Perspective on journalism: Melissa Sevigny
Photo by Alexis Knapp. Courtesy: Melissa Sevigny, used with permission.
Melissa Sevigny is the science and technology reporter for KNAU, Arizona Public Radio and is the author of two books, "Mythical River: Chasing the Mirage of New Water in the American Southwest" and "Under Desert Skies: How Tucson Mapped the Way to the Moon and Planets."
April interviewed Sevigny in 2018 about a variety of topics including:
How she got started
Lessons she’s learned (including job hunting and taking criticism)
Interviewing
Memorable stories
Pro tips (including writing and producing for radio)
““I didn’t have a traditional path at all. I had no idea, no plans of becoming a journalist.””
Here, Sevigny describes how she got her start in journalism.
““You have to be able to accept those kinds of criticisms when they come your way. Whether they’re justified or not, there’s usually some grain of truth that you can learn from . . . .””
In this clip, Sevigny describes a lesson she learned covering this story about artists who are documenting the effects of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation.
““Apply for jobs you think you may not get like I did. A lot of times we kind of self-edit ourselves in our lives. We say ‘I would love to do that, but I don’t think I’m good enough, I don’t think I have the right experience.’
”Don’t do that to yourself. The world is going to edit you, right? The world is going to say that to you. Don’t say it to yourself. So if you see a job that you want to go for, go for it.””
Here, Sevigny explains how applying for jobs that you may not qualify for, but are sure you could succeed at made a difference in her career.
““You want to establish trust. You want that person to trust you.””
Sevigny, with her science background, is comfortable speaking with scientists, but in this clip she describes the challenges of interviewing people with other backgrounds.
““You don’t want to talk about algorithms and numbers. You want to talk about people.””
In this clip, Sevigny talks about a memorable story about scientists trying to improve bionic limbs by studying the tongues of frogs.
““When you do a story about an animal, you want there to be that animal’s sound.””
Sevigny discusses important things to consider when writing and producing radio stories in the following two clips.