Ignore the noise and ask questions

By Maia Irvin 

In the Longform podcast featuring Wesley Lowery, Lowery offered insights on what it's like to be a reporter on the ground especially during protests.

Lowery brought up that it's easy for journalists to become distracted by what he called, "noise" meaning live-streams or press conferences. It's important for journalists to focus on the reason why they're at the scene, talk to people and ask questions so they don't miss out on vital information. 

He also said that it's necessary to be asking the right questions because journalism depends on the questions that are asked as well as the questions that aren't asked. Reporting requires journalists to ask smart questions.

Another piece of advice he offered was to avoid just waiting for bad things to happen. An essential component of reporting on the scene is being proactive and reaching out to people for information. 

One last topic he brought up was that "not all statements are equal." Not everyone a journalist talks to will be the definitive source for their information, so journalists need to be aware of who their source is, what message that source is conveying and if they have an incentive to replace facts with lies.  

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