The trap

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Jim Killam

Sometimes, being a missionary can be like being the hero in an adventure movie. People wish they could be you. You get compliments and admiration for the path you’ve chosen and the work you do. You’re considered a spiritual hero. That all feels pretty good.

And then, sometimes there’s this crushing silence. You feel alone, and stuck in a figurative snow drift, car wheels spinning. Sometimes you wonder if anyone even knows or cares you’re out there doing what you’re doing. That all feels pretty terrible.

My wife and I (Jim) just came off a week where we experienced both extremes: three days of tremendous affirmation and energy infusion, then three days of dead silence and inertia. We were praying together the other night, and the thought hit me: When we place too much significance on either the emotional highs or the lows, we start to think and act like this is all about us.

Consciously or subconsciously, my motivation for reporting on God’s work around the world cannot be to garner bylines and compliments. That can be a major trap in a highly visible profession like journalism. Seeing your work in print and online feels pretty good – especially when you also can see the stats about how many people are reading it. Those nice comments – “great story!” … “wow, what a picture” – really do build confidence.

Likewise, one negative comment at the end of a story can be devastating. It’s risky to put your work on display in the public square. You really, really hope people will like it and respond positively to it. When they don’t, it can shake your confidence – especially when they’re right.

That’s a tricky balance for anyone working in ministry, too: doing God’s work in a very public setting, but not overemphasizing the importance of how people respond. Certainly we listen and welcome constructive criticism along with the compliments. But that’s not where we find worth and motivation. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day missed out on something monumental, the gospel writer John points out, because “they loved human praise more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)

My motivation has to be all about bringing fame to God and to engage his church. If one person reads a story I reported, and decides to pray more, give more or go there – even if I never know about it – then the number of website visitors or comments really doesn’t matter. The emotional roller coaster evens out.

If there’s any personal fulfillment to seek in all of this, that’s it: Do the best work I can do, ask God to use it however he wants, and give him all of the credit.

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‘I am a missionary’

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Jim Killam

Not a lot we add to this — other than God also needs people to tell these stories.

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Duck dinosaurs

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Jim Killam

dinosaurI (Jim) read two things this morning that encouraged me both as a journalist and as a Christian.

One was a discussion by author and pastor Timothy Keller of how the world began, and how incompletely the science vs. religion has been presented and viewed by our culture. Those who shout the loudest with the most extreme points of view receive the most attention. So we have one side saying no thinking person could ever believe in God, let alone the book of Genesis, while the other side says no one can call themselves Christian if they believe the earth is more than 8,000 years old.

That makes for good theater and social media fodder, I suppose. But, how many media reports have you seen or read that quote Christians who believe in evolution as a creative process established by God – but stop short of believing in it as a philosophy that all is meaningless? Or, how many interviews have you seen with eminent biologists, geologists or physicists who do indeed believe in an infinitely creative God – but stop short of believing God created everything several thousand years ago, then put the dinosaur fossils in the ground to fool us?

The second item was a blog post by Rachel Held Evans featuring short essays by six people about how so many evangelicals’ recent rush to “Stand with Phil” made them feel. “Phil” is Phil Robertson, outspoken patriarch of the TV show “Duck Dynasty.” His comments to GQ magazine about homosexuality and race got him temporarily suspended by his network, and ignited impassioned mobs on social media (most of whom had not actually read the GQ article).

Again, depending on your point of view, the story line was either: “Let’s shout down those intolerant, evangelical rednecks who should be confined to the swamps” … or, “Let’s stand behind this courageous man’s man who stood up for what’s right and only said what we’re all thinking.”

As the people on either end of that discussion retreated to their own camps and preached to their choirs, the people in the middle didn’t get much attention at first. Those would be the people working in the trenches who get hit when either side lobs bombs from their safe fortresses. They’re the people who try to understand and engage with those who see life differently, rather than demonize each other.

It’s good to hear from those middle-grounders – the thinkers who don’t necessarily speak in sound bytes or organize Facebook petitions. They tend to bring the discussion back to a point where we as a society actually can profit from it.

That’s a good lesson for journalists, too. The loudest voices are the easiest to hear and to quote. But they’re usually not the real story, nor the best story.

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The first rough draft of history

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Jim Killam

The inescapable hurry of the press inevitably means a certain degree of superficiality. It is neither within our power nor our province to be ultimately profound. We write 365 days a year the first rough draft of history, and that is a very great task.”

