I asked Bill Rautenstrauch, a local reporter for my hometown newspaper (The La Grande Observer), most of the questions provided for us. I improvised a little because I wanted to frame the questions in ways that led Rautenstrauch to expound upon his responses. I also added another question at the end about journalism in a rural setting. La Grande is a town of 12,000 people in a county of less than 22,000. It is in a largely rural setting and I envision myself someday writing for a rural area.... If you don't have time to read the whole transcript, I've highlighted some of my favorite lines. Look for my response at the end...
Why did you go into journalism? From a very early age I had the impulse to write. As I grew older I felt sure I wanted to do novels and short stories (actually believed for a long time I was the next Jack Kerouac, though I never got anyone to agree with me on that). Then in college I took a couple of journalism courses and wrote for the campus newspaper. I liked the immediacy of news writing. The stories were right there and the plots were built-in, no need to spend hours making them up.
How did you break into the field? While attending Eastern Oregon University in the late 1970s, I applied for a job as a sportswriter with The (La Grande) Observer. Ted Kramer hired me and I was on my way. I left The Observer after a couple of years and was gone a long time. I worked for the Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Wallowa County Chieftain in Enterprise before coming back to The Observer in 2003.
How do you define “good” journalism?It’s been said that a good reporter is one who can write it right, write it tight, and write it tonight. Personally, I pretty much strive for that.
In what ways do you feel like your news organization practices “good” journalism? Or does it? Most of our writers are well-trained and know the fundamentals, so in the main our readers get factual, clear, well-written stories they can understand.Our staff is small, but we do our best to cover all the beats, including county and city governments, crime, courts, schools, health care, social services, business, sports and more. We cover the news that matters.
We also place high value on the well-being of the community. We promote good causes, help people in need whenever we can, and recognize the folks who work to make this a better place to live. I am not trying to make us sound perfect, for surely we are not. But I do know that the people I work with practice journalism in a principled way. They have conscience and they take their jobs seriously.
How would you define the journalism you do? I have regular assignments including La Grande city government, business, police and courts, and social services. I cover breaking news, do an occasional investigative piece, and, every once in awhile, I get to write an upbeat feature. The job description doesn't say “general assignment,” but sometimes I feel like that’s what it is.
How does your organization allow you to do the type of journalism you want to do? Like most of my co-workers, I’m a self-starting, self-directed individual. The editors here are comfortable with that, and for the most part, they trust that I will cover my beats. I’m very grateful for the freedom to follow my curiosity and develop my own stories.That’s not to say I work entirely on my own, or even that I would want to. A certain percentage of the stories I do are assigned to me by editors. Good ideas come from that direction often enough.
How does the journalism you practice serve your community? I hope it helps readers to better know and understand the community. That goes for the routine stories that simply state the who, what, when, where and why, and the in-depth stories that explore the issues. Both have their place.
What is your opinion about recent movements such as community, citizen, civic, and public journalism? I think most news people practice so-called civic or community or public journalism as a way of life. The tasks include going to the meetings, questioning the policy makers, digging out background from public records, checking one source against another, writing objectively and truthfully. That kind of journalism is essential to the success of this newspaper, and most others.
While I like some of the ideas behind citizen journalism, I think it’s got a long way to go. There are many examples of good citizen journalism out there, but a lot of what I read - especially on the Internet - is poorly researched and poorly written. Worst of all, many citizen journalists have a way of stating their own opinion as if it were fact. My training and experience say that’s a big no-no. Opinion must be labeled as such.It’s great, though, that we live in a country where all are free to write what they want. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What has been an experience in which you felt your work as a journalist really made a difference? I mentioned earlier that my newspaper goes out of its way to promote good causes. This week I wrote one story advancing a music benefit for the local domestic violence shelter, and another about an effort to fill community food banks before winter sets in. If those activities are successful, I can always say I helped.
Over the years I have written hundreds of such stories, so it’s hard to pick out a favorite. Cumulatively, I think they’ve made a huge difference. I just feel fortunate to be in a position to influence outcomes.
How have your views about journalism changed over the years? I have come to understand that it is not an easy job. It’s like having to take your final exams every morning of your life. And dang it, I always fall short of getting that “A.”Perfection is impossible, but you have to try for it day after day. I have learned by experience that writing doesn’t get you where you want to go, re-writing does. I like doing journalism way more now than I did before, both for the reason that I understand it better, and for the reason that the technology is marvelous.Remember, you’re talking to a guy who got his start writing stories on an old Royal typewriter.
Have you been affected by dropping circulations, ratings, layoffs, and growth of citizen journalism? So far, I’ve not been affected much. I’ve made a living at this for 30 years, through many ups and downs. I am well aware, however, that times are changing. Just about every paper in the country is suffering from falling circulation. Competition for the reader’s time and attention is fierce these days. Many papers are downsizing or even going out of business. If I was just beginning my career instead of nearing its end, I’d be worried.
Is journalism in rural communities different from journalism in a metropolis? If so, how? Way different. In a big city, you can write your story, then go out and get lost in the crowd. In a small town, you face the critics every time you go to the supermarket.
I was pretty enthralled by both Heather Bowser's presentation today, as well as Bill Rautenstrauch's responses. Both work for a small town paper. I found they had similiar experiences and similiar responses to questions.
The first thing that stood out to me was how both reporters responded that the changing industry hasn't changed their local papers as much as it has bigger papers in bigger cities. That brought back to me the idea of hyper localization, an idea mentioned in NewsWars. The thought that if a paper wants to survive and even thrive it needs to shift its focus and really localize its content. It's an idea that made a lot of sense to me and in fact got me really excited that there is hope for us silly print journalists. Though Rautenstrauch did say that if he was beginning his career -- like me -- he'd be worried.
I appreciated, in my interview, the reminder that journalism is great for the writer who likes to write without having to be so out-of-control creative. He responds in the first question that the stories are here, with the plots built in, no need to make them up. Which I believe is very true, there's a plot to every story, you just have to find it. In that sense, journalists need to be creative. With so many true stories out there, I don't see why so many have felt the need to fabricate.
I liked how Rautenstrauch brought up the idea that many citizen journalists state their opinion as fact. This really ties back to what we've been talking about all semester, who is a journalist, or what makes a journalist? I think that's very true for both citizen journalists as well as those we watch on the news when we get home. Opinion as fact? Glenn Beck? Lou Dobbs? Bill O'Reilly? I'd prefer to call them, "commentators."
Finally, I loved his closing remark. You face your critics in line at the grocery store in a small town. I want to ask some follow up to that, like, does Rautenstrauch think that this affects what he writes about and how he frames it?
I much appreciated this chance to talk to someone who's worked in the business for so long. I was glad to see that the issues we talk about in class are still relevant in some ways to small town papers and old time reporters.
Carr raises an important issue for the future of news. With more and more staffing cuts, are we going to be getting the kind of coverage that a growing, fast paced, changing world needs?
(Yes, I shot that!)
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