Moving Away from Journalism to PR then back to Journalism
The process of news gathering and reporting from the POV of an aspiring Public Relations Practitioner
With pure and hopeful intentions, I drove to Uncle Bobbie’s Cafe with a bit skeptism…cognitive dissonance indeed. As I made my way to the cafe to particpate in the Listening Post Activity, I was dreading the thought of bothering cafe customers for the purpose of getting them to assist me with the development of my news story for class. On the other hand, I was hopeful to meet people and spend time in the cafe.
Once I arrived to Uncle Bobbie’s, I waited paitently for my super eager and ambitious professor who was bringing promotional materials that would help explain the Listening Post to potential interviewees. My professor gave me a pep talk about greeting customers and trying to encourage them to help with the news story. I began to feel myself getting a bit anxious, but not becuase I was nervous or shy rather that I didn’t want to intrude on a stranger’s space and ask them to do something for me.
My professor asked me to practice my greeting with her before heading into the cafe. I said something to the exent of “Hi! My name is Raigan and I’m a graduate student at Temple University. I was wondering if I can get a moment of your time to discuss a news story I’m working on related to the economic reality of Philadelphians for WHYY Radio and The Listening Post Collective”. More information on what I needed the customer to do and the concept of Listening Post was also shared. Based on the responses I got from customers, I guessing my speal wasn’t that enticing. Plus, the atomsphere in Uncle Bobbie’s had a studious vibe that day becasue everyone was literally working on their laptops or reading.
All in all, one out of three customers stopped what they were doing to talk to me. All three agreed to particpate but only one person actually came over to the Listening Post. This particpant was a student from Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), a university where I work. The student didn’t really provide an impactful quote I could use for my story. But I definitely appreciate her taking the time to help me with the activity. Although her statement was brief, it confirmed my idea that students are worried about money and surviving once they’re away from home. Her response can be used to build a story idea. Additionally, since I have her contact information, I may follow up with her for a more depth interview.
In brief, this experience was not a success for me in terms of capturing audio to use in a story. My objection and disposition against the journalism field partly clouded my experience. Sophomore year in undergrad, I changed my major from Print Journalism to Broadcasting and finally settled on PR and Advertising. As it occurs to me, PR is a more involved and impactful field because you get to be creative and collaborative with information dissmenation, messaging, programming, etc. It entails more behind the scenes the work that can also steal the show. Since sophomore year, I was determined to never write another news story or stalk people for quotes and information. I’m just uncomfortable with the idea of asking people questions who don’t want to be bothered.
The Listening Post activity confirmed my stance on my career choice, PR. I also don’t see this Listening Post as a genuine form of community engagement. Before doing the activity, I imagined that it would have a similar effect as it did for journalist Jesse Hardman that he described in his article, “Listening is a Revolutionary Act: Part 1” . I was looking for a solid community engagment component that fostered long term relationships between the journalist and the community. However, I find the Listening Post to be like a one stop method in which you visit the community once, get information, and leave. I don’t see how the Listening Post at Uncle Bobbie’s is long-term and impactful community engagement. What are we giving back to the community after this? How will we keep them included in our writing? Etc.
