As cliché as it sounds, it feels like just days ago that I was reading the Washington Reporting 2.0 stories from former Medill reporters and was wowed by their “insider” experience and impressive clips.
Based on my three-month experience, here’s a short, straightforward pep talk, just the way Washingtonians prefer.
1) Don’t waste anyone’s time
As hackneyed as it sounds, it is plainly true and I learned the hard way. I once chased down a government agency’s top official and after a series of phone calls with a spokeswoman, she finally squeezed me in for a five-minute meeting with the senior official. As I started our conversation with an open-ended question to get a lively quote, he was bothered by a no-name reporter taking his precious time and was reluctant to share with me other than just talking points.
In Washington reporting, set up an interview with a high authority only for information he or she can give. For other business, spokesman and woman will fill you in whether you are a New York Times reporter or a neophyte journalist.
2) Pay attention to “water cooler” conversations
In my first weeks of reporting in Washington, I was bombarded with the overwhelming amount of news across the nation, and my strategy to stand out from the competing media coverage was to focus on certain topics within my beat area. Although specialization is as important as for a starter journalist, it is easy to get caught up in what’s happening in his or her beat area and miss the big picture.
An easy solution is to pay attention to everyday conversation with fellow reporters in the newsroom, at the reporting site and all the places in between. Places like the bar or the subway. This helps reporters hone their news judgment.
3) Aim for long-term relationships with sources
Beyond the high officials in government, Washington offers a plethora of sources from think tank experts to institutional analysts to nonprofit activists. To go beyond getting a punchy quote, a seasoned journalist would keep in touch with those reliable sources on a regular basis to cultivate further trustworthy relationships. And to listen.
As glamorous as Washington reporting looks, there’s no shortcut for journalists here. Just like anywhere else.
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Yewon Kang is a business reporter for Medill News Service and will graduate from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a master’s degree in December. Kang begins interning with NPR in Washington in January.