Why I'm a Journalist

July 16, 2016, Ankara, Turkey. It’s the night after a failed coup attempt rocked the nation and I’m ready to see the conditions on the ground. Pro-Erdogan rallies are planned for dusk, so I make my way to the city center remembering my conservative taxi driver’s favorite phrase, “ya Allah bismillah Allahu’ekber,” or “my dear God, in the name of God, God is greater.” Along the way I purchase a Turkish flag and grab a red hat from the dump trucks distributing them to the crowds. As a white American I’ll be easily noticed, but these symbols should help. For the summer I’m interning at the U.S. Embassy, but today if anyone asks I’m a student learning Turkish at a nearby university. On the streets I see flattened cars, bullet holes and even blood that has yet to be washed away. I talk with police and locals to get a feel for the environment. Entering the crowds there are checkpoints attempting to protect against suicide bombers, a real threat given attacks weeks earlier at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul. The rally turns out to be relatively safe and I leave grateful to have seen some history with my own eyes.

Looking back on that summer in Ankara, reminds me that part of why I like revealing a good story is that it means I get to be in one. Being in the core, the center of the action, it's what fuels me. That’s where I thrive and that’s what journalism done right is.

As a freshman in college majoring in business I remember being very unhappy with my educational experience. I had just finished years of balancing AP classes and rigorous athletics in high school only to find myself in basic economics, accounting and civics classes all over again. I yearned for something intellectually satisfying, so I took a quarter off from business classes and selected ones I might find interesting. I enrolled in news reporting and writing, philosophy and psychology. Philosophy and psychology were intellectually stimulating, but news reporting and writing showed me a lifestyle that was satisfying. I thrived going straight to the source, learning, formulating, and then producing content. Going out into the world to search for answers directly proved much more satisfying, and fascinatingly, I was learning more from producing content than I was consuming it.

Specifically, I've found that I do my best work when I am passionate about what I am doing, when I believe in what I am doing and when what I am doing requires me to use my strengths. Typically, this work is a mix of research, analysis and execution. For example, prior to a guest coming on my radio show I will spend time conducting background research and preparing questions. This preparation is crucial to the quality of the segment, but it is not everything. Once live on air the most important thing is to connect quickly and on a personal level with my guest. If I don’t have that then I don’t have anything. While on air I have to think on my feet and turn the research and analysis in my head into an entertaining segment the listener will enjoy. It is during those moments of pressure, creativity, and social engagement that I do my best work and feel most fulfilled.

As grad school comes to a close, I am eager to earn my place with skills that merit a career rather than a hobby. But in an unstable and ever-shifting media landscape skill won't be all of it. The age of the influencer has brought with it a new standard bearer: authenticity.

So as I set out to explore, expose, inform, and entertain others, that principle will guide me. The best journalists, like the best influencers embody the full spectrum of humanity, attempting objectivity, but not feigning it, showing their emotions, but not forcing them.

My interest in broadcast talk show formats, like podcasting, provides just that opportunity. As a broadcaster, you have the privilege of not just reporting the news, but interpreting it, something I emphasize as "often more important than the news itself."

Now it's time to get after it and go get it. Here we go.