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Topic: Don't trust me?
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| Author | Message |
| ninakix | Posted – 9/18/2005 4:26:42 PM | show profile I've been at my internship for about a month now and I was surprised to see that my bosses give me the questions to ask sources for various assignments. I realize that they know a lot more about interviewing than I do, but it is somewhat dissapointing to not have the opportunity to at least try and see if I could do it on my own. I've had previous internships with plenty of clips and usually they allow me to ask my own questions. Should I ask them to let me at least help them develop the questions? Or should I just wait untill they have more faith and eventually let me do it on my own? thanks |
| bseidner | Posted – 9/18/2005 4:39:01 PM | show profile In addition to the questions they want you to ask, tell them the other ones you've thought of, and they'll probably say, good, ask those too or some such. I'd continue to take their questions (frankly, if I were supervising an intern I'd be telling the person to be sure to ask [fill in] and [fiill in], but I certainly wouldn't mind an intern asking other questions if they were on point. The editors just want to make sure you cover certain points. Don't get overly sensitive about this. Editors are always telling reporters to cover [fill in] and [fill in]. It has nothing to do with trust. They just want to be sure certain things are in the story. |
| Upward Bound | Posted – 9/19/2005 11:26:38 AM | show profile I agree with bseidner. Don't be offended if your editors give you questions to ask. It's their job to shape the magazine's content. (This is a magazine internship, right?) As an editor, I always try to give my writers, even the very experienced ones, a series of questions to get them started. It's not uncommon for and editor and a writer to have a different understanding of the direction a story is supposed to take. Providing questions can help reduce or eliminate the need for rewrites down the road. Think of it this way: Would you really want to spend a lot of time and effort on a story only to find out that you focused on the wrong angle? I'd be more worried about an editor who doesn't trust you to do a rewrite based on her suggestions and instead turns your draft into something entirely different without consulting you. If if makes you feel better, look over your editor's suggested questions and then say something like: ''Thanks for the questions. They confirm that I'm envisioning the article the same way you are.'' That way you hint that you know what your doing in a less confrontational way that shows you're a team player. Then you can say something like, ''I was also planning on asking these questions,'' to show that you are capable of thinking independently. Just don't start a pissing contest with your editor. Chances are here suggestions weren't meant as a sign that you can't be trusted. ------ Never take no for an answer! (At least not without putting up a good fight...) |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 9/19/2005 1:09:37 PM | show profile | email poster I agree that they are not doing this out of distrust. Even when I have started new full-time jobs, editors have given me sample questions lists to get me started. I think these are the kinds of editors who are going to actually HELP you learn and advance in your career - I'd actually be wary if internship supervisors did NOT give you any direction at all. I'm assuming that, because it's an internship, that you are fairly new to journalism and may not have even had a full-time job yet. Your supervisors know this, and they are just trying to help you learn. Be appreciative of their efforts to help mold you into a better writer. That's their job as your supervisors in an internship! With that in mind, do what was suggested - use their questions, and tell them, these are some of the others I had thought of. If you show them you are taking initiative, they will be impressed and will probably give you tougher assigments - and hopefully keep you in mind for a full-time job. |
| ninakix | Posted – 9/19/2005 1:49:04 PM | show profile Thank you all so much for the replies! The place I am interning is a weekly. I just wasn't sure because at the previous newspapers/magazines they had different managing styles. It's just a manner of experiencing different ways of doing things. Mostly they'd just hope I didn't sink. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't an exception to the rule :) . |
| ninakix | Posted – 9/19/2005 1:49:05 PM | show profile Thank you all so much for the replies! The place I am interning is a weekly. I just wasn't sure because at the previous newspapers/magazines they had different managing styles. It's just a manner of experiencing different ways of doing things. Mostly they'd just hope I didn't sink. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't an exception to the rule :) . |
| clairezulkey | Posted – 9/19/2005 5:34:34 PM | show profile | email poster Don't sweat it, Nina. The biggest magazines I write for have editors say ''Ask him about x, y and z.'' Mostly to focus me on what they hope the tone of the piece will be. Your job is to wow your editor by digging deep and getting great details from these questions and asking fabulous follow-ups that no one would ever think of! ------ Editor of MBToolBox |
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