"I have adventures. That's how I see my role."
We're fortunate for this week's episode of The Journalism Salute to be able to draw upon the wisdom and experience of 35+ year journalism veteran John Glionna, book author and former writer for The Los Angeles Times (find his stories here). His most recent book is a collection of features, Rebels and Outliers, Real Stories of the American West.
In the book, John profiles fascinating people and locations with colorful description and apt wording. One day he's profiling the night watchman at Alcatraz or Golden Gate bridge jumpers. The next, he's answering the phone at a booth in the Mojave Desert. And then he's headed to Wyoming to talk to a cross-dresser in a state that doesn't like them very much.
I made it a point as often as I good in this interview to collect tips from John that could be used by teachers, students, and current journalists.
Here are a few:
Follow your instincts to find stories
When I arrived in Seoul, South Korea. I didn't know anything about South Korean culture. I had an assistant who spoke Korean. She was my translator. And when I was out on the streets of Seoul, a very cosmopolitan city, I would see these figures on the pavement, and they were usually dressed in black leather and they were crawling along on their elbows and pushing a donation cup in front of them.
I call 'em The Seal Men of Seoul. And I went out and did a story about one. I stayed with him all day and. On a Friday night with my fellow colleagues, they chastised me saying I got to Seoul and a week later I've got a story that nobody else had.”
The blank page is your friend
"Everybody is a bit terrified of the blank screen and you're sitting there and the blank screen's not your enemy.
It is the canvas. You know what you're writing and you've got this material and especially the older you get and the more you've done it, the more if you're thinking about that lede on the way in the car and you're back and you kind of have an image, just start writing the image and the rest will take care of yourself."
Good writing is meant to be heard
“ What happens when you take a piece of a written story and you read it out loud, you become an actor on a stage and you are reciting it, and you can tell the nuances of sentences. You could say, oh that ends on kind of a strange note that my eyes didn't see, but my ear can hear … I look at how a sentence sounds to my ear.”
John is a willing mentor with lots more advice for journalists of all levels.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.
Enjoy the episode!