Will you be writing about the Occupy Wall Street protests? As this movement grows, it will give writers around the country a chance to explore some of the toughest issues of our generation.
Today on the Morning Media Menu, journalist and literary blogger Edward Champion shared stories from his coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Champion covered the controversial arrests on Brooklyn Bridge and spent many hours capturing the stories and songs of individual protestors.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “This particular protest offers so many unusual angles because Occupy Wall Street has now started to spread into additional cities, everywhere from London to Tuscon to Los Angeles … You don’t necessarily have to be in New York to take a look at this movement. If you just start to talk to people–which I think is the best way, if you are interested in journalism and this particular issue–you’ll probably unearth a great deal of unexpected nuggets.”
Champion concluded with this advice: “If you are ever in a situation, especially a large-scale event, it’s helpful to stand still and just take something in. This is what I tend to do: I sit there, I stand still and I observe. I want to be very careful about who I talk with. If I stand still, I can best survey the tableau and move toward someone who would be interesting. I’ll talk with just about anybody, but I think in our rush to update our Twitter feeds, blogs, Tumblrs, Facebook pages and the like, I don’t think we stop, stand still and observe. When you observe something, any number of questions will come into your mind that another writer or journalist will not have considered. Good reporting and good writing comes from constant, thoughtful observation and genuine curiosity.”
UPDATE: The New Yorker Book Bench blog had a great essay about the books the Occupy Wall Street activists are reading while camped out in New York City.