पूरी तरह से खुद को 'पाने' जैसी कोई चीज़ नहीं होती... असली मज़ा तो, मुझे लगता है, तलाशने में ही है।
There’s no such thing as being totally ‘found’…the fun, I think, is in the searching.
There’s no such thing as being totally ‘found’…the fun, I think, is in the searching.
मुझे लगता है कि जब मैं अपने बिल्कुल शुरुआती इंटरव्यू ले रही होंगी, तो मैं शायद अपने साथ एक नोटपैड लेकर जाती होगी और स्टारबक्स या किसी ऐसी ही किसी भयानक जगह पर बैठकर लोगों से अपने शुरुआती पंद्रह सवाल पूछती होगी। और मैंने पाया कि अक्सर, पहले इंटरव्यू में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण चीज़ एक व्यक्तिगत रिश्ता बनाना और एक तालमेल बिठाना होता है ताकि मैं उनके पास दोबारा जा सकूं, और शायद उसके बाद फिर से, और फिर उसके भी बाद जा सकूं।
I think when I was doing my very first interviews, I probably brought a notepad and did ask people my first fifteen questions while sitting in a Starbucks or something horrible like that. And I found that, oftentimes, the most important thing at the very first interview is just establishing a personal connection and developing some sort of rapport so that I can go back to them again, and then maybe again, and maybe again after that.
I think when I was doing my very first interviews, I probably brought a notepad and did ask people my first fifteen questions while sitting in a Starbucks or something horrible like that. And I found that, oftentimes, the most important thing at the very first interview is just establishing a personal connection and developing some sort of rapport so that I can go back to them again, and then maybe again, and maybe again after that.
खोजी पत्रकारिता का एक दूसरा रूप भी मुमकिन है, जो गहराई में उतरने, बारकियों पर बारीक नज़र रखने और लोगों को दिल से सुनने पर आधारित है।
There is space for a different kind of investigative reporting that's about immersion and obsessive attention to detail and deep listening.
There is space for a different kind of investigative reporting that's about immersion and obsessive attention to detail and deep listening.
नैरेटिव जर्नलिज्म एक ऐसी भाषा गढ़ता है या एक ऐसा मंच तैयार करता है जहाँ कोई यह कह सके, "अरे, यह तो मेरे साथ भी हुआ था।"
What narrative journalism does is create a language or open up a space where someone can say, "Oh, this happened to me, too."
What narrative journalism does is create a language or open up a space where someone can say, "Oh, this happened to me, too."
मैंने एक बात महसूस की है कि अगर आप लोगों से लगातार संपर्क में रहें, लंबे समय तक रिश्ते निभाएं, और ऐसे लोगों में निवेश करें जो शुरुआत में असहज या बात करने से कतराते नज़र आते हैं, तो एक साल बाद यही कोशिशें कोई बहुत बड़ा परिणाम दे सकती हैं।
One thing I've discovered is that if you remain in contact with people, if you build longitudinal relationships, if you invest in sources who seem at first like they're uncomfortable or unwilling to talk, if you keep in touch with them, a year later that might yield something much more powerful.
One thing I've discovered is that if you remain in contact with people, if you build longitudinal relationships, if you invest in sources who seem at first like they're uncomfortable or unwilling to talk, if you keep in touch with them, a year later that might yield something much more powerful.
मुझमें एक समय पर किसी एक ही चीज़ में पूरी तरह डूब जाने की आदत है, और मैं सिर्फ उसी में रम जाती हूँ। लेकिन लंबे समय में, मेरी कई कहानियाँ आगे चलकर दूसरी नई कहानियों को जन्म देती हैं।
I tend to only be able to obsess about one thing at once, and become fully engaged in and only interested in that thing. But in the longer term, a lot of my stories also give birth to other stories.
I tend to only be able to obsess about one thing at once, and become fully engaged in and only interested in that thing. But in the longer term, a lot of my stories also give birth to other stories.
