Today was day two of the Mosaic adventure. We kicked it off in a fairly exciting fashion — with a scavenger hunt. Sal quizzed us on details buried in the depths of the newspaper, from big headlines like where Trump and Kim Jong Un met yesterday to yesterday’s price of gold ($1280.90 per troy ounce, if you were wondering).
After a breakfast spent discussing how exactly a Mini Cooper could get inside a living room in the first place, we moved on to Sal’s lecture: reporting. As compelling as the taglines of the cardinal rules were (“no S.O.B. journalism,” “get the name of the dog,” and my personal favorite — “if your mother says she loves you, get a second source”), the reasoning behind them was even more encapsulating. We learned that personal bias is no excuse for non-objective journalism (even when interviewing neo-Nazis). We also learned that no matter how important the story is, we must first help those in need — and then write the story.
Afterwards, we all piled back into the conference room to listen to the stories of David Early, a retired law and justice editor at The Mercury News. His voice and presence enveloped the entire room, and his manner of speech would’ve made even lint interesting. Lint was not a topic of conversation, however. Instead, he shared with us stories of tragic accidents, raging fires, and terrible injuries, but also stories of his mentors and friendships with other reporters, and of what a privilege it is to tell other people’s stories. His advice was that a good article is found in the details; pay attention and write down as much as possible, because you are entrusted with the mission to share that image with others. We all left that conference room feeling both reassured and inspired — and honestly, a little hungry.
For lunch, several of us left campus to visit a nearby taqueria. As good as the food was, the conversation was better; Perla and Shauli shared their experiences at Mosaic, and we all bonded over the fear of interviewing people, whether it be over the phone, in person or through emails.
Which brings us to now. Across from me, Patricia’s contacting people for her story on refugees in the Bay. Just a bit earlier, Shauli and Benji were strumming the Beatles on Benji’s guitar. In an hour or so, Maya will give us a lecture on how to interview someone. The day may be winding down, but we’ve barely begun our stories, and the next several days at Mosaic promise many more memories.