We’re always thrilled when a student finds UPIU without having a professor introduce him or her to the site. To our delight, Marko Phiri’s story about green urban farming popped up one day, and we knew it was a solid piece of journalism.

Marko Phiri

Phiri is from Zimbabwe, where being a journalist is risky at best, and fatal at worst. (See recent reports from the Committee to Protect Journalists.) Phiri reported his UPI.com story in South Africa, but his next piece is from Zimbabwe, about the declining fishing industry. He’s one of two UPIU student reporters chosen for this round of our Freelance Reporting Contest. Once his story meets UPI.com standards and is published there, he’ll get $200.

He took a few minutes away from his reporting and writing to share with us a bit about where he’s from, and how he found his last story.

Name: Marko Phiri

Hometown: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
School: National University of Science and Technology, studying Journalism and Media Studies. Final year.

UPIU: How did you get interested in journalism?

Phiri: I have always loved to write, and decide well, perhaps I could do something that I love doing and earn a living doing it. And journalism seemed a natural thing for me.

Why did you choose to attend National University?

Earlier, shortly after the turn of the century, I obtained a diploma in journalism but still felt there was a lot to learn, so I decided to enroll for this degree program. The journalism school I’m attending is located in my hometown so it made sense to enroll here. It’s the only institution in the country that offers a journalism degree.

Tell us about your recent UPI.com story. How did you find this story idea?

I was in Cape Town, South Africa where I had been invited to attend a Thompson Reuters Rural Reporting Workshop and we went on a tour of an area where a group of elderly women were working the land to feed themselves and surrounding community. It was a story that fit well my interest to tell “people-based” stories.

Was it a challenge to find sources?

I had no problems in finding sources as they were very much willing to talk.

How did your UPIU mentor help you in the reporting and writing process?

The UPIU writing process is one that I will cherish for a time to come, as it introduced me to thorough reporting. I was pointed to issues that now seem obvious now but which I didn’t include in my initial report. I loved the exchange with my mentor, and I loved the final write-up that appeared on the UPI site.

What was the most difficult part of the process?

I cannot immediately point to any difficult part of this process, perhaps save for that it appeared to take too long, and sometimes I thought perhaps the whole mentorship thing had been shelved. However, I was told later by my mentor that this was part of UPI’s “due diligence” to post world-class stories on their site!

What’s your next project?

My next project is a story on young Bulawayo poets who create spaces
for themselves commenting on contemporary issues in Zimbabwe.

Joshua Mumphrey is editor-in-chief of The Apache Pow Wow at Tyler Junior College in his hometown of Tyler, Texas. Mumphrey, in his last year of school, is studying journalism and mass communication. He’s written about violence, tragic car accidents and more with an eye for description and narrative detail for UPIU. We asked him what it’s like to be in charge at his college newspaper, and how he got where he is today.

UPIU: Why did you decide on journalism?

Mumphrey: I wanted to truly help people and write stories that actually mattered and that would make anyone think about and examine their lives.I love and enjoy writing about “people in the shadows” (and look up to) Pulitzer Prize-winning  writer Lane DeGregory. I feel more connected to people who’ve gone through a lot because I know that feeling well.

I wanted to be the voice of those who couldn’t speak out. I thrive on human interest journalism. Ultimately, I became a journalist to change the lives of the people who read my work and the people I write about. It’s by far the best way, I believe, to give back, expecting nothing in return.

How did you get involved in journalism?

I didn’t know that I was any good at the time, but I took a chance and sent a query letter to a Christian magazine called New Identity which ended up loving my pitch and published me at age 18 in 2008. I contributed for a whole year until moving on to another publication, and another and another. After that, I became a Christian columnist (during) my first few semesters (studying) graphic design. I soon began writing encouraging pieces for teens, adults and people of all walks of life.

What are you doing in journalism this summer?