जिन लोगों और परिवारों के बारे में मैंने लिखा है, सच कहूँ तो उनसे संपर्क बनाए रखना बहुत अच्छा अनुभव रहा है। जैसे ग्वाटेमाला के जिन बच्चों के बारे में मैंने हाल ही में लिखा था—जो अपहरण और हिंसा के बीच से बचकर भागे थे—उनके लिविंग रूम में बैठकर उनके साथ बिंगो खेलना और परिवार के साथ रात का खाना खाना बहुत सुकून भरा था। और कभी-कभी इसे इस मशीनी सोच के साथ न देखना कि "मैं अब रिपोर्टिंग करने आई हूँ और मुझे अपना मतलब निकालना है," बल्कि बस उनके साथ समय बिताना, आपको उनके असली और स्वाभाविक रूप से रूबरू कराता है।
It's been nice, actually, to keep in touch with a lot of the people and families that I've written about. Like with the kids I was just writing about from Guatemala, who survived being kidnapped and fleeing violence, it was nice to just sit down in their living room and play bingo with them, go to dinner with the family. And sometimes not thinking about it in such a mechanistic "I am now coming to report and get what I need" way, but just spending time, helps you see a more natural version of who they are too.
It's been nice, actually, to keep in touch with a lot of the people and families that I've written about. Like with the kids I was just writing about from Guatemala, who survived being kidnapped and fleeing violence, it was nice to just sit down in their living room and play bingo with them, go to dinner with the family. And sometimes not thinking about it in such a mechanistic "I am now coming to report and get what I need" way, but just spending time, helps you see a more natural version of who they are too.
मुझे लगता है कि बहुत से बीट रिपोर्टर्स के सामने रोज़ की सबसे बड़ी चुनौती यह होती है कि वे ताकतवर लोगों या बात टालने में माहिर उन चेहरों के रटे-रटाए बयानों से कैसे पार पाएं, जो इस ड्रामेबाज़ी—यानी प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस, पहले से तय इंटरव्यू और सलाहकारों की फौज—के आदी हो चुके हैं।
I think the daily challenge for a lot of beat reporters is, how do you get past the regurgitated sound bites of powerful people or evasion masters who are so used to this routine - the theatricality of press conferences and stage-managed interviews and teams of handlers?
I think the daily challenge for a lot of beat reporters is, how do you get past the regurgitated sound bites of powerful people or evasion masters who are so used to this routine - the theatricality of press conferences and stage-managed interviews and teams of handlers?
फ़िल्मों और पॉप कल्चर में खोजी पत्रकारिता और पत्रकार की जो छवि दिखाई जाती है, उसमें अक्सर एक ऐसा रोबदार मर्द होता है जो चिल्लाकर कहता है, "जो है तुम्हारे पास, सब बाहर निकालो!" मैं कभी खुद को इस तरह के अंदाज़ में फिट या सहज नहीं देख पाई।
So much of our cultural representation of what an investigative journalist looks like, in movies and pop culture, is about this really testosterone-filled dude screaming, "Give me what you got!" I didn't see myself as someone who would be good at or comfortable with that.
So much of our cultural representation of what an investigative journalist looks like, in movies and pop culture, is about this really testosterone-filled dude screaming, "Give me what you got!" I didn't see myself as someone who would be good at or comfortable with that.
मैं हमेशा से जानती थी कि मुझे लिखना है, लेकिन मुझे यह नहीं पता था कि मैं खोजी पत्रकारिता करना चाहूँगी—शायद इसलिए क्योंकि मुझे लगता था कि यह मेरे स्वभाव के बिल्कुल अनुकूल नहीं है, या मैं ऐसी नहीं हूँ जो बहुत आक्रामक या झगड़ालू हो।
I always knew I wanted to write, but I didn't know that I would want to do investigative reporting - in part because it seemed so ill-suited for my personality, or I thought it was ill-suited for my personality, insofar as I'm not very aggressive, and I'm not confrontational.
I always knew I wanted to write, but I didn't know that I would want to do investigative reporting - in part because it seemed so ill-suited for my personality, or I thought it was ill-suited for my personality, insofar as I'm not very aggressive, and I'm not confrontational.
एक आम इंसान की झकझोर देने वाली व्यक्तिगत कहानियों और समाज की ढांचागत, व्यवस्थागत कमियों के बीच के उस तालमेल को तलाशना—एक रिपोर्टर के तौर पर मुझे यही सबसे दिलचस्प लगता है।
Thinking through how you find that intersection between individual, compelling human narratives and structural, systemic injustices - that's the place that's most interesting to me as a reporter.
