"In covid, it's already important to distinguish fact from fiction, and for journalists it's even more important."
--Maya Mastropasqua-6th grade
COVID-19, has impacted so many different aspects of our lives including jobs, school, and social interactions. Today, let’s look at one job in particular— being a journalist. A journalist's job is to inform, and educate the public. How has that changed in quarantine? Is it harder? Easier? The same?
David Kligman is the editor for PG&E Daily Digest, an online publication for the company’s 23,000 employees. Kligman is currently working on a story which discusses Guy Fieri's recent visit to their basecamp.
During the fires, PG&E employees were helping out, and as thanks Guy Fieri came and cooked them a delicious meal. Ideas for the story come from a few different places, Kligman stated, including,“My boss, the news, or when somebody mentions an idea”. You may be wondering: with all those ideas, how does he choose? “It’s all a balancing act,” he said, “you can’t do everything. I want my stories to be interesting, I want people to read them. When I write I want to tell a story. I want to create some sort of emotion in you, but sprinkle some facts in it.”
With information changing so much during these crazy times, Kligman said he often has to change his approach mid article because new information came out. “A lot of times we write a story, and we hold on to it, because there is something more important going on, and information changes,” he said.
But when starting to write an article, with the internet filled with misinformation, how do journalists know which sources to trust to get their information from? Well according to Kligman, “If you're not sure if something’s true or not, ask other people.” But he also added for non-negotiable things, that he’ll use wikipedia.
When asked if writing about Covid is necessary, he responded, “I think it’s the reality of people’s lives, right now. I think the information could be helpful. It’s a universal experience, so yes I think it’s an important thing.” In fact, he said he’d written a lot regarding Covid-19. He explained one article he’d recently written about a longtime PG&E employee who sewed face masks for black communities.
Sharon Sobotta is a reporter and anchor for Pacifica KPFA, as well as the Director of the Center for Women & Gender Equity at Saint Mary’s College of California. For her most recent story with KPFA, she interviewed people in the scholar strike, on how to resolve racism in the classroom, as well as people who were raising a mass protest across the country called” 60 day struggles.”
As for what she’d written having to do with Covid, Sobotta says, “I feel like everything is tying back to Covid now, in some way.” Like for the protests, people are exposing themselves to Covid-19.
One of the things she’s been doing is interviewing people around the world to see how they’re navigating with the pandemic. She’s also been looking into how the pandemic amplifies racism and the problems of mass incarceration, and our healthcare system. And there isn’t an exact number but everything she’s covered has some way been connected to Covid.
In terms of deciding what important issue to write about, Sobotta says, “I don’t feel like there could be an issue that’s more important than racial justice right now.” One of the things she’s doing as a journalist is looking to amplify marginalized voices. For example, when George Floyd was tragically killed by police officer Derek Chauvin, she felt really helpless seeing all the news heading, but not being able to do anything about it. So, she interviewed people in Minneapolis and amplified their voices.
“The short answer is, the things that strike a chord for me, if it's tugging at my heartstrings, then I feel like I need to do something,” she said. “I can’t solve the world’s problems, but I can shine a light on the issues.”
Sobotta knows her information is trustworthy through interviews. “When I interview people, they’re sharing their experiences, and I can trust that,” she explains. For other people who aren’t journalists going out, doing interviews, Sobotta’s advice is, “Just watching for the biases that people have, they’ll come through.”
How important is it to Sobotta to write about Covid? She thinks it’s really important. It’s amplified all the social problems that were already existing. For example, the healthcare system, and the prison system, and between the fires and covid, there’s a shortage of firefighters. Basically, we have this very cyclical system, and everything is connected to each other.
Christian Hankin is a journalist for The Chronicle. He is currently working on a video piece about a restaurant that's bouncing back from reopening with Covid restrictions.
A lot of Hankin’s ideas just come from seeing things in his everyday life, and wanting to learn more about it. “I think being a journalist, one of the coolest things about it is it allows you to be curious about everything,” he says. Or sometimes it’s tips from people saying things like,“hey this isn’t right” and then that’s where a reporter comes in and maybe finds something, or at least tells the story of what’s happening.
As a journalist he choses things that he thinks people should know, but also things he himself finds interesting. The way he knows if his sources are trustworthy, is in interviews he always makes sure to fact check. And for the internet, he uses these tips (and so should you): 1. You want to find out who’s publishing it. 2. If it’s something you’ve never heard of, and it’s like an advertisement, that's a red flag. 3. You all so want to make sure it has an author’s name attached to it. 4. Make sure whatever you’re reading has its own sources built into it.
As for, if it’s necessary to write about Covid, Christian thinks it definitely needs to be reported on, it’s unavoidable. But also that other non-covid related news is important. There are things being forgotten or just not covered because there isn’t enough space, one thing being the environment.