I’m working on the back-to-school issue of our student newspaper, gathering future story ideas and setting up interviews for the fall semester coming up. This coming semester is going to be a hard one, and I’m gathering stories so that I won’t be in a frenzy when it comes around.

What do you like most about working in the field?

I love the really amazing people you get to meet. You learn so much and people tend let you in on a lot when you make them (feel) comfortable. I love the connection I get with people after writing their stories, but in some cases not everyone is happy with the end result.

I love traveling, meeting people I don’t know and having everyone read (my) hard work after many long newsroom nights burning the midnight oil. That’s what I love most about the field: The way hard work pays off with a byline on the front page. That’s seriously enough for me!

What are some opportunities you’ve had since getting involved in journalism? Internships? Unique reporting opportunities? Experiences abroad?

I was actually published at an early age, so my written works before my actual college journalism career was my biggest experience and highlight! However, I became editor-in-chief of my college newspaper after joining the staff in my second semester. I was presented with the online editor position in my first semester of college as a journalism major, while I was still at the time a staff writer which meant double duty on top of classes. I will say, it’s not the best idea for a first semester journalism student, but I actually did quite well, surprisingly.

I have won awards for my work as a student journalist, (and) I (hope) to win this year for my work submitted from last semester.

I believe every journalism major should work at their school’s newspaper. You can learn so much and evolve as a journalist.

Wondering what it takes to find success like Mumphrey? Long hours, hard work. Here’s a snapshot of a typical day for the j-student:

6 a.m. – 8 a.m.:

I get up in the morning and grab a bite to eat. I usually read some form of a newspaper online, mainly The New York Times, to get me thinking and the gears turning.

8 a.m. – 10 a.m.:

I’m generally calling sources and setting up interviews from home or checking my email for responses on case information and such. I’m generally writing questions to ask during interviews and brainstorming new story ideas, and mostly researching before class starts.

10 a.m. – 12 p.m.:

I’m usually busier in the spring and fall semesters during the normal school work week than in the summer. I’m working on journalism coursework and staying on top of other basic daily assignments until the end of my lectures and labs throughout the day. I eat what and when I can, which is sometimes never, until I go home at night.

12 p.m. – 5 p.m.:

There have been 8 a.m. – 3 a.m. working days, which is typical in our newsroom. You have to be committed for the long run. I usually start by checking the office phone for voicemails, checking e-mails, making phone calls regarding advertising, designing ads, walking around campus and collecting payments from student organizations who have run ads with our last issue. (I am responsible for) designing new promotional material, while handling invoices and insertion orders, running off papers, sending faxes, attending student senate for updates on campus activities and representing our organization. I’m also president of our Apache Press Club.

On top of that is spending time late at night at home writing my own stories, my column for the opinion page and generally picking up the slack of anyone who’s sick or unable to do their job. My job doesn’t just stop when I get home. You can’t ever miss a single day. If you do, it’s chaos the next morning!

Weekly:

During the typical work week, my two to three articles have to be turned in every Friday for proofing before correction by my adviser and re-proofing by the editors. All of our staff stories must be turned in, as well as photographs. We are required to take photographs to go along with stories if none are available.

It’s stressful getting everything done because three people can only do so much, having to manage Page One, News, Opinion, Student Life, Verve, Sports and Verity which is generally twelve pages front and back. There are six section editors and 10 staff writers, but everything is completely redone, edited, worked and sometimes re-photographed by the editor-in-chief, managing editor and associate editor. It’s really rewarding and it makes us feel good knowing that such a small group is well-equipped for the tasks at hand.

We are a bi-weekly student newspaper that won 35 awards just last semester, taking first place for Overall Excellence and Sweepstakes for Division 4 in Texas.

We (go to) press every other Wednesday and personally deliver all the papers on Friday. This seems like it’s not a problem and that we have two weeks to do it, but it gets a lot more difficult when your staff is generally a small group that actually does everything from deliver, design, edit, re-write, photograph and more.