Thinking through how you find that intersection between individual, compelling human narratives and structural, systemic injustices - that's the place that's most interesting to me as a reporter.
बगदाद के सबसे बड़े सैन्य अड्डे पर काम करने वाले मजदूरों को भूखा रखा जा रहा है और महिलाओं के साथ बेखौफ बलात्कार हो रहा है—चूँकि यह सब हॉलीवुड की किसी कहानी में फिट नहीं बैठता, इसलिए इसे तवज्जो नहीं मिलती।
Workers are actually being starved on the largest military base in Baghdad, and women are being raped with impunity - and because it doesn't fit into a Hollywood context it's not going to fly.
Workers are actually being starved on the largest military base in Baghdad, and women are being raped with impunity - and because it doesn't fit into a Hollywood context it's not going to fly.
जब हर कोई युद्ध के पारंपरिक पहलुओं पर ध्यान दे रहा हो—जैसे पैदल सेना के साथ रहना या बारूदी सुरंगों का पीछा करना—तो आप उन चीज़ों को देखें जिन पर आम तौर पर लोगों का ध्यान नहीं जाता, जैसे रसद और आपूर्ति विभाग के उन मजदूरों के हालात जो सैनिकों के लिए खाना बनाते हैं या शौचालय साफ करते हैं।
When everyone's focused on the conventional parts of war - doing infantry imbeds or chasing IEDs - you look at the thing that seems not that interesting to people, like the circumstances of logistics workers cooking the troops' food or cleaning their latrines.
When everyone's focused on the conventional parts of war - doing infantry imbeds or chasing IEDs - you look at the thing that seems not that interesting to people, like the circumstances of logistics workers cooking the troops' food or cleaning their latrines.
मेरा झुकाव अक्सर किसी कहानी के "दूसरे", "तीसरे" या "चौथे" हिस्से की तरफ होता है—यानी ऐसी बातें जिन पर कम रिपोर्टिंग हुई हो और जिनके बारे में हम सोचते हैं कि हम सब कुछ जानते ही हैं, या फिर किसी चर्चित कहानी के ऐसे अनछुए पहलू जिन पर किसी का ध्यान नहीं जाता, जबकि हम सब एक ही दिशा में देखने में इतने मग्न होते हैं कि साइड में घट रही कोई अहम बात हमारी नज़र से छूट जाती है।
I tend to gravitate toward the "act two," or "act three," or "act four" stories - either things that are underreported, where we think we already know the common narrative, or things that are at the margins of an over-reported story, where we're all so focused in one direction that we're missing something crucial that's unfolding off to the side.
I tend to gravitate toward the "act two," or "act three," or "act four" stories - either things that are underreported, where we think we already know the common narrative, or things that are at the margins of an over-reported story, where we're all so focused in one direction that we're missing something crucial that's unfolding off to the side.
मुझे लगता है कि मैं कॉलेज के दिनों में इराक युद्ध की शुरुआत के दौरान लेखन की दुनिया में आई थी, और जब मुझे एहसास हुआ कि ये मुद्दे मेरे लिए बहुत मायने रखते हैं, तो मैं खुद जाकर सब कुछ अपनी आँखों से देखना चाहती थी।
I feel like I partly came to writing through being in college during the start of the Iraq war, and knowing that those issues mattered lot to me, and wanting to go see for myself.
I feel like I partly came to writing through being in college during the start of the Iraq war, and knowing that those issues mattered lot to me, and wanting to go see for myself.
मैं ऐसे रास्ते तलाशना चाहती थी जिनसे अमेरिकी पाठकों का ध्यान मैक्सिको में हो रही घटनाओं की ओर खींचा जा सके, और साथ ही इस समस्या को एक ऐसी साझा चुनौती के रूप में पेश किया जा सके जिससे अमेरिका भी जुड़ा है।
I wanted to think about ways to get an American readership concerned with what is happening in Mexico, but also to reframe it as a problem Americans share.
I wanted to think about ways to get an American readership concerned with what is happening in Mexico, but also to reframe it as a problem Americans share.
