Beneath the Byline: An interview with journalist Lee Pitts

According to WORLD Magazine, Lee is the executive director of the World Journalism Institute and former Washington, D.C. bureau chief for WORLD Magazine. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and teaches journalism at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. Today, he is answering some questions about his life and career.

Your background: Was there a specific moment that made you realize you wanted to be a journalist? If not, how did you end up where you are? [Follow up: why journalism and not some other type of writing?] 

I mean, I was heavily involved in my school paper in high school and that was one of my main extracurricular activities. And we had a pretty big high school and a pretty decent school newspaper, I think, and we put a lot of work into it. My grades reflect the fact that I put in a lot of work into the student newspaper. I kind of left that burned out from doing that and didn't really do much in college with it. But I think the seeds of journalism, the seeds of storytelling had been planted, and even growing up, I loved journalism, I loved the news, I loved newspapers. I was a newspaper addict. I played on a travel soccer team and every time we went to a hotel I had, in the morning, to go track down a newspaper to take to breakfast. And all my other teammates would make fun of that, that I was looking for the news, and that was back before they put the USA Today under your door. And some hotels, they had to actually go find a newsstand or news dispenser. So yeah, I always kind of have been drawn to stories and true stories and, despite not doing it in college and in my first decade after college, that seed was still there. In my late 20s, I finally watered that seed and went to grad school in Chicago and got my masters in journalism, and then off to the races after that. So it kind of laid dormant for a while in my 20s, but I picked it back up in my 30s. 

What are your favorite types of stories to tell? 

I mean, I think it's people stories. Stories about people. It’s about the immigrant, not immigration; it's about the patient, the doctor, not healthcare; it’s about the student and teacher, not education; it’s about the soldier, not the military. I think that's what really draws me to journalism and storytelling is the people involved in interacting with and overcoming the issues more than the issues themselves. You know, I try to focus on the people impacted by the story and not the issue revolving around the story and that's what makes it interesting for me to report because I get to interact with, meet, observe and walk alongside the different people as I tell their stories. And hopefully that makes it interesting for the readers because I think readers probably enjoy stories about people more than lectures about issues. 

What story/stories are you the most proud of? 

A couple stick out. One would be a double amputee soldier story. I just had fun. It was an honor to tell their stories and I mean, so often with war stories you get the stories of them going off to war and then people forget about them when they come back home. So it was good to remind the readers that their stories continue after the war and that some of them have permanent scars from the war. We should, you know, acknowledge that and find out what they're doing after they come back from combat. I guess war stories really stick out to me. I mean, the D-Day anniversary, where I got to interview about a dozen D-Day survivors, that was really cool. 

And then my grandfather— one year, I wrote a story about my grandfather’s World War II experience. That was really the only first-person story I ever published, with the word “I” being in it, but I felt it was appropriate, being about my grandfather. I would say those: telling his story, telling the D-Day veteran survivor stories and the amputee soldier story. Those really stick out to me because they're the hinge moments of history; personal sacrifice for the greater good or for a bigger ideal than themselves. Those stories are kind of hard to beat. 

I mean, you got the new Superman movie coming out this week. That’s what the draw of superheroes is: people looking out for the greater good. And I think that when you find real people that do that, those stories are kind of humbling to cover and write about. Ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. That's probably the theme of all three of those stories: ordinary people caught up with extraordinary events, and I kind of like that more than the “extraordinary celebrity stories.” I'd rather talk about ordinary people and extraordinary events than the so-called celebrities. 

What is your favorite story that you wanted to tell that didn’t get the greenlight or got killed?

I've always found editors desperate and hungry for good stories, and if you have a good story, they'll encourage you to pursue it and they'll publish it. I covered some controversial stories about some people of faith who are lawmakers on Capitol Hill who were having affairs and kind of just being a little bit hypocritical. I wrote about that and the publication I worked for at the time, WORLD, was fine publishing that. They weren't afraid, or hiding or polishing the images of potentially like-minded people who shared their ideology. They were good to let us cover the truth and let us cover the facts, and hold accountable people who are saying one thing and doing another thing. I've never felt like I've been muzzled by anybody. 

What have been some of the most challenging moments of your career? 

Definitely spending seven months in Iraq as a reporter in 2005. That was definitely challenging. I mean, it was in a dangerous combat zone where everything was heightened and it was not irrational to think that a mission you went on could end up ending your life, so you always have that in the back of your mind when you went out on missions. It's interesting, it was the most challenging but also the most rewarding, and I guess that's often what happens in life. Some of the most challenging things that you face end up being the most rewarding things you do. 

