Investigative Journalism Camp

For the next week, this blog will take a new direction of covering my time at an investigative journalism camp in Connecticut. I will meet with some of the top people in the field.
I've met with Jim Wooten who worked with David Halberstam -- the guy the camp was created in memory of. He said that unless you have the burning fire in your belly for journalism and you know it is the only profession for you to go home because you wont do the profession any good.
I agree whole heartedly.
Ralph Nader then came in and said the same. He shook my hand and signed a book for me after I asked him a few questions about the "myth of a free press."
My favorite today is definitely Roberta Baskin though. She worked for national news -- CBS in particular, and left after she did an investigative piece on Nike. The producers took it off the air after its original running because a Nike/CBS deal before the Olympics. The CBS reps then more Nike apparel on the air. I think it is so brave of her to stand up against that and go to another news station. The best things about what she said though involved her ambitions as a reporter. She said she never gets boring stories because everywhere she goes she pitches so much her editors are too busy to give her anything. She assigns everything herself, therefore she gets to report exactly what she wants. This is so smart.
The FOIA lecture didn't hold my interest, but I know I should know it. I feel that the source: Alex Wood wasn't the best and couldn't convey the information in an interesting way, a skill which I'm beginning to realize it of utmost importance.
Another thing I'm learning that is of high importance is writing about marginalized groups. It is hard to think about since I write in Maine and New Hampshire, both of which are 99 percent white, but those are the types of stories which seem to make the most impact. Though Roberta discussed how she would never take an assignment that did not have a wide-spread impact. She also said she would never be "assigned" a story because she pitches so many to her editors -- ones she researched beforehand and know her editors would be interested in that they are too busy to assign her to anything she doesn't want to do. "Drivel" seems to be one of the largest chunks of people's clip books, this seems like a good way to resolve this.
One subject we have touched on which UMaine hasn't is the idea of journalistic independence. This seems radical to me, because although I have a sense of independence from my editors, papers and each institution's influences, I didn't know I was supposed to. It's a hard compromise between being independent and doing your job as a salary employee.
When I mentioned my problems with work and how I'm not particularly happy and not doing exactly what I want to do, I got some amazing advice from ABC World News' (and The New York Time's) Wooten who shouted "USE THEM. USE THEM. USE THEM." He told me to get the clips I want to get-- the ones that will take me to the paper I want to be at.
The main thing I'm taking away from this camp so far is that only the people who have real drive, intensity and "fire" make it in investigative journalism. It makes me more confident that I can succeed. Even surrounded by 24 others who were accepted into the same program, I'm still the most "intense."

*I will post my full notes from each workshop at a later date.