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| 2003 Reflections... | Reflections on American Journalism
By Szabolcs Töhötöm Tóth
“Whee. Sal, we gotta go and never stop going till we get there.”
Well, where did I want to go with this motto here? “Where we going, man?” “I don’t know but we gotta go.” —Jack Kerouac Yes, I just wanted to say, the most important thing for me will be to keep going on with the stuff I learned here. It is not the big goals that matter most, but the work I will do while trying to reach them. Of course, it is of utmost importance to set goals and make plans, and a lot of back-up plans, too, to reach them. But I guess the most important thing in using my new tool-box is the fact that I will use it. Goals But let’s see the secondary objective, these goals more specifically: 1. I guess, the most important things, at least for me, during my stay at The Globe were not what happened in the newsroom, but what happened outside of it. I mean, in the field while I was reporting a story or just digging up the secrets of American life. If I remember well, it was Roy Peter Clark at the Poynter Institute, who summed up what is now for me the golden rule of big reporting, saying: “Be prepared. Trust your first instincts and pay attention to the details.” This wisdom is so short and right on target that even an absent-minded guy like me will have no difficulty remembering it while reporting stories. In this regard being edited sometimes by Steve Wilmsen at The Globe, an editor who does have the writer’s perspective was a great experience. I remember my first assignment, the L Street Tavern story, how he demanded more and more details, how he asked what the men in the pub looked like, what they did, what they drank, how they spat on the bar, cursed, looked at women and how they gazed hopelessly into the big cruel third-generation Irish darkness from that watering hole in Southie. I was quite ashamed, because these were things I simply did not observe, having concentrated so hard and too much on what they said. So, although I will do mainly an editor’s job for a while at my home newspaper, this approach, both at Poynter and The Globe, was definitely something that has inspired me: I decided, at least in the long run, that reporting was what I wanted to do. 2. Talking about Roy's tool-box, we cannot avoid one point here: the necessity to pass down these great tools to other journalists, or, to a new generation of journalists. Finding senior colleagues — however great they are — often too stubborn and wicked in their own professional beliefs, I think my paper needs some sort of internship program. Now, what should it look like? I have the answer: The Globe has one of the best internship programs up and running, so there are lots of ideas I could use here. Of course, I will need other journalists involved in this, but I am sure my bosses will like the idea of setting up a program like that. 3. As I explained in September at the Poynter Institute, introducing a new correction policy is something that may seem a small technical issue only, but I feel it involves serious questions of quality and ethics. I believe a determined policy will have an effect on not only the credibility of the paper, but also on the quality of writing of those who work there. I very much believe that setting up a new correction policy at the newspaper, or at least a pilot program at the weekend magazine I edit, would dramatically change the paper for good. 4. Put together a stylebook. Yes, that again would be important to have at hand. It would be really beyond my means to edit one all alone, but now I think I can help set up a team of editors, copy editors and journalists, who can share their ideas and write that Bible for the editorial office on long, boring winter nights when nothing happens in town anyway. 5. Magyar Nemzet (my home paper) is about to change the software it uses in the editorial office for editing and writing pieces. Based on the experience I had with a professional news editing system here, I think I can contribute a lot to making a final decision on which software to order. Personal goals In the broader sense, of course, there are personal goals involved here, too. I am talking about goals now that do not really affect my paper, but rather my approach to journalism, the way I see and conduct my profession. First of all, I think I want to do and develop my stories more systematically. That means finding more sources and especially — I was writing about that in the first paragraphs — more details. I want to experiment with structures more confidently and cross some lines of traditional writing techniques, too. To do this, one needs a lot of expertise in traditional reporting, though. So, the emphasis is on the way of reporting. Obviously, Mr. Callahan was right on target in the very first weeks — the only problem is you will not really understand the importance of what he was saying until you change a little bit in the way you handle and approach people generally, and realize the need to tap the big stream of life for stories, rather than messing around with ‘experts’ and ‘senior officials’ who do not know anything about what is going on outside their offices anyway. Other people to involve Whom will I involve? Well, first off all, my notebook. Just to get back a little bit to the motto, it was not only Mr. Callahan that I drew this idea from, but as I read a long biography of and also a novel by Jack Kerouac, I was astonished to see how much he was able to recreate a special moment in his life, the smells, the colors, and above all characters on the scene. Well, he had a damn good memory — that is for sure. Nobody could compete with him, especially not me, being that my memory is so awful. But when I looked at the photos in his biography I realized, on some photos there was a small notebook sticking out from one of his pockets. “A-ha”, I said, “there we go!” I determined I had to take my notepad with me everywhere, regardless of whether I was on holiday or in pubs or at home. Of course it is important to involve other people in the creative process at some point. It was really amazing at The Globe how much editors (and not one editor) became involved in the writing process even before journalists hit a key on their keyboards. There is a constant discussion and update between editors and journalists and editors follow the development of the story since the very start (of course I am not writing about deadline stories). Well, as an editor, I want to improve in this regard, too. As a journalist, I will try and force myself to consult with people about my stories more before I finish up writing. To measure success is somewhat tricky, though. I think it has two parts. One is the feedback you get after you publish your work. This could mean valuable information but I guess you also have to be aware of the fact that feedback is often misleading and inadequate to deem the real value of your work. However dangerous it may be, I firmly believe that the most sincere judgment on your pieces will come from yourself. That is why the constant training and evolution of this ultimate judge is so important. And after all, the Friendly Fellowship proved to be an invaluable help in this regard. Thank you, Alfred!
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