September 24, 2008
How do you get one of the most powerful women in America to sit
down and tell you her life story? Marcus Mabry, International
Editor of The New York Times knows how. Mabry conducted
three in-depth interviews with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice
to bring to light the character and personality of one of the most
“polarizing figures of our time” in his biography, Twice as
Good: Condoleezza Rice and her Path to Power.
On September 22, the award-winning international reporter
described to over 100 St. John’s students and faculty what he calls
the “5 Ps of Scoring and Doing Hard to Get Interviews.” Mabry,
invited by Professor
Claire Serant in the
Division of Mass Communications, Journalism, Television and
Film came to St. John’s Queens campus to speak to the Learning
Communities.
Mabry explained why he chose Rice as his subject and how
difficult it was to get such a guarded woman to talk, “I was
interested in writing about Rice because although she is very
well-known as Secretary of State, there are only a few people that
know who she is as a person. She was definitely one of the hardest
interviews of my career.”
Mabry believes the 5 Ps are the key to getting private
individuals, like Rice, to talk and suggests that every journalist
follow them in order to be successful: “The 5 Ps are Persistence,
Politeness, Personality, Perspective and Preparation. Persistence
is at the heart of journalism, you have to persevere to get your
story. Politeness, because being respectful is the only way to get
someone comfortable enough to talk. Personality is critical – you
have to be warm and charming to get the person to a point where
they will be open to you. Perspective is valuable because knowing
where the person is coming from and what they value makes them
believe that you are on their side. Last but not least preparation
- make sure you read and research everything about your
interviewee.”
“I thought Marcus Mabry was an incredibly engaging speaker. I
wanted to keep listening to what he had to say, and his tips on
interviewing people will be helpful for the future. It gave me
something to think about when I'm writing myself,” said sophomore
journalism major Laura Amato.
Mabry took on his current role as International Business Editor
after 19 years at Newsweek. During his time at
Newsweek, he served as foreign correspondent for the
entire continent of Africa and in Paris, France. He left the
aspiring journalists in the audience with valuable advice, “Take
advantage of every opportunity presented to you, including
internships and study abroad programs, in order to make yourselves
viable candidates after graduation.”
Join a Learning Community!
The Learning
Communities program is a resource to get students engaged with
other students and faculty through programs and events outside of
the classroom. One of the major goals of the program is to connect
students with professionals in a field that might be of interest to
them.