Arnold Gives Tips for Effective Interviewing to Journalism Students

George Arnold said Tueday in his presentation to a Marshall University News Writing class that confidence and a professional attitude are vital for effective interviewing.

Arnold, former professor at the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University and widely-recognized author of the "Media Writer's Handbook", outlined many effective interviewing tips that the future journalists can use. Confidence was the main tip that he gave to the students.

"Act confident, regardless of whether you feel confident. If you seem scared or unsure of yourself, your source won't have much confidence in you and may withold information out of fear of being misquoted."

Arnold also said that being prepared is very important to conduct a professional interview. He focused on telling the students to be diligent researchers by finding out as much about the topic and source as possible. He said that, "Confidence comes from being prepared."

Another important tip that he talked about was that it is very important to keep yourself out of the interview. The story is about the source, not about you, so it is vital to ask the questions and keep them simple and brief.

Arnold told a story about when he was covering NASCAR and was asked to interview driver Junior Johnson. He said that all he could get from Johnson were short answers like yes, no, and um-hmm. So he was able to improvise by interviewing other drivers to get his story about Johnson.

He also said that observation, setting, and being courteous are all important for effective interviews.

Former Professor George Arnold to Return to Marshall as Guest Speaker

George Arnold, former professor and widely-known author, will return to Marshall University Tuesday to discuss grammar and interviewing with journalism students.

Arnold, who taught at the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism from 1968-2004, will be a guest speaker for the JMC 201 class at 12:30pm. He will discuss tips that can be used for effective interviewing and will also talk about some grammar rules.

Known for his popular book, "Media Writer's Handbook" published by McGraw-Hill, Arnold is a self-proclaimed "grammarholic" who is a specialist in proper grammar usage and effective writing techniques.

Arnold will also be meeting with the JMC 305 class in Communication Building room 135later in the day to disccuss editing.

Environmental Issues are Important on an International Level

A Marshall University professor said that environmental issues such as ocean pollution, water scarcity, and climate change are all important on an international level in a lecture Tuesday.

Jess Morrissette, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and specializes in International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Politics of Water Rights, explained to his class that, “If there is a common resource with no regulation over that resource, generally that resource will be over-used and exploited.”

During his explanation of water scarcity around the world, Morrissette explained that 1/3 of the developing world, lacks access to clean water. This scarcity leads to difficulties in growing food, sustaining health, and preserving proper sanitation.

Morrissette also focused on some areas of climate change that are having a direct affect on international relations. Global warming is the biggest area of concern when it comes to climate change, and Morrissette explained that, “It has been directly linked to flooding, diseases from insects, and also has been a factor in the rise of irregular and extreme weather.”

He also offered a statistic from the U.N., which stated that, “300,000 people each year die from global climate change related issues.”

Morrissette also told the audience about some barriers to environmental cooperation that are keeping countries from working together to help fix these problems.

One such barrier is known as a collective action problem. According to Morrissette, self-interest of each individual country takes over and makes cooperation very difficult.

Also, competing priorities is a barrier to advancements in environmental cooperation. Morrissette said that, “Many countries usually have higher priorities than the environment, such as the economy, or education.”

Summary of George Arnold Handout

The handout the class recieved that was written by George Arnold was really entertaining. It was was humorous becasue it is unusual that someone would be so bothered by signs that are incorrect. I am not saying that Mr. Arnold is wrong, but I have never heard of someone having so much frustration from incorrect grammar. It is probably a frustration that more people should have because so many of us use incorrect grammar every day. I look forward to hearing more from Mr. Arnold about grammar and copy editing.