Next, Brooks gave an interesting analogy of writers and editors.
"I would compare writers and editors to spoiled children and nursery teachers," Brooks said, followed by light laughter from the students. " The writers must be forced to sit in a circle and be told what to do and what they need to do differently."
Brooks said that, dispite the sad truth, it is usually the writers and not the editors who get the most recognition for the work put into a story. As he put it, writers get the glory and editors get the stress of the load.
"It's a powerful job," Brooks said about his editing position, "but editors have to work a very long time to get the same recognition that the writers have."
Continuing on the topic of editing, Brooks was asked a question about how editors respond to the negative rap they receive for being "negative critics." Brooks responded that most people automatically think that a negative critic is smarter because of all the flaws they point out. He then asks why is it, then, that some suggest journalism is becoming a negative thing?
"It's pretty illogical," Brooks said. "It doesn't make sense... especially if you look at the statistic that says 80% of our country thinks we are headed in the wrong direcion."
Towards the end of the Q & A, a student asked, again, about the fate of the next generation. And, once again, Brooks had a compelling answer. He said that twenty or thirty years ago, when asked if they would be better off if they ran away from home, 60% of children and young adults said yes. However, in 2000, when asked if they thought they had a good relationship with their parents, 92% said yes.
"All of them may not have told the whole truth about a good relationship, but at least they would like to," Brooks said in a hopeful voice. "So, I think this is a very good sign that our children feel safer at home and have good relationships with their parents."
The Q & A ended up lasting about 50 minutes, but within that time that we all got to spend in the mind of a genius, I think we all took away something of great value.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Brooks Q & A
Brooks entered a room full of communication students, as well as their professors. There were some who sat in the front ready to take dilegent notes, some who were there purely there for extra credit, and there were a select few Digital Com students, including myself, who were seated in the back row with laptops ready to "live-blog" about what Brooks said.
Then, the various questioning began.
One student asked about the print newspaper industry's future, to which Brooks replied that print newspapers in New York are suffering at the hands of an ever-growing online industry. He said that the number of print newspapers in New York has dropped from 10 to 3 in just a few years, but that our nation as a whole is reading more news than ever... only it's online instead of actual newspapers.
Brooks was also asked about blogging. He said that, even though he blogs on a regular basis about things going on in the political world, by the time he ends up writing about a presidential debate (or something like it), one of the millions of other bloggers out there has already blogged about it.
He quotes, "Every day I try to interview a least three people about political action, but do people really look at political blogs?"
Referring to his many connections in the political world, Brooks shared some of his own stories about his relationship with presidential candidate John McCain.
"McCain is a very smart and fun guy to be with," said Brooks. "He doesn't care how he looks and his office is a mess," Brooks said with a chuckle.
Brooks mentioned how McCain's forte is foreign policy. He knows a large number of foreign leaders, resulting in his detailed knowledge of foreign policy heavily outweighing his focus on domestic policies. Brooks mentioned in raw political terms that, because of our nation's need for focus in foreign policy, if a generic republican ran against a generic democrat, the democrat would win 60:40. In Brooks' opinion, the remaining candidates in this year's election will be McCain and Obama.
After a large dose of political jargon, Brooks was asked a number of very interesting questions about our American society as a whole and what he thought about the fate of the next generation.
"There has been a big debate about whether Americans are corrupted by suburban life," Brooks said. "But I think suburban life has helped our nation get out of the rut it's been in for the past thirty years."
To support this, he explained that, in today's society, not as many teenagers and children are wanding the streets or attempting to run away from their family, and parents are home with their kids more often. Not only this, but the divorce rate has gone down significantly in suburb areas.
After debating with myself for a few minutes, I decided to ask Brooks a question as well. I asked him what he thought about the ethics of blogging in today's uproar of online journalism and whether or not he thought that "civic journalists", or bloggers, should be considered actual journalists.
"Some bloggers really don't know what they're talking about because they have very little strategy," he said. "But I'll blog every so often because I have a perspective that they don't."
He added that, realistically, online journalism is where reporting and journalism is headed, and he said he thought we should all take every "journalist's" ideas with a grain of salt.
Then, the various questioning began.
One student asked about the print newspaper industry's future, to which Brooks replied that print newspapers in New York are suffering at the hands of an ever-growing online industry. He said that the number of print newspapers in New York has dropped from 10 to 3 in just a few years, but that our nation as a whole is reading more news than ever... only it's online instead of actual newspapers.
Brooks was also asked about blogging. He said that, even though he blogs on a regular basis about things going on in the political world, by the time he ends up writing about a presidential debate (or something like it), one of the millions of other bloggers out there has already blogged about it.
He quotes, "Every day I try to interview a least three people about political action, but do people really look at political blogs?"
Referring to his many connections in the political world, Brooks shared some of his own stories about his relationship with presidential candidate John McCain.
"McCain is a very smart and fun guy to be with," said Brooks. "He doesn't care how he looks and his office is a mess," Brooks said with a chuckle.
Brooks mentioned how McCain's forte is foreign policy. He knows a large number of foreign leaders, resulting in his detailed knowledge of foreign policy heavily outweighing his focus on domestic policies. Brooks mentioned in raw political terms that, because of our nation's need for focus in foreign policy, if a generic republican ran against a generic democrat, the democrat would win 60:40. In Brooks' opinion, the remaining candidates in this year's election will be McCain and Obama.
After a large dose of political jargon, Brooks was asked a number of very interesting questions about our American society as a whole and what he thought about the fate of the next generation.
"There has been a big debate about whether Americans are corrupted by suburban life," Brooks said. "But I think suburban life has helped our nation get out of the rut it's been in for the past thirty years."
To support this, he explained that, in today's society, not as many teenagers and children are wanding the streets or attempting to run away from their family, and parents are home with their kids more often. Not only this, but the divorce rate has gone down significantly in suburb areas.
After debating with myself for a few minutes, I decided to ask Brooks a question as well. I asked him what he thought about the ethics of blogging in today's uproar of online journalism and whether or not he thought that "civic journalists", or bloggers, should be considered actual journalists.
"Some bloggers really don't know what they're talking about because they have very little strategy," he said. "But I'll blog every so often because I have a perspective that they don't."
He added that, realistically, online journalism is where reporting and journalism is headed, and he said he thought we should all take every "journalist's" ideas with a grain of salt.
David Brooks and his visit to Berry College
Brooks does an interview for Viking Vision
After all I had heard about David Brooks' accomplishments and political connections, I was somewhat surprised when I met him for the first time. He was gracious enough to be apart of an interview that our campus news station, Viking Vision, was conducting about his experiences as a big-time New York Times editor. He was dressed in typical professional garb, but his friendly smile made him seem at first glance anything but intimidating. I ran the camera during the interview with one of our reporters, and his willingness to answer even personal questions about his family and hobbies only made him even more likable as a person. The interview went on for almost an hour, and putting up with cameras all around you, as well as the glare of a spotlight in the face, was very gracious of Brooks. It showed me that even our insignificant campus news station meant something to him.
After all I had heard about David Brooks' accomplishments and political connections, I was somewhat surprised when I met him for the first time. He was gracious enough to be apart of an interview that our campus news station, Viking Vision, was conducting about his experiences as a big-time New York Times editor. He was dressed in typical professional garb, but his friendly smile made him seem at first glance anything but intimidating. I ran the camera during the interview with one of our reporters, and his willingness to answer even personal questions about his family and hobbies only made him even more likable as a person. The interview went on for almost an hour, and putting up with cameras all around you, as well as the glare of a spotlight in the face, was very gracious of Brooks. It showed me that even our insignificant campus news station meant something to him.
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