मैंने एक बात सीखी है कि जो काम अपनी योजना के मुताबिक सफल नहीं हो पाता, मैं उसे कभी सिर्फ "विफलता" नहीं मानती। खोजी पत्रकारिता में अक्सर ऐसा होता है कि जो चीज़ें शुरू में नाकामी जैसी लगती हैं, वही आगे चलकर आपकी सबसे बड़ी कहानियों की बुनियाद बनती हैं।
One thing I've discovered is that I never think of something that didn't work out as just "something that didn't work out." I think so often with investigative work, things that initially look like failures wind up leading to your biggest stories.
One thing I've discovered is that I never think of something that didn't work out as just "something that didn't work out." I think so often with investigative work, things that initially look like failures wind up leading to your biggest stories.
यह देखकर मुझे सचमुच हैरानी हुई थी कि अमेरिका पहुँचने की कोशिश करने वाले प्रवासियों के लिए अपहरण कितनी आम बात बन चुकी है और वे कितनी आसानी से इसका शिकार हो जाते हैं, फिर भी इसके बारे में यहाँ शायद ही कभी कुछ सुनने को मिलता है।
I found it really astonishing that undocumented migrants were kidnapped so routinely, that it was such a commonplace part of the journey for people trying to reach the US, and that we hear almost nothing about it here.
I found it really astonishing that undocumented migrants were kidnapped so routinely, that it was such a commonplace part of the journey for people trying to reach the US, and that we hear almost nothing about it here.
अक्सर मेरे सामने सबसे बड़ी चुनौती यह समझने की होती है कि मैं लोगों का भरोसा कैसे जीतूँ; जो लोग अभी-अभी किसी भयानक त्रासदी से गुजरे हैं—जैसे अपने बच्चे को हिंसा में खोना या यौन उत्पीड़न का शिकार होना—उन्हें उन गहरी और कभी-कभी चुभने वाली साक्षात्कारों (इंटरव्यू) की प्रक्रिया से कैसे परिचित कराऊँ, जो सिर्फ दस सवालों की कोई झटपट सूची नहीं होती?
Often, my central challenge is figuring out how do I build trust, how do I acquaint people who've just endured some terrible event - losing their child to murder, say, or being sexually assaulted - with the bizarre and sometimes invasive nature of in-depth interviews that aren't just a quick list of ten questions?
Often, my central challenge is figuring out how do I build trust, how do I acquaint people who've just endured some terrible event - losing their child to murder, say, or being sexually assaulted - with the bizarre and sometimes invasive nature of in-depth interviews that aren't just a quick list of ten questions?
अक्सर मैं किसी व्यक्ति के साथ बहुत ही करीबी माहौल में महीनों बिताती हूँ, यह जानने के लिए कि उन्होंने नाश्ते में क्या खाया, और यह तो अलग ही बात है कि उनकी जिंदगी के सबसे दर्दनाक अनुभवों को कुरेदना, मुश्किल दिनों के उनके पुराने दस्तावेज़ों और तस्वीरों को खंगालना—यह सब करना पड़ता है। और मुझे लगता है कि यह पूरी प्रक्रिया उन लोगों के लिए बेहद अजीब हो सकती है जिनका कभी पहले इंटरव्यू न हुआ हो, खासकर तब जब आप शुरुआत में ही उन्हें यह न समझाएं कि आप क्या करने की कोशिश कर रही हैं, इसमें क्या-क्या शामिल होगा, और आपको उनकी परवाह क्यों है।
Often, I'm spending months with a person in a very intimate context, getting to know the ins and outs of what they ate for breakfast, not to mention dredging up the most traumatic experiences of their lives, digging through their documents and photographs from difficult times, all of that. And that process, I think, can be extraordinarily strange for subjects who've never been interviewed before, especially if you don't acquaint them from the get-go with what you're trying to do, what it entails, and why you care.
Often, I'm spending months with a person in a very intimate context, getting to know the ins and outs of what they ate for breakfast, not to mention dredging up the most traumatic experiences of their lives, digging through their documents and photographs from difficult times, all of that. And that process, I think, can be extraordinarily strange for subjects who've never been interviewed before, especially if you don't acquaint them from the get-go with what you're trying to do, what it entails, and why you care.