I definitely felt safer in Washington, D.C. where there’s less stress and danger, but covering the D.C. politicians, to me, was less rewarding than covering the soldiers and telling their stories. So even though it was challenging, it was very rewarding to be able to kind of shine a spotlight on what the average soldier was doing in Iraq. Because so often, I guess sometimes in military coverage they focus on the big picture and the people, the commanders, moving the chess pieces on the board, and it was really kind of neat to be able to just cover the chess, cover the pawn on the board, and the bishops on the board, and be able to tell their stories about what they were doing in the trenches of of the war. 

What writers and authors have influenced your work the most?

I think in journalism, it’s always good when the writer disappears. I argue one of the reasons why journalism is broken today is because we live in an era, I guess, of celebrity journalism. Some journalists become names and brands, and they're more concerned about their name and their brand and how many Twitter followers they have than they are about actually getting the news. So I always like it when you read a story in a publication of some sort, and the person who's writing it kind of disappears or you don't really catch their name because you're just so involved in the story. It's about the people in the story, not about the author. So that's kind of a long-winded way to not give you any specific names journalistically because I just think it should be about the story and not the writer. 

I try to get a varied media diet, reading different publications. I don't go to the same place over and over again, just like I don't eat the same breakfast every morning. I think it's good to have a well-balanced diet and bounce around different publications, newspapers, magazines, both domestic and abroad; different podcasts, different video things. You know, I wouldn't encourage anybody to just get their news from one source all the time and so I'm always bouncing around different sources of different outlets. 

And we have the freedom to do that now with the Internet and so on. I don't have to subscribe to some, you know, English paper from London and get it mailed to me weeks later. I can look at it instantly online, so we have a big buffet to choose from now. And I guess that's also paralyzing the people because there's so much to choose from. It's both a good and a bad thing. You don't know what to pick and what to not pick. But we do have a buffet of choices and I just encourage people to sample different news outlets and not be afraid of having your worldview challenged or refuted or questioned by only reading stories from people that you know match every box on your list of things your worldview is. 

How have you seen journalism/the media change throughout your career? What further changes do you anticipate? 

I guess you could say that I was the tail end— the last dinosaur before the dinosaurs went extinct— of the traditional news media. I worked at a newsroom and we didn't put a lot of energy into our website at the time. We just went and told stories and wrote them for the newspaper and then published it the next day in the paper. And then you got up that morning, and did another story. You went to the newsroom in the morning and then got your story and went and covered it, and then went to the bar after you finished your new story and hung out with your colleagues and swapped war stories or whatever. But then, the way people could read your stories was getting the paper the next morning. I was kind of at the very tail end of that, I guess. 

Obviously the explosion of the internet and then on top of that, social media, the double whammy of the internet was social media, changed journalism and in major ways. The dissemination model of journalism now, with the internet and social media has definitely changed. I also think the breakdown of the silos has happened too, where you used to be just a print reporter— you didn't know anything about radio or video, or your video reporter who didn't know anything about print, and now you've got to kind of to be a one person band to be able to play multiple instruments well. You’ve got to be able to write a  print story and do a video and do a podcast as a journalist today, you can't just be a one-skilled journalist. You’ve got to, even if you're a TV reporter, you’ve got to do a print web version of your story for your website. If you're a print reporter, you might have to do a podcast or a YouTube video version of your story for their YouTube channel. So yeah, the dissemination model has been a big change and also the expanding of your skill-set. You just can't just play one instrument anymore. You’ve got to be able to play them all as a journalist. 

People consume more media than they ever have. How do you think this has changed the world?

I mean, we have these computers in our pockets now with our smartphones that are as powerful as anything before, so I think we have access to media. I definitely think that we consume more media with the capital ‘M,’ but  I don't necessarily think we consume more journalism, more news. I think, myself included, we use pocket-sized computers on our phones to eat more junk food than we do to eat more healthy food. It'd be nice if we all had our smartphones and were reading, you know, op-eds in the New York Times and long feature stories in The Atlantic, and listening to BBC News’ podcast, but I think we are consuming more entertainment media, more sugar media, more junk food media than than ever before. I think that's unfortunate. 

I think that's one of the factors that made us so divisive, so we're all in our corners, and so easily misled, and falling for fake news or misinformation. And people who are peddling that misinformation or fake news, they have agendas to steer people in a certain direction, to keep people divided, and keep people separated. I mean, what's interesting is, ironically— sadly and ironically— we have so much more access to media than ever before, but I think we're more media illiterate than we've been in a while because. We seem to be more media illiterate about discerning what is news and what is not news, and what is real and what's not real, and what is fake and what is legitimate. I guess that's what happens when you just consume a bunch of junk food: your body eventually gets bloated and unhealthy and you start having physical problems and health problems. And I guess if you just consume a bunch of junk media, then your discernment skills kind of lose their ability. That phrase, “infotainment.” I think there's more emphasis on the “tainment” than the “info” these days.

What is your advice for younger people interested in journalism?