Coronavirus is, as you know, part of our lives. But these journalists have taught me not to study it as some separate phenomenon, but rather a part of our everyday lives.
David Kligman is the editor for PG&E Daily Digest, an online publication for the company’s 23,000 employees. Kligman is currently working on a story which discusses Guy Fieri's recent visit to their basecamp.
During the fires, PG&E employees were helping out, and as thanks Guy Fieri came and cooked them a delicious meal. Ideas for the story come from a few different places, Kligman stated, including,“My boss, the news, or when somebody mentions an idea”. You may be wondering: with all those ideas, how does he choose? “It’s all a balancing act,” he said, “you can’t do everything. I want my stories to be interesting, I want people to read them. When I write I want to tell a story. I want to create some sort of emotion in you, but sprinkle some facts in it.”
With information changing so much during these crazy times, Kligman said he often has to change his approach mid article because new information came out. “A lot of times we write a story, and we hold on to it, because there is something more important going on, and information changes,” he said.
But when starting to write an article, with the internet filled with misinformation, how do journalists know which sources to trust to get their information from? Well according to Kligman, “If you're not sure if something’s true or not, ask other people.” But he also added for non-negotiable things, that he’ll use wikipedia.
When asked if writing about Covid is necessary, he responded, “I think it’s the reality of people’s lives, right now. I think the information could be helpful. It’s a universal experience, so yes I think it’s an important thing.” In fact, he said he’d written a lot regarding Covid-19. He explained one article he’d recently written about a longtime PG&E employee who sewed face masks for black communities.
Sharon Sobotta is a reporter and anchor for Pacifica KPFA, as well as the Director of the Center for Women & Gender Equity at Saint Mary’s College of California. For her most recent story with KPFA, she interviewed people in the scholar strike, on how to resolve racism in the classroom, as well as people who were raising a mass protest across the country called” 60 day struggles.”
As for what she’d written having to do with Covid, Sobotta says, “I feel like everything is tying back to Covid now, in some way.” Like for the protests, people are exposing themselves to Covid-19.
One of the things she’s been doing is interviewing people around the world to see how they’re navigating with the pandemic. She’s also been looking into how the pandemic amplifies racism and the problems of mass incarceration, and our healthcare system. And there isn’t an exact number but everything she’s covered has some way been connected to Covid.
In terms of deciding what important issue to write about, Sobotta says, “I don’t feel like there could be an issue that’s more important than racial justice right now.” One of the things she’s doing as a journalist is looking to amplify marginalized voices. For example, when George Floyd was tragically killed by police officer Derek Chauvin, she felt really helpless seeing all the news heading, but not being able to do anything about it. So, she interviewed people in Minneapolis and amplified their voices.
“The short answer is, the things that strike a chord for me, if it's tugging at my heartstrings, then I feel like I need to do something,” she said. “I can’t solve the world’s problems, but I can shine a light on the issues.”
Sobotta knows her information is trustworthy through interviews. “When I interview people, they’re sharing their experiences, and I can trust that,” she explains. For other people who aren’t journalists going out, doing interviews, Sobotta’s advice is, “Just watching for the biases that people have, they’ll come through.”
How important is it to Sobotta to write about Covid? She thinks it’s really important. It’s amplified all the social problems that were already existing. For example, the healthcare system, and the prison system, and between the fires and covid, there’s a shortage of firefighters. Basically, we have this very cyclical system, and everything is connected to each other.
Christian Hankin is a journalist for The Chronicle. He is currently working on a video piece about a restaurant that's bouncing back from reopening with Covid restrictions.
A lot of Hankin’s ideas just come from seeing things in his everyday life, and wanting to learn more about it. “I think being a journalist, one of the coolest things about it is it allows you to be curious about everything,” he says. Or sometimes it’s tips from people saying things like,“hey this isn’t right” and then that’s where a reporter comes in and maybe finds something, or at least tells the story of what’s happening.
As a journalist he choses things that he thinks people should know, but also things he himself finds interesting. The way he knows if his sources are trustworthy, is in interviews he always makes sure to fact check. And for the internet, he uses these tips (and so should you): 1. You want to find out who’s publishing it. 2. If it’s something you’ve never heard of, and it’s like an advertisement, that's a red flag. 3. You all so want to make sure it has an author’s name attached to it. 4. Make sure whatever you’re reading has its own sources built into it.
As for, if it’s necessary to write about Covid, Christian thinks it definitely needs to be reported on, it’s unavoidable. But also that other non-covid related news is important. There are things being forgotten or just not covered because there isn’t enough space, one thing being the environment.
Coronavirus is, as you know, part of our lives. But these journalists have taught me not to study it as some separate phenomenon, but rather a part of our everyday lives.
