Tenacious Reporting 101

exposing the truth and breaking it down for the public is an important responsibility that lies on the back of the media. Steve Andrews is one of the many tenacious reporters who do just this. Unlike some in the business, Andrews gets his answers without screaming, without pestering and without anger.

Then how? Well, with kindness.

One of the points made by Andrews that I found to be important for the world of reporting we live in today is the importance of being respectable. No matter how much a subject may need to be pushed, like Andrews said, the unwillingness of a wrong-doer to cooperate will expose them to the audience without the extra push of any journalist.

The perfect example of this was demonstrated in his investigation of Workforce, a public organization spending taxpayer's dollars on The Cheesecake Factory and other unnecessary food purchases. Talk about gluttony at it's best.

Simply showing officials like Rhonda Storms receipts was enough to get her to understand the seriousness of the problem, another form of "let your interviewee do the talking." Once Andrews showed her the papers, she took it from there with explaining how she felt. There are so many simple things a reporter can easily make habit to be the best at their job. Kindness and silence being two of them.

A third? Preparation. "When you approach someone, have questions prepared, atleast 3." said Andrews. The worst thing you could do is look unprepared because you fail to do your research before an interview. It's an easy step that can avoid a huge embarrassment. When Andrews approached the Workforce president, not only was she avoiding the well-prepared questions but she let the audience see her break. The saying "kill 'em with kindness" never goes out of style.

I really took a lot from this meeting with Andrews because not only did he put everything so simply, but he spoke common sense. Being kind, a good listener and prepared are skills we should carry into our everyday lives, not just journalism. It is good to know there is still a job out there that will only allow you to be good at what you do with these three attributes. This makes it easy to understand why ethics plays a big role in our line of profession-because no one likes a mean, unprepared-talker.