Want more “Day in the life”? Check out Alexia Shaffer’s notes on her day reporting at the United Nations in Geneva!

* * * * *

Editor’s note: This post has been amended to reflect Mumphrey’s working schedule. He has been known to work from 8 a.m. one day until 3 a.m. the next day to produce the school newspaper.

Editors and bartenders have something in common. At the end of the day, they often use the two same words: last call.

Making that last call on an enterprise story can be the most difficult call to make. All the research is done, the facts checked, but you need to make that call to have a balanced story.

Scared? Nervous? A little excited? Part of you can’t wait to ask those questions, and the other part would rather fast forward the moment. Good! That’s how you should feel.

Remember, no self-respecting editor is going to publish a story unless the reporter makes every effort to make that last call to the source because that source is subject of an unflattering story.

I used to dread and love making those calls. I remember doing a story nearly 20 years ago on a pair of glasses that was supposed to help relax patients and relieve migraines.  The gadget was mentioned in Time magazine and I was writing a story for a business journal. After gathering up all the evidence to suggest that this was a complete hoax, the call to the inventor had to be made. The easy thing to do was to make it my last call, but I knew that would mean the source would never talk to me again.

To avoid the hang up, which would mean no quotes and no answers, I built a relationship with the inventor with an initial call describing my excitement to write the article about his invention. I got some basic answers and he told me to call him back if I had more questions.  So I did – three more  times.

On one call I requested a copy of his Canadian diploma.  He gladly gave it to me. Little did he know that I had some evidence suggesting that he didn’t hold any advanced degrees. In fact, when I called the school that supposedly issued his diploma, I learned it didn’t exist when he supposedly graduated. In fact, they had no record of him attending. And it turned out the degree was simply created from a paper mill college – something anyone can pay for and never attend a class. Eventually, more things didn’t check out. I confronted him with all my research in my final call and his response was, “I’ve got to run.”

And hence that leads us to the first tip when making that “last call:” don’t make it the last call. Break the ice with some of the basic questions and save those hard questions for the final interview. This builds a relationship and trust.

In the case above, the person lived in Canada, and our budget didn’t allow me to take the next flight out.  That makes it even more important to build trust through a series of phone calls. But ideally, phone calls are not the way to go.  In fact, whenever possible, don’t make it a phone interview. It’s easy to hang up on a phone. In most cases, a reporter will get more time in a face-to-face interview rather than a quick phone interview. Arrange to meet at a restaurant and have them order dessert. It’s much harder to walk out on apple pie a la mode than a burger.

The next obstacle, often, is to get the person to talk on the record. The source might want to drift to off-the-record status.  Always steer the source back to the record. To do that, here are a few suggestions:

1. Be honest about the story’s focus, and don’t mislead the source.
2. Don’t be afraid to read back the quotes. Accuracy is important in building a relationship with the source.
3. When conducting an interview in person, don’t bring out the notebook until the ice is broken with casual conversation.  Then tell the source you want to take some notes to get the facts correct.
4. To get them to go on the record, explain to them that the story will have much more credibility. By going on the record, it encourages others to do the same.

The “last interview” can be challenging, but it’s critical for the credibility of the story. Make sure the story is balanced by pretending that the subject of the story is you. Read the story again but substitute your name into the story.  If you now believe the story is fair and accurate, then it’s probably ready for the desk. If not, get in touch with the source again, and ask the questions that are needed to make the story fair.

Arizona State University journalism major Jordan Frakes keyed in on a growing group of currency trackers for his recent UPI.com story, and it became one of UPIU’s most popular stories of the month.

Want to produce UPIU’s next big story and earn a UPI.com byline? Find out how Frakes discovered his story, and how UPIU helped it rise to the top.

UPIU: What caught your interest in this story?

Frakes: Tracking your money after you spend it – what a concept! I was curious to see the trends in money travel. It was also very cool to meet some of the people that invest so much time and effort into this Web site. “Georgers,” as they are called, are an interesting bunch of people.

