couple of neighbors.
Next Wednesday, 4/23, I went to New York after work to see Megadeth on their Gigantour in Hammerstein Ballroom. I spent the night at Umar’s place and returned to Philadelphia next morning. That evening I was invited for dinner by a colleague at the business desk, Jane Von Bergen. On Saturday, I went to North Wales to meet a Hungarian journalist, Joe Szabo, who has lived in the Unites States for 30 years and knows some people from the Inquirer.
The next day, which was Greek Easter, I was invited by my Maria to her sister Helen’s house for lunch. Helen has a lovely family, his husband is Mike, and their kids are Maria, John, Paul and Grace. They live in Pennsburg. Maria’s other sister, Diane took me there with her car, together with an Argentine colleague of her, Ana.
Yesterday, 4/30, I was invited to a concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra by a colleague, Mike Vitez. They played Mahler’s 8th Symphony. And now I am just about to go to with Maria a dinner at another colleague’s house, Chris Mondics.
Megadeth Gigantour 2008, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, April 23
Sleepwalker
Wake Up Dead
Take No Prisoners
Skin O’ My Teeth
Washington Is Next
Kick The Chair
In My Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Gears Of War
A Tout Le Monde
Tornado Of Souls
Ashes In Your Mouth
Burnt Ice
Symphony Of Destruction
Trust
Peace Sells
Holy Wars
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Diary - 1
Even if I didn't hit the ground running, my first two weeks at the Inquirer were useful and intensive enough to prepare for what's ahead in the next months.
During the first week, I did not even have time to think about what was happening to me. I was introduced to dozens of people at the paper, including more formal meetings with Business Editor Tom Ginsberg, Metro Editor Gabe Escobar, City Editor Chris Hepp, Managing Editors Sandra Long and Mike Leary, Deputy Managing Editor Vernon Loeb, Fine Arts Editor Becky Klock. I met Editor Bill Marimow at the beginning of my second week.
During the first week, I did not even have time to think about what was happening to me. I was introduced to dozens of people at the paper, including more formal meetings with Business Editor Tom Ginsberg, Metro Editor Gabe Escobar, City Editor Chris Hepp, Managing Editors Sandra Long and Mike Leary, Deputy Managing Editor Vernon Loeb, Fine Arts Editor Becky Klock. I met Editor Bill Marimow at the beginning of my second week.
Right on the first day, I sat in the morning news meeting, and a week later, I participated in the meeting of the Editorial Board. It was interesting to see how completely separately the board works from the newsroom. I was also given a tour of the building with a small group of students from Arcadia University, and had a short training on the computer network. This was clearly not enough, but I learn it as I use it.
Beside all that, settling in my apartment was also stressful: it was quite ill-furnished when I moved in. Thanks to my colleagues who offered to lend me lots of things, I am alright by now.
I have received tremendous amount of help from my mentor Maria Panaritis in the first place, but from others at the paper as well. Maria invited me for dinner for some four times during the first week, helped me in shopping and transport, took me to the Pen and Pencil Club of journalists to hear the president of the University of Pennsylvania (we went back to the club the following week for a Hungarian wine-tasting). I met her cousin who has just published a book on real estate economics here, and her sister Diane as well. We went to see the presses on the first Friday night; not only the Inquirer, but the Daily News and one edition of the New York Times is printed here too.
I started writing on the first Wednesday, when I had to contribute to a story about the weak dollar and how it affects travelers. I went to the international airport, and interviewed vacationers who were leaving for Europe. I was very happy that I could start writing that soon, and it was a useful and enjoyable start. It was a good example of what I will try to learn during my fellowship: how to give a human face to business stories.
I attended a hearing at the City Hall on that Friday with a journalist who covers city affairs. It was about plans to build two casinos in Philadelphia. The speakers included a professor who talked about the dangers of casinos to local communities, a representative of a civic group that opposed the plans, the deputy police commissioner of the city, representatives of the developers, and finally, the mayor. He also opposes the plans but there is a recent court decision that gave the final say to the state, which has already gave its permission. So the city seems to be unable to block building-up of these casinos on the shore of the Delaware River.
Beside two briefs, I wrote a story about a local oil company. I had to make telephone interviews,which gave me the chance to experience how difficult it is to make good notes with exact quotes. I will definitely need more practice on this.
Another important lesson about this story was to find out the importance of doing some research before making interviews. I have learned to use the archive of the Inquirer, and searching Yahoo finance for relevant background information.
I have also learned to use Lexis Nexis searching for published articles as well as for locating people. I have used this tool for preparing for my next story; I will try to make an interview with Hungarian-born historian John Lukacs. I have already done the research and hope to meet him in the coming days.
Checking the facts and doing research is indispensable even when writing commentaries: I have learned this when commenting on the current government crises in Hungary that stems from the failed health care reform. Writing this piece, I have also learned something about how stories are structured in American journalism. This commentary will hopefully run sometime this week.
I started writing on the first Wednesday, when I had to contribute to a story about the weak dollar and how it affects travelers. I went to the international airport, and interviewed vacationers who were leaving for Europe. I was very happy that I could start writing that soon, and it was a useful and enjoyable start. It was a good example of what I will try to learn during my fellowship: how to give a human face to business stories.
I attended a hearing at the City Hall on that Friday with a journalist who covers city affairs. It was about plans to build two casinos in Philadelphia. The speakers included a professor who talked about the dangers of casinos to local communities, a representative of a civic group that opposed the plans, the deputy police commissioner of the city, representatives of the developers, and finally, the mayor. He also opposes the plans but there is a recent court decision that gave the final say to the state, which has already gave its permission. So the city seems to be unable to block building-up of these casinos on the shore of the Delaware River.
Beside two briefs, I wrote a story about a local oil company. I had to make telephone interviews,which gave me the chance to experience how difficult it is to make good notes with exact quotes. I will definitely need more practice on this.
Another important lesson about this story was to find out the importance of doing some research before making interviews. I have learned to use the archive of the Inquirer, and searching Yahoo finance for relevant background information.
I have also learned to use Lexis Nexis searching for published articles as well as for locating people. I have used this tool for preparing for my next story; I will try to make an interview with Hungarian-born historian John Lukacs. I have already done the research and hope to meet him in the coming days.
Checking the facts and doing research is indispensable even when writing commentaries: I have learned this when commenting on the current government crises in Hungary that stems from the failed health care reform. Writing this piece, I have also learned something about how stories are structured in American journalism. This commentary will hopefully run sometime this week.
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