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Helen Thomas
On Reporting
LEARNING ON THE JOB, NOT IN SCHOOL
I'm sorry to say I think you get very little out of a textbook. I think you get a lot in the actual experience. But I think it's good to have the basics, like learning music or anything else, in terms of what the formats are, but I think that nothing can replace being there and actually doing it yourself. I'm not trying to wipe out the J schools, or journalism classes. But I really think that you have to get out there, and I think you learn by experience. You Monday morning quarterback, really. When you have an interview you always go home or back to the office and say, "Why didn't I ask this, or..." And I think you try to leave yourself some out to try to call the person back, if you can, if they're available. You say, "I forgot to touch on this." But I think you have to have a driving curiosity.
THE FIRST LESSONS OF JOURNALISM
Well, I think you learn not to take no for an answer. You have to have lots of determination, and you have to not give up and not be easily discouraged. That's a luxury that you can't afford if you really want to go into journalism. And I think that I have a lot of faith that if you really keep trying you will get the job. But then once you get it, once you have the foot in the door, then you really have to work. And I think that journalism, probably of all the professions, is a learning experience every day. It really is an education every day. Your whole environment absorbs you and I think being in a newspaper office, or broadcast office, you watch the pros, you gain a lot by osmosis.
AN OLD DOG'S ADVICE TO YOUNG PUPS
I would say that you'll never regret a moment of going into journalism. It is the most exciting profession you can ever be in. But you'll always be a part of the world. You have to care, you have to believe, and I think that you give so much to the world when you're really informing people.
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