When Barbara Bradley Hagerty began her 10-year career as a religion correspondent at National Public Radio, the death threats surprised her.
“People have deeply held opinions about religion reporting. And unlike some other things, there is no cut and dry answer,” Ms. Hagerty told a classroom of George Washington University students on Tuesday. “You can’t say that there is a God or that Christianity is true, or Islam is true. Nothing is definitive.”
But the piles of hate mail never stopped Ms. Hagerty from telling compelling and often controversial stories, like “From Minister To Atheist: A Story Of Losing Faith,” and “Are Spiritual Encounters All in Your Head?”
For the radio journalist, a great story starts with a captivating character, an interesting anecdote and often, the word “when.”
“I have a theory about how you tell a lengthy story: I think of it like a tetherball game,” said Ms. Hagerty. “You give them an anecdote—they’re flying on that, the story has momentum. Then you have to explain a bunch of stuff. But at some point, you’re going to lose them. So you give another oomph—a hit with the tetherball. You just keep the momentum going.”
School of Media and Public Affairs undergraduates received a double dose of public radio personality when Ms. Hagerty stopped by “Making NPR Style Radio,” a course taught by Guy Raz, her friend and former colleague. Mr. Raz, who joined GW this year as a Maurice C. Shapiro Fellow, is the host of TED Radio Hour.
Ms. Hagerty, an SMPA Distinguished Fellow, called audio journalism “the best type of reporting in the world” and offered the budding journalists lessons learned from her nearly 20 years at NPR. Here is how to navigate the “dangerous world of religion reporting” and to master the science of storytelling in her words:
Respect Everyone’s Views
“Everyone has a reason for believing what they believe. You have no idea what’s going on in their background that steered them toward these beliefs. And our job as reporters is to kind of tease that out of them, to understand, ‘What is it that makes you tick?’ Not let me judge you, but let me understand you. And when you do that, people really open up to you.”
Be Fair and Balanced
“No one expects you to tell only their side of the story. What they want is to be fairly portrayed. When you put two boxers in the ring, you don’t a weakling and a heavyweight. What you want are two really robust sets of ideas duking it out. And then let the audience decide what is the more compelling or captivating idea.”
Admit Your Ignorance
“When I started out, every story was overwhelming, because there is so much that you don’t know. And you don’t know what you don’t know. But if your interviewees think you know the subject really well, you’ll get your worst sound bites, because they’ll start talking in jargon. You have to step back and say, ‘That’s not going to work for radio. I need you to pretend you’re talking to my 85-year-old mother about this.’ And that’s how you get your good stuff.”
Appreciate Your Sources
“I am always mindful that journalists depend on the kindness of strangers. Aside from public figures, when you’re going out and getting a story, you’re asking people to spend time with you. You’re asking them to tell you about their deepest, darkest secrets. You’re asking them to essentially lay their lives bare to you. And they don’t have to do that. So my view is, I’m going to really appreciate that. I’m going to be respectful. And if someone says, ‘No, I don’t want to do it,’ then I’m going to say, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ This notion that we really have to respect our audiences and our interview subjects, I think it goes a long way in gaining you the reputation that you want to have, which is someone who is fair, kind and gracious.”
Let Others Do the Talking
“My view is, the less of me, the better. I want to get out of the way, because people can say things so much better than I can. It’s so much more powerful to hear other people than it is to hear the reporter.”
Ms. Hagerty and Mr. Raz will join a panel of NPR hosts and writers to discuss the future of radio and podcasting at GW on Feb 11. The free event, presented by SMPA, will examine how the shift to digital media changes the ways audio entertainment is produced and consumed.