This On the Media Podcast caught my attention because 1) Well, she's adorable 2) The tag-line piqued my curiosity as to how she "unconventionally got into journalism" and 3) I remember somewhere back in the far recesses of my grey-matter that our Professor considered her "Goddess material among journalists." What kind of person could merit such status? At any-rate, Mrs. Gladstone (technically Kaplan) did not disappoint.
I always find it interesting people who do not work in the career that they received their college diploma. By her own admission she was a washed up theater graduate by age 23. But she met a guy that for some reason or another thought she could write. (I would actually like to hear an interview with him, what struck him about her to conjure such a suggestion?) Since she had just recently been fired from a job, she figured she had nothing to lose, so she proceeded to write her first article about MX missiles. One thing lead to another and the rest is history as they say. She has now been in the field of journalism for over 20 years. Her journey to journalism is only an interesting prelude about Brooke. She not only doesn't work in the field she graduated in, she has been fired from every waitress job she's ever had, she self-sabotages herself when she gets bored at a job, she's terrible with money and her worst fear is (again) boredom, over and above living in poverty. I feel this girl on a spiritual level, and not just because I've been fired from every waitress job I've ever had, but boredom is HELL for me, literally.
This may be somewhat narcissistic, but I find people intriguing who are able to answer a somewhat elusive question I personally have, in simple terms. This interview with Brooke did this for me. I don't know about anyone else, but when Professor Young said that we needed to come up with three "compelling Facebook posts," did anyone else ask, "How do I know if something is compelling?" I am doing my Facebook page on my husband's invention The Rope Hog. It is a training tool for anyone who would like to become better at their chosen past-time (team, calf, or breakaway roping.) So of course, I have been asking myself for the last week, "What can I post that could possibly be compelling, that had anything to do with Rope Hog?" Honestly, other than funny team-roping Memes I didn't even remotely have a place to start, until Brooke. About halfway through the interview, Max Linsky asked her how she kept coming up with material after basically 21 years of journalism. She ever so eloquently replied, "Whenever my staff and I write material, I keep two questions in my mind, 'Why should we care?' in combination with 'How do we make this truly relevant?' These require quite a bit of soul searching." So she focuses, listens hard and holds fast to these two questions. Answering these questions is how she makes any topic they decide to write about compelling. Merry Christmas, and you're welcome. That's how I felt anyway, that I'd been given a gift. Thank you Brooke.
As Brooke has been writing about Media and its effects, Max asked her several questions about this medium. Max: "What is Social Media?"
Brooke: "Any way that people communicate with each other, from personal license plates to blogs."
Max: "Is Social Media a reflection of society or does it drive society?"
Brooke: "Reflection."
Haven't we heard this before when Professor Young asked us to monitor our Social Media feeds during the SOTU Address? I think during that assignment he asked us to notice how our Social Media frames how we think. I've thought a little bit about that assignment and well, I don't think my Facebook feed is a reflection of MY personal values but rather a reflection of my social circle of friends values. And since It's been about 25 years since I was in High School, my circle of friends is rather varied not just the 30 people or so I was in contact with in my High School. I am open to people's thoughts and opinions who don't necessarily think like me. I have friends that we disagree on many things on many levels; however, we respect each others opinions. So my Facebook feed is definitely a reflection of my many friends thoughts and values, not necessarily my own, and Brooke agrees.
One point that Brooke really hit home with me was about how she makes her work different, "Tons, tons, and tons of reading about the topic, and than hopefully I can come up with other questions other people haven't thought of, the other side." Brooke has a real, sort-of laser focus to her work. Her process: there is a topic, she asks her self two important questions, she reads everything about the topic, asks her self more questions that maybe others haven't thought of and then she edits. And then she edits again for clarity.
Brooke is a real respecter of other people's time. There is no fluff to her work, she does not want to waste anyone's time that has made the effort to listen to her show. Brooke has the self-awareness to acknowledge her biases, the experience to look outside herself, and the wherewithal to stand her ground. Professor Young and I may actually agree on something this semester, Brooke Gladstone is probably the closest thing to a Goddess as it pertains to journalists.
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