I nterviews stand as the lifeblood of journalism. Engaging with individuals, posing inquiries, and delving into the depths of their life experiences constitute the cornerstone of a reporter’s journey, both professionally and personally. Feverishly sending out interview request emails rejection after rejection, scouring university staff pages in the hopes of finding a potentials interviewee, nervously knocking the door of a professor’s office for an in-person interview – these are the quintessential The Granite Tower (GT) reporter experience. For this month’s GT Spotlight section, senior reporters entering their third semester of GT, and editors entering their fourth discuss their best and worst experiences with interviews during their time at GT.
Editor-in-Chief, Jung Haine
There is one interview that I will never forget: my first-ever interview at GT, with the then newly appointed President of KU, Kim Dong-One. I visited his office with my assigned photographer and then editor-in-chief, dearest Yun Sunwoo on a cold winter day. Sunwoo and I both slipped and fell on ice in a hilariously synchronous manner while walking downhill to the way to the office at the Business Hall. How could I possibly forget? During the interview, I was able to gain insight into his visionary ambitions — most surprisingly, way beyond what I had read at The Korea University Weekly. This is what I have always loved about interviews: it is a way of excavating the truth on your own by coming in touch with someone else’s world. Through this interview I once again came to appreciate the art of conversation and the skill it takes not just to elicit responses you want, but the responses you need as a journalist. The encounter could shift your perspective on a person or situation and direct the course of your article. Interviewing is the art of overturning the Other, seeing the unseen, the stimulus that can shock and shift the machinery.
Associate Editor, Son Chaewan
Facing rejection more than seven times, I vividly recall the struggle to secure an interview for an article on consumption habits. Dealing with outright rejections from professors would have been easier, but the silence after they read my email was worse, leaving me waiting for about two days before I could move on to find another interviewee. Yes, you can still craft a decent article without an interview, but it somehow feels incomplete. The unique essence that enhances your piece is missing. I felt anxious and doubted the quality of my article until Professor Sung from the School of Psychology responded, agreeing to a phone call interview. I was immensely relieved as he provided insights not available online or in other articles. Professors, your willingness to share your perspectives and insights through interviews is invaluable to us reporters. It not only enriches our work but sometimes even changes the direction of our articles significantly. Please continue to share your expertise with us and our magazine’s readership through interviews in the future.
Associate Editor, Giorgio Cioffi
Amidst the multitude of interviews undertaken during my tenure as a reporter of The Granite Tower (GT), one encounter shines with particular brilliance. A few months ago, I had the pleasure of having a talk with Professor Lee Jaehak (Department of Spanish Literature) — a distinguished linguist and luminary in Hispanic studies in Korea. As a fervent language enthusiast, I was immediately captivated by the effortless fluidity with which we traversed between languages, deftly employing the technique of “code-switching” during our discourse. What is the problem between Argentina and Brasil? I queried in Spanish, prompting Professor Lee to eloquently express his perspective in Spanish, Korean or English depending on the necessary context. While the conversation may not have been the most enlightening in terms of content, that afternoon provided me with a moment of clarity regarding the direction I wish to pursue in my career and the goals I intend to achieve in life.
Senior Reporter, Mariana Sotelo
My worst interview experience at GT happened during preparations for the November issue. I was writing an article about KU Horseback, and it was my first time conducting an interview in Korean all by myself. On the day prior to the interview, I kept on practicing what I would say so that my Korean wouldn’t sound so broken. When the day came, the interviewees were very nice and they didn’t seem to mind my accent so that helped me feel a little bit better about myself. Still, I realized just how nervous I had been when, after the interviewees had left, I noticed that I never asked for their names. To clarify, I already knew what all three of them were called but I wasn’t sure which name belonged to which face. Thankfully, one of them was an international student so distinguishing her name was quite easy. For the other two, I tried to guess which Korean name sounded more like a girl’s name and the other way around. I confirmed it with one of our Korean reporters so in the end it all worked out, but I remember feeling very bad for such a careless mistake. Anyways, it’s fair to say that after that experience, I always make sure to confirm everybody’s names.
Senior Reporter, Cho Hana
An interview with a Mongolian student — Nomin (20’, Economics) for my article “International Status of Korean: Korean Language in the World” was a valuable opportunity for me to appreciate my role as a reporter, empathize with the difficulties of international students, and gain insight into the strength of positivity. I was initially afraid to approach her despite being in the same group, since she was a sunbaenim who always brought her heavy economics textbooks to class. However, when I plucked up the courage to request an interview after class, she was thrilled and even expressed gratitude for choosing her as the interviewee. Her responses truly struck a chord. When inquired about the challenges in taking this course, she shared her hardships on having to do presentations and team discussions entirely in Korean. She went on, though, to remark that it is useless to be reluctant to put oneself out there and to fear that others would criticize you for it. Her resilience and the optimistic attitude despite living in a foreign nation with linguistic and cultural hurdles, greatly inspired me — a person who is anxious to do presentations even in my mother tongue — to put greater emphasis on my own personal development and less attention to the possible hurl of criticisms.