How did you find this story?

I received a marked Where’s George? bill as a tip at my job as a server at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix. It caught my eye, so I logged on the Web site when I got home.The next day, I made a few phone calls and got in touch with some active Georgers and Hank Eskin, the site’s founder. I also attended a presentation at Arizona State University where Professor Dirk Brockmann talked about his research involving the data derived from the website. It was great timing that he was giving this talk on my college campus when I was beginning to research the story.

What was fun about writing and reporting this story?

I really enjoyed meeting and speaking with the people that keep the site going. They are all so passionate about Where’s George. I liked finding out how they got involved with the Web site and what their friends and family have to say about their hobby. In some cases, they referred to it as more of an obsession.

What is the one thing you wish you could have done to improve the story?

I would have liked to talk to a few more people involved with the Web site. The stories and information that I received from the people I did talk to was really compelling. I would have also liked to have been able to include statistics of my own bill tracking. I tried to enter my own bills into the database, but I did not receive enough hits to include in the story.

What was the most challenging part of the process?

It was difficult to get in touch with some of the more high-profile Where’s George users. I would have liked to talk to some more of the top users to see how much time they devote to this hobby.

Who did you enjoy interviewing the most and why?

I really liked talking to Professor Brockmann. He is such an intelligent individual, and his work using the data from Where’s George is extremely groundbreaking. I am excited to see what he will do next with the data.

If you did a follow-up to this story; what would be your angle?

I would love to write about Professor Brockmann’s future research. It will also be interesting to see if the new mobile app has any impact on the number of users or frequency of use.

How did UPIU help you with this story?

It was great to be able to name-drop UPIU. It gave my story more credibility. More people were willing to talk to me about Where’s George.

When a Web site falsely reports four — count them, four! — deaths of famous Americans, it’s time to shelve that site as a source, wouldn’t you say?

In just a few years’ span, the online encyclopedia site, Wikipedia, incorrectly reported that Senators Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd had died following a Capitol luncheon, pop star Miley Cyrus had died in a car crash, and comedy actor Sinbad had died of a heart attack. At the time the information was published, all were indeed alive and well.

And that’s just false death reports. The site has been under fire for nearly a decade for hoaxes, factual errors, deliberately misleading statements, and more. Unvetted, open to constant change, and with no single author to credit (or question), Wikipedia is simply among the least credible sources on the Web for a news reporter.

That’s not to say it can’t be a good starting point for pop culture references, or needling out obscure details from a source’s bio. But quoting directly from Wikipedia is a sure way to kill any story’s credibility.

Unfortunately, a huge number of student journalists quote Wikipedia often. We see it all the time on stories posted to UPIU.

Instead, you should consider most online data suspect until you’ve verified its accuracy. It may be tempting on a tight deadline to snatch some online data or a quote to fill a hole in your story, but without verification, you’re guaranteed to one day publish out-of-date figures, or a quote that was misprinted on a Web site, or not even attributed to the correct source.

Thankfully, the solution is relatively simple: Contact the original source to verify online content. Even charts or tables from an official government website should be double-checked, to ensure you’ve got the right data, and the most recent information. Talking to a live person about digital content is simply a must.

The same is true for using quotes or information from online news articles or news sites. For some news aggregation sites, this works fine — they’re culling the Web for news on a particular industry or topic, and reporting it back to their subscribers as such, with complete attribution of where the information came from. For example, a story from the L.A. Times might be summarized, and highlights from it used in a short news bite.

But for a straight-up news story, you simply must verify all quotes with the original source. Never assume that the last reporter got it right — you need to check the wording, the person’s title, even the spelling of his or her name. Because if it’s wrong, you’re the one on the hook for it in your publication (and with your editor).

Consider this: Even the venerated Washington Post publishes wrong information. The paper issued four corrections yesterday, May 3, alone.