— Phillip L. Graham, Washington Post President and Publisher, 1953

In a 2010 Slate column, writer Jack Shafer explored the origins of the idea that journalism is the “first rough draft of history.” It’s taught in most journalism schools, but usually it goes unattributed. Shafer concluded that the phrase probably originated among several writers on the Post’s editorial board in the late 1940s.

I can appreciate the effort to nail that down, but knowing how the phrase originated wouldn’t much change my appreciation for it. The thought lends great significance to what we do as journalists.

“First, rough, and draft all have separate and distinct meanings,” Shafer wrote, “yet they all point to a morning greenness, a raw beginning where truth originates.”

I was talking the other day with someone I care about deeply, who has trouble accepting the Bible as historically accurate. He’s adopted the belief made popular by books like “The Da Vinci Code” that the New Testament was a political construction by Emperor Constantine and the Nicene Council in 325 A.D. The council rejected all accounts they didn’t like, the thinking goes, and blended various anonymous stories into four gospels that made it into the Bible.

I believe journalism – the first rough draft of history — helps settle this question. The Bible’s gospel accounts were based either on first-hand observation or on reporting: interviewing eyewitnesses. In the first four verses of his gospel, Luke sets forth his credibility as having “carefully investigated everything from the beginning … so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

Writer and pastor Timothy Keller has pointed out that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written when many eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesus were still around. Paul’s letters, which reference many events in the life of Jesus, were written only 15 to 25 years after the Crucifixion.

“Paul refers to a body of 500 eyewitnesses who saw the risen Christ at once,” Keller writes in “The Reason for God.” “You can’t write that in a document designed for public reading unless there really were surviving witnesses whose testimony agreed and who could confirm what the author said.” (pp.101-102)

Much of this applies to reporting stories from the mission field today. Whether we are journalists writing for a news organization or missionaries writing a monthly newsletter, our job is to report what we see and what we hear from eyewitnesses. It’s to report important stories that otherwise would go untold to a wider audience. It’s to distinguish facts from rumors and to give an accurate account.

The future of the world may not be riding on how well we do that, as it did with the writers of the New Testament. Still, the world benefits when we report compelling stories accurately. Those who write later drafts of history will rely on how well we do our jobs today.

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Journalism’s revolution

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Jim Killam

A friend, the editor of a small daily newspaper here in Illinois, asked me (Jim) a tough question this week: What I would I tell a high-school senior who wonders if there’s a career anymore in being a reporter?

Actually, I’ve had that conversation many times, both in my previous career as a college newspaper adviser and now as a missionary journalist. The short answer: Certainly there is, but it probably won’t look like it did for previous generations. Great opportunity exists for creative, energetic people.

Journalism is in the middle of a revolution bigger than any since Gutenberg. Consumer habits have changed rapidly with technology, while the business model that supported the newspaper industry is evaporating. Newspapers as previous generations knew them are not going to exist much longer.

That’s not a bad thing if they are replaced by something better. We have at our disposal today the greatest set of reporting and publishing tools the world has ever known. The next generation of journalists gets to figure out the best ways to use them. Some will work in general-interest publications. More will find a niche. Our niche, for example, is to seek and report stories of God’s work on the front lines of the Great Commission, in order to help engage the worldwide Church. And, to recruit and train others to do the same.

Back to what I would tell that high-school senior. It would go something like this: Go write for your local paper or news website, covering as many different things as you can, because it will give you the clearest indicator of what this work is really like. A college degree still is the ticket, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a journalism degree. Depending on where you go to school, you might even need to build your own. Learn basic reporting and news writing. Learn journalism law and ethics. Learn photo and video. Learn to code. Read and learn all you can about how the world works — government, business, education, religion, politics. Know how technology intersects with each of those areas. Take at least one course in entrepreneurship.

I would say the same thing to a student who’s interested in journalism and wants to impact the world for Christ. Entrepreneurial journalism offers the chance to report stories of God’s work to unprecedented audiences around the world. Christians who develop reporting skills and know how the world works can be like the biblical men of Issachar, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:32: “Men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

More than ever, journalism needs to attract our best and brightest. To a student who wants a front-row seat as the world changes, this is still a pretty great choice.