As trained journalists, hopefully we are really good listeners. Active listening, and listening to soak in what they're saying and not just thinking about what we're going to say next while they're talking, which a lot of people do in conversation, but just kind of, you know, looking them in the eye and listening to them. By active listener I mean adjusting your follow-up questions, and adjusting what you ask next based on what they tell you. Also, just being an active observer I mean, you know, being able to observe surroundings and noticing the things that kind of stick out or pop or or are distinct. Whether that's using your senses or being attuned to the actions that are going around you, or even having the empathy to be attuned to the emotions of things that are going on around you, the emotions behind the things you're observing, I think those are good skills to have. 

I mean, it’s sad to see how many people's heads are buried in their phones and not observing the world around them. I don't know how you could be a good journalist or be a good storyteller if you're always having the phone be a barrier between you and the real world. So I always say, “Put the phone down and look up and look around.” And don’t just listen to the people that you're around, but also observe, with the senses, the action and the emotion of the things that are happening around you. I was at the neighborhood pool, where my in-laws live, yesterday with my kids and I was just struck by how many of the adults were sitting around the pool looking at their phones while their kids were playing in the water rather than watching their kids play. Or even, go figure, play with them, get in the pool and play with them themselves. They were laying back on the lounge chairs, scrolling through their phones. And that’s everywhere you go these days. People are missing the world around them because they're looking at this mediated world on the phone, and that's bad. That would be bad for journalists. But it's also sad for humanity if that's how you live your life, through the prism of your digital screen. 

Part of journalism is paying attention and asking good questions. What are some daily habits or ways of being that promote paying attention and asking good questions?

I would just say if that's what you want to pursue, then be aggressive in pursuing it. Start telling stories now. There are stories everywhere, there are stories wherever you live. Just start looking for stories to tell, and work on your story-telling craft, your interviewing craft, and reporting craft. And then try to find places that are willing to publish what you’re doing. I mean, just kind of knock on doors, persevere— persevere and don't take “no” for an answer. Find creative ways to get around the word “no,” either a no from a source you want to interview or a from an editor who you want them to publish your story. I think you're going to have to be able to persevere despite closed doors and keep knocking on those doors, both for stories and for publication outlets, if it’s something you feel called to do and something that kind of lights your vocational fire. 

It's kind of interesting because there's a lot of places to get things published these days, but it's also hard to get those published pieces. So you’ve got to be persistent and knock on doors to get your pieces published. But even though you're not getting a piece published now as a young journalist, starting out doesn't mean that you can't tell stories and work on your craft, and write stories, and interview people, and work on that the same way. Like an aspiring pianist plays the piano in their house when nobody's listening to the piano but them. And they're working on their key-handling skills, and they're working on reading music, and working on getting better with all the things you’ve got to do to become a good piano player–to an audience of one, themselves, while they're in their house working on their keyboard. Aspiring journalists don't have to wait until they get a job at a big publication where there's a whole built-in audience for their stuff. They can start working on their crafting skills now by reading, listening to, and watching great journalism and then doing it themselves. I think consuming good journalism is one way to learn. I mean, a great football player watches videos on other quarterbacks that come before them and studies how they played the game. Cooks look at what other cooks do and how they make meals. Aspiring journalists should consume good journalism and think reflectively about how they made that story and how they produce that story. And then also do their own work as well. 

What do you read (journalism and not)? 

I read a lot of fiction for pleasure, and there's different authors that I like. I like Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, I like Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels, and I've been reading William K. Krueger lately, crime novels with a police officer in Minnesota roughly. But yeah, I mean those are some of the ones that stand out. I do like reading biographies, too, World War II biographies. I'm actually reading Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day about D-Day right now. But yeah, I just  bounce around from different authors. 

I just like variety. I mean I'm reading a series of detective-type mysteries and I'll bounce around from one series to another. Michael Connelly, I like him a lot. He's got the Bosch series, and that was a TV show for a while, but it's originally a book. He’s got like 20+ books on Bosch, the L.A. Detective. I also like a guy named Robert Crais who has another detective series called Elvis Cole and Joe Pike and they’re private eyes in L.A., and that's a pretty good series. And, of course, that William Kent Krueger, who I mentioned, has got this guy named Cork O'Connor and he’s a police guy in Minnesota. And then you've got a guy named Randy Wayne White who has a guy named Doc Ford who's a retired NSA guy in the Florida Keys. 

I kind of bounce around from those different series because they're all detective or police crime mysteries, but the settings take on a personality or a part of the character of the story. So you have the retired spy in Florida solving mysteries, and you've got the police officer in northern Minnesota solving mysteries, and you've got the detectives in L.A. solving the mysteries. California, Minnesota, Florida, they take on personality in the story, which is kind of cool. So yeah, that's kind of my guilty pleasure right now is reading different crime fiction series and bouncing from one to the other.