February 28th Workshop with Lisa Ling

We had a great journalism workshop today hosted by special guest Lisa Ling. Ling is a journalist, television presenter, and author. She is currently the host of This Is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN. Ling discussed her work and provided great tips on interviewing. Her main message was that the more we know about other people, the better we are as human being.

Below are some of our reflections from the workshop.

 

 

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Clara – 28 February 2019

There were so many things that I learned from Ms. Lisa Ling.  She is an accomplished television journalist, and she is now hosting a show called This is Life With Lisa Ling, (CNN).

I think that if there were ten things that I learned from Ms. Ling, I would say what she taught us about journalism.  She said never to back down or get nervous around people who intimidate us. She told us that it isn’t bad to ask people to elaborate.  One of the most important things that she said was sometimes it’s ok to go off book, meaning that if you think of interesting questions, ask them.  If you don’t get to all of your questions, that’s alright. If it feels awkward and strange, it isn’t going right. An interview should flow naturally, like a conversation.  And lastly, always thank them for their time, because every important politician has somewhere to be, and it is so important to be polite.

Ms. Ling is an amazing woman, and it was an honor to listen to her speak.

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Ava – February 28, 2019

Advice For An Interview

Lisa Ling is a mother and a journalist. She started working for a show called Channel One News when she was 18 years old. Channel One News changed her life It was a great opportunity, and she got to travel all over the world. She is a very curious person who thinks that every story becomes the most important when she is working on it. Through Channel One News, she thinks that she learned to interview. At age 21, she went with Red Cross to Afghanistan. There was a war happening in Afghanistan at the time, and she was in shock. She thought to herself as she saw young boys with weapons, “What is their story? How am I so immune?” When she went back to America she found out that lots of people didn’t even know, even though America had a big part in this. She thought, “How does no one know?” That was one of her favorite experiences that really made her feel alive and compelled to be a part of journalism. Lisa Ling really likes to get to know someone who is different than her. She had a desire to know more, and that made her want to be a journalist.

Her list of suggestions for doing in an interview:

1. Be a good listener

2. Have a list of questions

3. Ask great follow up questions

4. Try to ask questions that aren’t yes or no questions.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask why because you will get a better answer

6. Push people to give you more

7. Ask questions from their questions

8. Think, “Am I obtaining enough information to write about the interview

9. Dig in more if they are passionate

10. Ask where the desire came from

11. Ease in to it if they’re sensitive

12. Thank them for their time

13. Take a breath

14. Don’t get in there immediately

15. Don’t be afraid to ask

16. Research to be confident

17. Have a sense of the story you want to tell

18. Go to a quiet place

19. Write something different

20. Care

21. Keep a neutral sense

22. Give them an opportunity to answer

23. Appreciate differences

24. Be open-ended

25. Don’t be too broad

26. Get the nuggets in your notes

Lisa Ling taught us many things on interviewing that will really help us on our Washington DC trip. I think the most important is to listen and that will help you achieve the other things. I appreciate her help and her inspirational story.

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Monica –  February 28, 2019

“I wanted to share what is going on in the world to a larger audience,” Lisa Ling recently said while talking about why she wanted to become a journalist. Lisa Ling grew up outside of Sacramento with not enough money to travel. She began working on TV when she was 16 and working as a journalist at age 18. When she was 21 she went to Afghanistan with the Red Cross. There she saw young boys carrying weapons, some larger than themselves. Some of these products were made and sold by the US. This experience inspired her to share these problems with the rest of the world. In a recent interview with Lisa she gave us tips to help us better our journalist skills.

1. Try to make the person you are interviewing feel comfortable

2. Try to find a quiet place where you can interview without too many disruptions

3. You should always try to ask more open ended questions so you are not just getting yes or no answers

4. Be able to go with the flow and not depend to heavily on your questions

5. Ask questions that follow up with the person you are interviewing answers

6. Try to dig deeper and get more personal answers