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A golden opportunity

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Jim Killam

Journalists tend to be idealists. While we don’t always admit it, we like the idea that what we do could help change the world. That’s best accomplished when our words, photos and videos function as a mirror for our communities. Our work can show what’s right and wrong with our world. It can provide a forum for people to think about solutions.

In a Christian context, great journalism shines a light on the works of God and helps audiences to engage: pray, give, send and go. We think that’s Track One of a two-track movement God is stirring: Journalists are being called to tell the world what’s happening on the mission field.

“Well-told testimony stories are a key ingredient of revival everywhere and at all times,” wrote our friend David Aikman, a former senior correspondent for TIME Magazine.

In Track Two, journalists will multiply that work by teaching our craft to missionaries, foreign nationals and others working in and around ministry. That’s an idea that caught the imagination of another friend of ours, best-selling novelist and biographer Jerry B. Jenkins.

“The idea of journalists training missionaries to be storytellers is unique and can change the face of missions,” Jenkins said. “Great stories engage people and can energize the church to more impassioned prayer and even more sending and going.”

We believe God is gathering an army of people to do both facets of this work. We hope you’ll ask yourself: In what way could I become part of this movement in 2014? Then we hope, and pray, that you get so restless that you’ll do something about it.

In the foreword to our upcoming book, “Go Tell It,” Aikman wrote about the need for better storytelling from the mission field:

“I think, in a way, Christians are being handed a golden opportunity to raise standards across the landscape of reporting and, through their excellence, make it attractive for ordinary people to witness the wonders of what God is doing around the world.”

That’s a pretty incredible opportunity.

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Introverts of the world, disperse!

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Jim Killam

Here’s a super-interesting blog post from a few months back by author Don Miller. For me (Jim) it reminds me of the extra effort required for introverts like me to be effective reporters. Certainly we can do it; in fact, sometimes we’re better observers of detail than extroverted journalists.

What do you think?  What are the toughest things to overcome as an introverted journalist? Extroverts, how about you? Where are your biggest challenges?

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Transcribing interviews … ugh

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Jim Killam

Most journalists use voice recorders for interviewing, and then face the tedious task of transcribing those interviews. Here’s a workflow idea to speed up that process.

Record the interview and create the audio file. My Olympus recorder plugs into the USB port on my laptop and I just transfer the file. Sometimes I use a Zoom H2, which records to a removable SD card. Several smart-phone and tablet apps can serve as recorders, too.

Then I import the files into an application called Express Scribe (costs about $30). In ExpressScribe, you can play back the files and adjust the speed for your typing speed. Better yet, spend $55 and get a compatible foot control. Mine has three customizable pedals – I set the middle one for play, the left one to jump back 5 seconds and the right one for fast forward. Between the speed setting and the foot pedal, I rarely have to stop typing. I’ve noticed my transcription time cut in half from the days when I’d have to stop typing to hit “play” and “rewind” on the recorder.

So far so good. We can stop here and we’ve already saved time. But, we’re still typing. Another potential piece to this process can solve that … almost. It’s voice recognition software, the most popular being Dragon Naturally Speaking. Problem is, it learns your voice only, after you read a sample text to it. It can’t recognize multiple voices. So just playing your interview file into it doesn’t work.

Here’s a solution: Using headphones or a headset, listen to the interview and repeat what your subject says into the microphone. It’s a little like being a translator – with practice, you get better. The foot pedal helps immensely. Dragon recognizes your voice and transcribes the words. All you need to do then is go back and clean up the typing – but as you get the hang of dictating – including saying the words “period,” “comma,” etc. – the files are pretty clean.

Doing a series of long interview with the same person? You could even create a Dragon user profile for that person and have them speak the sample text into your computer mic. Then, if your recording quality for the interviews is good, Dragon should be able to get most of it.

Dragon’s list price is $99.99, but Amazon and others sell it for much less. Dragon also offers a free smart-phone and tablet app called Dragon Dictation. It’s not bad for transcribing speech blocks that lasts a minute or less at a time. Once it’s done, you can email it to yourself. (I find this app even more valuable for dictating text messages rather than having to type them.)

So, assuming you already have the voice recorder, that’s a total cost of about $150. Next time you’re two hours into transcribing a long interview, ask yourself if that’s too much to invest. Even if it is, try a few elements of this workflow separately and see what works best for you.

Have a different process for transcribing interviews? Feel free to share it below.

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