Calling all Burners...

[funkfrankii]

Hi I'm reporting on Burning Man for a journalism class and I would love to hear your stories and experience there. I chose Burning Man because I can't wait to go myself. And it'd be great to get first hand experiences and information before I do. I'm supposed to be flexing my reporting muscles by talking to real people. So if you're at all interested I'd really appreciate it if you could contact me by a reply to this post or a message. We can talk (or type) about your experience. Otherwise, who knows, our paths may cross at Burning Man. Take care and Thank -you!
Franki

[Token]

You need to add another option to your poll:

"Fuck Off! I'm not writing your fucking homework"

or something similar.

Buy the ticket, take the ride, then write about it.

[Ugly Dougly]

He's in a journalism class. That means he needs interviews. He's not asking for help writing his homework, Token.

Contact me offline Franki when you have a chance.

[Fire_Moose]

It sucks. It was WAY better next year.

the dust was all lose and duney so it was neigh impossible to ride yer bike. there were a bunch of naked old people. i saw a ton of hot ladies that i was too intimidated to talk to.


cant wait to get back there!

[Captain Goddammit]

Burning Man is a fun thing to write about... but you're on an uphill climb because it's a very unique event that no one understands worth a crap until they go.
But let's see... my experiences at Burning Man... well, I drank lots of margaritas, drove around in a boat, and did a lot of stuff I can't tell you about that you can't write your paper about.

[Kinetik V]

Burning Man has SUCKED every year since 2002 and the Floating World theme. It's not worth writing about anymore.

[Ugly Dougly]

You don't have to kill someone to be a war reporter.

[Token]

You don't have to kill someone to be a war reporter.

But you gotta be there in the front lines with the grunts to do a good job of reporting.

Its like trying to describe colors to a blind person.

I wonder what the playa smells like?

[Isotopia]

But you gotta be there in the front lines with the grunts to do a good job of reporting

I always thought that most good journalism is predicated on having some idea/experience of the subject matter one is reporting on.

I am unapologetically suspect when someone claiming to be either a student or practitioner of journalism comes slinking over here to get the story without ever having been to the event.

Unfortunately it appears that such lazy-ass reportage' is in line with the 'new' journalism which has contributed to the general malaise and painful demise of real 'old school' type of writing/reporting that once defined true journalism.

If the OP is a truly a student s/he might be reminded of just how truly bad form this approach is.

I'm with Token on this one. I'm not about doing anyone's homework for them.

Good luck, but no thanks kid.

[gyre]

We've all seen people show up on the playa and then phone in a terrible article.
I think there is a place for all approaches, but reporting from interviews is surely more difficult, and may be a bit much for trying to understand the playa.

I certainly tried to get a grasp on the event before I went.
I only talked to one person that was really helpful, but I learned more in two conversations than I had in all the previous people I talked to, and everything I had read.

Having a journalism background, I felt compelled to document some experiences when I first became interested.
But I have come to feel that most of the best stories should remain word of mouth only.
It's just that kind of event.
And so very different for everyone.

If someone wants to be thrown in the deep end of interview journalism, let them try.
They'll be sorry.

It's a valuable skill regardless.
Even a reporter in a conflict zone is unlikely to experience the worst things that happen, just due to the nature of such things.
We can pretend that being there matters, but being nearby is never the same thing.
Learning from those involved will always tell you more than you can experience...and survive.

Even with the number of videos taken in the most obscure places by cellphones, someone still has to ask questions.
The video is rarely the whole story.

It is stunning what you can see first person now.
I find the current trend of censorship journalism deeply offensive, so I sometimes look for these.
(It was started by bushreagan to conceal the war, but has taken on a trendiness of it's own, to the shame of everyone involved.)

There are ways to spot the fake videos.
It takes some caution in interpretation also, as they are often mislabeled for propaganda purposes.
Often the event is clear and real, but the background is murky, at best.

[mdmf007]

You don't have to kill someone to be a war reporter.

But you gotta be there in the front lines with the grunts to do a good job of reporting.

Its like trying to describe colors to a blind person.

I wonder what the playa smells like?

Smells like teen spirit.

[mdmf007]

Iso - the kid is simply trying to learn how to take notes from an interview and compile them into a meaningful article.

Its merely an exercise - hes not dropping an expose in the NY Times.

PM me and ill share some stories as well.

[Ugly Dougly]

Bunch of negative nancies.

[Isotopia]

PM me and ill share some stories as well.

I'll take your word for it.

[illy dilly]

I'm with Dougly and Mdmf on this one. If ya'll don't feel like sharing some ideas, then don't.
Funky Franki, hit me up and I'll try to help!

[funkfrankii]

The assignment is actually for a feature article. We could choose whatever topic were interested in. The professor threw out a couple of options: talk to someone in a union, any union, and what goes on there. Feature an artist, etc. etc. Now, I'm pretty sure my professor knows I'm not an artist and I don't belong to any unions. It's listening and interviewing someone that's a part of something. The article is supposed to get others interested and test our ability to compile information and make it as interesting to read as possible. Now I'm interested in Burning Man, unfortunately I probably won't be going till next summer. This articles gotta be written, and I have to interview someone. I want personal stories to give it a unique touch. Just because I'm interested in Burning Man doesn't mean others will be, so I have to sell it to them with amazing stories ( that's my approach anyway) It's no hoax for those that commented. No one's doing my h/wk for me. I'm not about to do an expose. I'm going to be doing all the work and research (there's only so may quotes a journalist can use in an article before it's a badly written article.) So thank you for all those that offered to share their stories. I'll be contacting you! on top of that hearing stories about something I'm interested in will make me all the more excited/prepared to experience this amazing event.
I think it's great that I'm doing this kind of legwork when I could be interviewing the shop owner across the street or something. Forums like this are our generation's mainstay for personal insight. It's great that a consolidated forum for this kind of information and connection among people around the world even exists. And I'm going to fucking use it to write an awesome article.

[funkfrankii]

Oh and I'm a she ;)

[curiousgnate]

hey franki, you can pm me here and i will talk about bm with you. the peeps here are a bit snarky, but thats 99% of the fun of being on this board.

[Oso]

Wanna know bout Burning Man?
Hmmmm......
Well, it's unbelievable sights, indescribable feelings, happiness and joy everywhere and the music plays ever so loudly. You feel your world transform and suddenly realize that the default world is kinda dull.
Oh yeah, and you quit school and go to where the real learnin is.

[AntiM]

You can PM me too... I can talk forever once you get me going. Burning Man just tops the sundae.

[lambert13]

I think it would be neat if you paste a copy of your article/story here when it's done for everyone to see what you come up with. I know I would like to read it.

[funkfrankii]

Yeah I'd love to when it's finished and edited! First draft's in next Monday...

[Mojojita]

Imagine a place where everyone there is there to entertain others.....

[Oso]

Been there. Done that. Gonna do it again.

(maybe better than last time.... though last time was incredible)