By Colleen Pagnani
As a reporter for The New Yorker, Lillian Ross always
focused on stories she found interesting. To editors, Ross had a very unique
style of reporting and writing. In her mind a reporter should always be
“chemically involved” in writing a story, the total opposite of a “fly on the
wall.” Without being heard or seen, Ross believed reporters had no shot of
writing a successful piece. And just like in story
writing, Ross thought that the most effective way to get her point across would
be to include a beginning, middle, and an end.
I learned a lot regarding the topic of reporting from
reading Ross’ letter. There were a lot of ideas I agreed with, but also some
that I did not. I agreed with the idea that reporters should keep their stories
short and sweet and to the point. However, I could potentially argue the idea
that reporters should only choose to cover stories that are appealing to them.
In my opinion, a reporter’s job is to cover any lead that requires attention,
instead of ignoring the ones they do not like. Of course writing about
something non-interesting to the reporter can hurt the final story, but it is
part of their job and one should be prepared either way. A very important, yet
forgotten fact that I also agree with, involves ‘listening’ and how it is the
most important action in being a reporter.
As a whole, I agreed with Ross and her style of reporting. She
knew that keeping things simple, and letting her mind do all the work, was the
most effective way to write. That is the reason she was a successful
journalist. I also learned that as long as you believe in what you are writing
about, you are bound to write an article worth reading, whether you agree with
the topic or not. And, in the end, none of this could be possible if she acted
like a “fly on the wall.”
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