George Pawlaczyk

The Red Envelope

The Red Envelope
The other day I learned that asking questions is extremely important. Often times journalists or detectives have the perfect story or the right suspect, but if they ask them the wrong questions then they will ruin the whole thing. In my reporting class a man named George Pawlaczyk came to speak to us. He handed out a mysterious red envelope to every student, labeled "DO NOT OPEN." Of course when people are told not to do something that makes them even more anxious to do so. As I looked around the room I noticed many other students were curious about the envelope as well and as the time grew nearer and nearer to the end of class one student finally asked the question we had all been wondering. "Are you going to tell us what's up with the envelope?" She won $10, because she asked a question. 

Finding Stories
A lot of people have trouble finding a story when they are not told what exactly to report on. I find it interesting and very helpful that Mr. Pawlackzyk told us that when we need ideas we can ask anyone. A janitor, someone walking on the street or even a politician can help us find a story. I never really thought about asking random people if they have a story to tell. But, now I realize that everyone has a story and it's just a matter of asking them what it is.

Not Everyone is Who they Seem to Be
Lastly, I learned that another big reason to ask questions is because people are not always who you think they are. Police officers can seem like helpful beings that will do anything to help solve your case, but in reality they don't even bother with your case most of the time. If we don't ask victims about their cases then we would never know how efficient police officers are. Or we may see someone sitting on the street in beat up clothing and assume they are homeless, but they could just be someone who rather give their money to charity then to buy new clothes. If we don't ask our story could be entirely wrong. We can not simply take the word of one person and write a story based on their word. Journalists must always be skeptical and ask additional sources.

-Mariko Cree Mosher