The best approach is to simply re-interview the source. You can ask some of the same questions, and check their answers against their original responses, for one. And you also can take the interview in a new direction, or garner information the original story didn’t cover.

So the next time you’re tempted to copy-and-paste that data point or quote from an online source — take your hand off your mouse, and reach for the phone.

Journalists’ personal interests can often drive their best story ideas. A love of tatoos sent University of Tampa j-student Julia Bodwell trolling through the underground world of body modification for her next story idea. It ended with her watching her sources swing through the air from piercings in their skin.

Body suspensionist Russ Foxx hangs in the air. (Photo courtesy of Russ Foxx.)

Squirmy? Oh, yes. But, driven by her intrigue with the idea, Bodwell dug in and delivered a nuanced portrait of a practice many find shocking.

“I expected my story to make people squirm a bit, but I think everyone’s squirming in a good way, so for me that’s the most positive feedback I could ask for,” Bodwell said.

Read on to find out more about how she tamed this particular reporting beast, and earned a UPI.com byline for her efforts.How did you find this story idea?

I have a personal connection with the tattoo world (my brother is an up-and-coming tattoo artist in Pennsylvania; consequently I have a lot of tattoos myself). So I was interested in writing something aimed either at the body modification community specifically or at least towards an audience that could be intrigued by such ideas. I’ve always been slightly more curious about body suspension than the average person, so I decided to run with it and see where it took me.

Did you hit any brick walls in your reporting?

The initial process of tracking people down was difficult. I contacted various sources within the body suspension community (there’s even a Church of Body Modification that I tried to contact but to no avail), but wasn’t getting any response. When I was almost at the point of “Well, what do I do now?” I got a response back from Russ Foxx. He was actually really cool about it, especially since he’s a fairly big deal in this community, so the fact that he was so down-to-earth and willing to talk to me was really appreciated.

Was the reporting more difficult because of the ticklish topic?

I wouldn’t necessarily call it a sensitive, touchy subject. If anything it’s just bizarre and a bit tough to swallow for some people, but because I’m so intrigued by it, it felt natural to want to do interviews and ask any questions I thought needed to be asked.

Any big writing challenges?

Writing is my biggest strength, it always has been. Sometimes it’s hard to organize my thoughts when I have so many things to work with, research, quotes, etc., but getting it all down on the paper is never particularly difficult. My biggest difficulty is usually knowing the angle I want the story to take before I actually get it there. Usually I figure that out as I’m writing.

Were there any surprises in the process for you?

I didn’t expect the lede I ended up with to be such a success. I almost felt I was going against the acceptable norms of strong reporting and traipsing back into the world of fiction I love so much when revising. But I think in the end, because of the topic, it worked well and ended up being something I’m proud of.

The Internet can be the perfect tool for finding a vast array of news, sources and data fast. But having electronic access can also kill your motivation to talk directly to people and get beyond what’s available online.

With one advanced journalism class I mentored recently, I discovered about halfway through a two-week assignment that fewer than half of the students had spoken to any sources. Most had uncovered reams of online information, but had no real-world context for it.

The majority were intimidated to talk with an expert source, unsure of how to start, and afraid of having their interview request turned down. Some had made initial outreach to their sources, but then dropped the ball when they didn’t get an immediate callback. Still others sent tentative email requests, but never followed up with any other communication.

In the news business, though, there’s no substitute for direct contact. So use these strategies to manage rookie reporter anxiety, and ensure you get the phone- or face-time you need to nail your stories.

1. Target more than one source. Identify two to three potential sources for each important segment of your story, and you’ll be less anxious about contacting any one of them. If one proves difficult, or hard to get on the phone, just move on to the next. Veteran tip: If you leave messages telling each source you’ve contacted the other, they’re likely to fight to get back with you first!

2. Don’t worry about “bothering” your sources. Nearly all of the reporters in the journalism class I polled said they didn’t want to anger or irritate their sources, for fear of never getting the interview. The truth is, though, it’s all in the approach. It’s true, if you call the source five times in one day, or stalk him in his parking garage, you’re not likely to get a positive response.

