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Journalists Join Rehearsal

Posted by DCA Theater on March 15, 2012 in January - July 2012 Season, Incubator Series: Strangeloop Theatre

Submitted by Dustin Spence, playwright currently working with Strangeloop Theatre on What Was Mine to Do in the DCA Theater Incubator Series

What happens when you put theatre artists and journalists in the same room together…? I have yet to find the words to describe it, but the closest I can come is TOTALLY FRIGGIN AMAZING!!!

For our past two rehearsals the team met with and picked the brains of Tom Negovan and James Janega.

Tom Negovan is a reporter and anchor for WGN-Chicago. Tom was embedded for two weeks with a company of Illinois National Guard troops in 2009. Tom has written and talked extensively about his experience with the National Guard troops and what it was like to be an embedded reporter in Afghanistan. Tom was able to share with us a huge amount of insight on the TV news profession and the day-to-day experience of what it means to work in the news industry. Tom was able to clarify terms for us such as the rolls of a News Director and an Executive Producer. Prior to our meeting I had labeled Claire, one of the leading rolls, as a Producer. Tom pointed out that she would most likely be a Line Producer or LP. Tom was also able to share with us one of his most memorable experiences in Afghanistan delivering school supplies to a rural village, and then seeing those supplies being set on fire in the town square.

James Janega is the manager of Trib Nation for the Chicago Tribune. From 2003-2009 James was a foreign correspondent for the Tribune primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. James was able to give amazing insight into the day-to-day in’s and out’s of a foreign correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan. James walked us through what life would be like for the two characters, Frank and Thomas, who have foreign correspondence experience, and how they would relate to their fellows in the news room, Candice and Claire. James’ conversation with us was able to shed some light on the do’s and don’t of being an international reporter and the bond that is shared by people in the field.

Rather than give description I’ll finish off this post (oh, faithful reader) with some of Tom and James’ responses to some of the questions posed.

How did 9/11 change journalism?
Tom: “I want to say it made us more compassionate, that it made us better. But I don’t know.”

What about the war in Afghanistan? How did that affect the journalistic field?
James: “We had to cover it. It became this driving narrative of a generation. This is our Vietnam. Maybe not at the top of the list, but always in the back of our minds.”

What was it like being embedded with the soldiers? Do you still stay in touch?
Tom: “The relationships with these soldiers have changed me more than anything else in my career. I am still pals with some of these guys to this day.”

How would you sum up your experience as a foreign correspondent?
James: “Nobody is doing this because its fun. Everybody is doing this out of a sense of duty. A duty to bear witness and report, a duty to be the smart, seasoned professionals who can do this well and do it safely.”