मैं अपनी रिपोर्टिंग में एक असली, संपूर्ण इंसान के रूप में उतरने की कोशिश करती हूँ, न कि किसी रोबोट की तरह। और इस नौकरी की एक अजीब सी असहजता यह है कि आप किसी की जिंदगी के इस बेहद संवेदनशील दौर का हिस्सा होते हैं—लगातार उनके संपर्क में रहते हैं—और फिर अचानक आपकी रिपोर्ट छपकर आ जाती है और सब खत्म हो जाता है। यह मुझे हमेशा याद दिलाता है कि एक पत्रकार का काम किसी का दोस्त या मनोवैज्ञानिक बनना नहीं है, बल्कि वही करना है जो हम वाकई हैं। और दिन के अंत में, यह रिश्ता बड़ा अजीब और सिर्फ मतलब साधने जैसा लग सकता है।
I try to come to my reporting as a real, whole person, not an automaton. And it's always one of the strange discomforts of the job, that you're in this very intense moment in someone's life - you're engaging with them nonstop - and then suddenly your piece is out and that's done. It always reminds me that the journalist's job isn't to be someone's friend, or their psychologist, or anything other than what we actually are. And at the end of the day, that can definitely seem like such a strange, extractive relationship.
I try to come to my reporting as a real, whole person, not an automaton. And it's always one of the strange discomforts of the job, that you're in this very intense moment in someone's life - you're engaging with them nonstop - and then suddenly your piece is out and that's done. It always reminds me that the journalist's job isn't to be someone's friend, or their psychologist, or anything other than what we actually are. And at the end of the day, that can definitely seem like such a strange, extractive relationship.
ऐसी जगहों और मुद्दों पर नैरेटिव जर्नलिज्म करना जिन पर कम रिपोर्टिंग हुई हो, एक बहुत बड़ी चुनौती है—आप लोगों को उस चीज़ की परवाह करने के लिए कैसे प्रेरित करें जिसके बारे में वे सोचते हैं कि वे पहले से ही सब जानते हैं, या सोचते हैं कि उन्हें इसके बारे में जानने की कोई ज़रूरत नहीं है?
The tremendous challenge of narrative journalism about subjects that are underreported is, how do you make people care about something they think they already know about, or think they don't need to know about?
The tremendous challenge of narrative journalism about subjects that are underreported is, how do you make people care about something they think they already know about, or think they don't need to know about?
लोग अक्सर किसी अपराध साबित होने से पहले ही अपने घर, अपनी जमापूँजी या अपनी गाड़ियाँ गँवा बैठते हैं।
People are sometimes losing their homes before being convicted of a crime, or their cash or their cars.
People are sometimes losing their homes before being convicted of a crime, or their cash or their cars.
हम में से ज्यादातर लेखकों ने ऐसे अनुभव जरूर सहे होंगे जब आपकी लिखी हुई सामग्री को ऐसा एडिट किया जाता है कि उसमें आपकी अपनी आवाज ही नहीं बचती। ऐसे में, यह अनुभव बहुत सुकून देने वाला रहा कि भले ही बहुत कुछ कचरे के डिब्बे में चला गया (यानी छंटनी में कट गया), फिर भी ऐसा महसूस हुआ कि आपकी आवाज को—न कि शुद्ध किया गया, बल्कि और अधिक आपका अपना बनाया गया। मुझे लगता है कि यह बहुत दुर्लभ बात है।
I think most of us, as writers, have had experiences where you get edited and it doesn't feel like your voice at all. And so it's been nice to go through the experience of having a lot wind up on the cutting-room floor, and yet still feel that your voice is being - not purified, but made more yourself. I think that's a very rare thing.
I think most of us, as writers, have had experiences where you get edited and it doesn't feel like your voice at all. And so it's been nice to go through the experience of having a lot wind up on the cutting-room floor, and yet still feel that your voice is being - not purified, but made more yourself. I think that's a very rare thing.
मैं अपनी रिपोर्टिंग में एक असली, संपूर्ण इंसान के रूप में उतरने की कोशिश करती हूँ, न कि किसी रोबोट की तरह।
I try to come to my reporting as a real, whole person, not an automaton.
I try to come to my reporting as a real, whole person, not an automaton.