Here’s how to do it: Call (or stop by) twice a day, once in the morning and once in the mid- to late-afternoon. The initial call can be couched as a “hey, I just wanted to try to catch you before your day got started. I’ve got a few questions about _____.” Later, you can do a follow-up call, saying “I was hoping to grab a few minutes with you before you left for the day, or on your drive home.”

3. Start low on the totem pole. Nervous about tackling the head honcho at a company or the bigwigs in government? Start out with their assistants, or any low-level member of their team. They often are far more approachable, have access to insider information, and can even smooth the path to the big kahuna you’re really after.

In a similar way, you can start off with your least intimidating sources, if you find you’re having trouble getting motivated. A couple of relatively easy interviews can be a big confidence-booster.

4. Try a soft approach. In your first call, ask your source to schedule a time for the interview, rather than jumping straight into your questions. It can ease you both into the interview, and ensure the source is prepared when you do talk. Important: You’ll have to start your reporting two to three days ahead, to give yourself extra time for sources to get back to you, schedule the interview, and then actually meet up.

5. Know what you’re after. Reporting anxiety often stems from not knowing what you want to know, or what the source is going to say. A little preemptive research can clue you in to the basic issues at hand, and give you a solid foundation for that first contact. Be sure to write your questions out, with a couple of possible follow-ups for each, should the source go off on a tangent.

6. Be prepared for the occasional bomb. It’s going to happen. You’ll get an angry source who turns you down, hangs up the phone, or otherwise let’s you have it. The important thing is not to freeze up and stop trying. Again (see #1), be sure you have multiple possible sources, and just keep dialing.

What makes a good story idea? That’s what Ohio University student Adam Liebendorfer asked himself before he tackled his recent piece on an innovative program in Taiwanese schools to encourage students to discuss LGBT issues. Liebendorfer’s early thoughtfulness paid off with a UPI.com byline - the first from his international reporting class.

Adam Liebendorfer

J-prof Yusuf Kalyango, Jr. didn’t let his students off easy. They were each assigned a country to write about. Email interviews weren’t allowed, and each source in the stories had to be located in-country. For Liebendorfer’s story, talking to a Taiwanese person in the United States wasn’t going to cut it.

Read on to find out how Liebendorfer found a fixer willing to help him with phone interviews, and how he overcame a language barrier.Name: Adam Liebendorfer

Hometown: East Palestine, Ohio
J-school: Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University
Year: Junior

How did you end up at Ohio University?

OU was a pretty choice for me. For the price (and even not for the price), Scripps is by far the best deal around for a journalism school. For someone who has wanted to get into journalism since circa 1998, it was kind of a no-brainer.

Give me a little bit of background regarding your UPI story. Why did you decide to write about something that’s happening so far away?

My UPI story as a story for my foreign correspondence class at OU. My first choice was to write about Venezuela, but I was assigned Taiwan instead. But no regrets. It’s been great covering the people of Taiwan.

How did you find this specific story angle?

I’m a Googlist. I spent about 45 minutes on the Internet getting a feel for what was going on in Taiwan (five of those minutes), and what was going on in Taiwan a lot of people didn’t know about (the other 40). I have a friend from Taiwan that’s close to the LGBT community, so that was where I started. Finding a good story idea is probably the paramount skill of a journalist. The best advice I could offer is to scour aggregated news feeds daily and go through each headline and try to figure out why that story is news. As strange as it sounds, you’ll eventually learn what’s “interesting.”

You interviewed a handful of Taiwanese people from afar. How did you find these sources? How did you handle the practical aspects of interviewing people who speak another language?

We learned in our foreign correspondence class to use fixers, so that’s essentially what I did. With the promise of beer and a healthy regimen of begging every time I saw her, I eventually convinced my friend to act as a kind of informal fixer for me. She helped me conduct almost all of my interviews on the phone and found relatives who could offer insight for my story. I also talked to some people that were siblings of friends of friends of friends — and luckily, (they were) English speakers.

