By Deepak Adhikari
Reporter, Nepal Weekly
Kathmandu, Nepal
Hosted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When I was asked to write a reflective essay on my fellowship experience, I took stock of my blog entries and essay on fellowship goals. I also pondered over a question of almost existential proportion: Why am I here? What have I achieved? Thanks to the notion of maintaining a blog that reflects the training, it has become easier to look back.

Looking back, I found out that the learning process began with the orientation seminar in Washington, DC. The boot camp run by Reginald Stuart not only opened my eyes but also helped me prepare for an entry to the American newsroom, in my case the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Back in Nepal, journalists tend not to be serious about precise quotes. Most of the reporters present only one side of the story. I learned that it is important to maintain accuracy not only in facts but also in quotes.

At the Post-Gazette newsroom in Pittsburgh, I found myself surrounded by reporters willing to help me all the time. I learned how to keep in mind the reader’s question. Again, back home, we think the readers are a passive lot; they need to be educated. The focus on the readers—what they will be looking for in a piece—is something missing from the newspapers in Nepal. The editors at P-G often asked: what do our readers need to know, why is it important for them? I am impressed by this reader-centric approach.

In early April, as Nepal was holding elections for Constituent Assembly, I approached P-G’s international section with the idea of writing an analytical piece on Nepal. I was not very sure the idea would be accepted. But it was published on April 6, four days ahead of the election. Later, in late May, I spent an evening at the International section with its editor Hugh Cutler. I was curious to know how he selected news amid the plethora coming from around the world. Even though the Post-Gazette has reduced its international coverage, I found it still an outward looking newspaper. Mr. Cutler explained to me that he asks himself why the news is important to American readers. He said the international section provides the readers the window to the outside world.

Even though it was established just two years ago, the multimedia section of the Post-Gazette is vibrant. I was fortunate enough to spend a week with the brilliant multimedia reporters. During my brief stint there, I learned how to shoot video and how to focus on sound while shooting. I also attended the Keystone Multimedia Workshop where I honed those skills. After coming to the United States, my conviction that newspapers should establish and/or upgrade the multimedia section only grew stronger. In Nepal, newspaper websites publish mostly the contents of the print versions. The emphasis is more on print editions. But as consumer habits in urban areas are changing (more people text message and check emails), it’s high time for the media industry to think outside of the box. I would suggest to my editors that they invest in the future with multimedia. I would offer my experience as a way to establish such a section.

Down in Florida at the Poynter Institute, many of my misconceptions related to writing and reporting were dispelled. I was thinking all along that news writing is a three-part process: story idea, reporting and writing. Roy Peter Clark, vice-president at the Institute, opened my eyes when he said sniffing comes before story ideas. Then, he elaborated on the writing process while talking about writing not as rules but tools. His workbench of 50 writing tools is a prized possession. The process, to my surprise, went like this: sniffing--story idea--outlining--reporting--draft--revision. We in Nepal hardly do the last. There are reporters who can not look back at their copy. They frown upon the idea of revision. Here I learned how significant revision is.

I would like to take this important idea back home. The idea is to approach writing as a craft. I plan to organize a workshop in Nepal based on my training at the Poynter. There, I will be sharing many reporting and writing techniques I learned at Poynter.

Talking about training workshops, I will hold a daylong workshop in Kathmandu where I will provide hand outs to the participants. The workshop, "Reporting and Writing Tools", will be modeled after Roy Peter Clark's 50 writing tools. I would invite a group of about fifteen young journalists mainly from the vernacular press and discuss 10 relevant tools. I would do this for two reasons. These reporters are the foot soldiers of Nepali press yet they hardly get any training. For this workshop, I will invite former Friendly Fellows Ghanashyam Ojha and Surendra Phuyal to speak on how the fellowship brought about changes in their career. Mr. Ojha is a senior reporter at the Kathmandu Post and Mr. Phuyal is a Nepal correspondent for BBC Nepali service. Their expertise and experience will be enriching for the participants. I will hold the workshop in November 2008.

I would hold a presentation in my newsroom immediately after I resume my work at Nepal Weekly. Recently, a lot of changes have taken place in the Kantipur Publications, the publisher of my magazine. The editor of Nepal Weekly has been appointed the chief editor of Kantipur Daily, Nepal’s most influential newspaper. As the former assistant editor of the magazine has been promoted to editor, he has been holding discussions on how to improve the magazine. He has mailed me asking for suggestions. I will describe to my colleagues what I have learned on the fellowship. I have books for my newsroom that I will circulate among colleagues.

I’ve had a terrific time working at the Post-Gazette. This has been an incredible experience and the lessons I learned here will surely help me in the future. I am even more motivated to pursue my career than I have ever been. Although the bad news in American newspapers—the buy-outs, the lay offs—sent a chill down my spine (some of the people I worked with have been bought out), my sojourn at the Post-Gazette and the overall fellowship has reassured me that journalism is a noble calling. And, I am committed to pursuing it.