To a cherub, no one is a stranger |
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It’s a simple lesson: Don’t talk to strangers. But cherubs at the National High School Institute – Journalism this summer had to try to ignore that lesson and get comfortable interviewing strangers for numerous reporting assignments. Roger Boye, director of the program, said getting interviews with strangers is hard but an important skill for journalists to have. Assignments give young journalists more chances to learn the skill and to practice. “Some people don’t like that,” Boye said of interviewing. “You have to start sometime talking to strangers.” Joe Buzzelli, of Lake Zurich, Ill., said, “It’s scary but a lot of times it can be rewarding. A lot of the time they’ll end up being a really legit person.” Andra Lim, of Orinda, Calif., can attest to that. During her first interview for an assignment, she met a former editor of the Chicago Tribune. “It was really intimidating. I just kind of froze. It was the worst interview I’ve ever done,” she said. “I felt really ashamed but it inspired me to get my act together.” |
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Taylor Long, of Indiana, Pa., didn’t like to interview strangers until she interviewed an Iraqi man who ran an ice cream truck for a story. The source offered her ice cream after the interview.
“Back home I never really interviewed strangers,” she said. “I interviewed my friends, probably more than I should have. I know my friends’ stories but sometimes a stranger has something interesting to offer. Like ice cream.”
Both Buzzelli and Long said of the practice boosted their confidence when interviewing strangers. They said they will feel more comfortable when interviewing strangers in the future, no matter where they are.
“This program has helped me overcome that fear,” Buzzelli said.
“I really like talking to strangers,” Long said. “It’s kind of inevitable that I’m going to have to talk to strangers at some point.”