What was the most challenging part of reporting or writing this story?

I’m a writer, so it only took me about two hours to put all my sources together into some semblance of a coherent story. The hardest part was conducting the interviews with the Taiwanese people because not only did I have to pick up on the slight cultural difference between my friend (my fixer) and me, but also try to navigate a conversation she would get into with another native Taiwanese speaker. It was also kind of hard getting my non-journalist Taiwanese friend to do journalistic stuff, like call the government (“You know, Adam, that was the first time I’ve ever called my government.”) or get everything recorded and pick out quotes.

Describe your working relationship with UPIU. Did mentors help you improve your story?

The one thing I love about the editing process is that it takes what would otherwise be a sloppy story and turns it into something pretty informative and readable. UPIU helped me get over what I would call “reporter’s block” and get the full story.

Are you planning on going into journalism? If so, what sort of reporting do you hope to do?

I feel international journalism is sort of my thing. It takes all of the interesting-ness of journalism and multiplies it. Hopefully I can find work in Latin America.

What’s your next project?

I don’t want to give away too much but next, we’ll be looking at Taiwan’s low fertility rate.

She has a book, a brand and a journalism career that spans more than a decade, under her belt, but Jennifer 8. Lee (yes, 8) isn’t a traditional, “Just the facts, ma’am” reporter. Instead, the New York City native looks for innovative ways to spread information and organize people, whether planning events for the Hacks/Hackers NYC group or giving away money through the Knight Foundation’s News Challenge.

Courtesy Jennifer 8. Lee

Lee has a knack for spotting trends. When Twitter went online, Lee says she called co-founder Biz Stone and told him that his product would change journalism. She knew blogs could become the new newspapers as early as 2002, she says.

For a tip-off on what Lee thinks is the next big thing, read on:

How did you get your start in journalism? Was there an incident or period of time during which you feel you officially became a journalist?

I was co-editor in chief of my high school newspaper at Hunter High School in New York City. The summer between high school and college, I did a summer program at Dow Jones. I interviewed a teenage boy who was 16 or 17, and he’d already tried to commit suicide twice. This was when coming out was still a big deal.

I was hearing him tell his story, and I thought, “I want to tell stories and give voice to the voiceless.” It’s a very cheesy statement now, but I felt it.

I pursued what was an established route back then in the mid-90s. You got an internship, and you climbed your way up. I did Newsday, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and then The New York Times. That’s not necessarily the way I would tell people to do it now.

It was sort of an established route back then in the mid 90s. One girl (said to me), “I want to be a film critic!” And I was like, “Oh, start a blog and start writing film reviews and if they’re good people will notice.” She seemed perplexed. That was 2002. It’s just so obvious now, but it wasn’t at that time.

You spent nine years as a reporter at The New York Times, during which you became well-known for writing trend stories. What was your most successful trend story, and why?

My most successful trend story was  “Man Date” – this idea of two straight guys going out. Then, people would use that term in my presence and not even know that I created it. A movie was inspired by it! (Editor’s note: The movie’s producer has said that the screenplay was written years before Lee’s story was published.)

What should young journalists look for when they want to write a trend piece? What are some pitfalls?

Trend stories give a name to a phenomenon that everyone is experiencing but no one has put their finger on. The skill is in converting those things to a text story. It’s finding the cute, perfect example, the clever ending. I just did a story on how men are finding awkward how to hold an iPad. You need the kicker ending, which was a famous artist who wore his iPad in his jacket, because all his jackets were designed for sketch pads. So you have to ask the right questions.

Trend pieces do well on the internet, because they go viral.

You took a buyout from The New York Times in late 2009, during a wave of industry-wide lay-offs and buyouts. How has your career changed since then?

I spend a lot more time on conference calls! I was satisfied with what I’d done. I know how to write an article, I know how to write a book – done! Now, how to build an organization? It’s a different skill set. In the real world now, knowing how to organize events is a really important skill.

I spend a lot of time finding start-ups. I spend a lot of time thinking and talking to people, bringing ideas to people who want to fund them. I’m writing a screenplay. I’m also producing a documentary.

Companies have offered to pay me money, but I want to be a neutral player, so I’ve generally not taken money. (I say) “I’m helping you as a company anyway, because I believe in your product.”

Based on your own experience, how can a traditional journalism education and background fit into today’s new media/personality-driven/convergence world?

(For journalists,) the most important thing is your sense of holding power accountable. Yay for celebrity stuff and sports journalism, but in reality, journalism exists as the immune system of a functioning democracy. The white blood cells are the newspapers and radio stations and television stations – but that has changed. The white blood cell count has changed.

But now a generation of programmers will also have that (sense of) accountability. That’s the kind of people who are drawn to journalism. That sensibility is innate for me.

If I were to start things over again, I would learn user-interactivity. That’s one of the hugest demands.

You have written a book (The Fortune Cookie Chronicles), you appeared on The Colbert Report, and you seem to be involved in many different projects. People know your work, but some also recognize you as Jennifer 8. Lee, the brand. How important is branding to individual journalists? Do you have any tips for young journalists who want to create their own brands?

I’m not sure I knew I was a brand!

There was a point when branding was a dirty word, and that has receded a bit. A lot of people want to have a personal connection with a journalist. So on Twitter, or on Facebook…it’s easier for an individual journalist to create a sense of connection than it is for institutions. They can be more flexible with who they are. There was a time when journalists didn’t even have bylines!

I don’t think it’s necessary to have a brand. Some people are comfortable with it, and others are not. Life goes on.

You serve as a judge for the Knight Foundation’s “News Challenge,” which funds innovative news and community platforms and tools.  In your opinion, what are some of the most innovative media projects happening now?

Local wikis! Davis Wiki (in Davis, California) is doing really well. Wikileaks was a really interesting concept, and now it’s inspired a whole generation of products of that ilk.

There’s a lot of potential in data visualization, and there’s a lot of potential in the idea of following people, giving them cred for being good traders of news. There’s one called Xydo, about finding (news), surfacing things, getting points.

There’s a company called Ezetop based out of Dublin. It’s a mobile company that processes payments between cell phone carriers. So many mobile phones (especially in the developing world) are pay as you go. So if you can move money to these devices, it’s the equivalent of currency. You can make micropayments in significant ways using this interface. So in mobile minutes, credit on your hone is as good as cash. Then you can assign and reward people for reporting (the news) in a way that is meaningful to them.

Many of the UPIU’s j-students are from India, China, Kenya and other countries. Do you have any thoughts on how these students can make a name for themselves globally?

I think crowdsourced, mobile reporting is very interesting (in the developing world) in a way that’s not as interesting here. (For example,) Ushahidi (a crowdsourcing platform designed after 2008 violence in Kenya) came from the developing world because they have different needs and different infrastructure.

In the United States, so much is in legacy media, and legacy media by its definition has to be conservative. Whereas developing nations, it’s much more of a wild west kid of world. The key thing for journalists, or people who aspire to be journalists, to remember is that public trust can take a lifetime to build and a second to destroy. So whatever you build, or the institution you join, the culture of it is really important.

Guess who is an “emerging player in the college media and journalism education arenas?” That’s right, we are!

University of Tampa j-prof and College Media Matters blogger Dan Reimold wrote about UPIU for PBS MediaShift.

Suleiman Abdullahi and Abdi Latif Dahir, both of whom covered Sudan’s recent referendum for UPI.com, got a mention, as did Shiv Sunny, Jeremy Blaney and others.

Reimold also sent out a nice little reminder about our freelance contest. Don’t forget to submit a story pitch!