Of Monday’s five sessions, Interviewing Techniques and Finding stories on a new beat was the most informative.

LaSharah Bunting, Trymaine Lee and Kortney Stringer took turns touching on subjects ranging from how to break the ice on an interview to how to be more like a sponge and absorb helpful information. Lee urged that students, “Be open and absorb information, and talk to people.”

Lee, a former reporter for the Times Picayune in New Orleans gave several examples of how he covered events in the city after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August of 2005.

“Keep it super casual,” Lee said. “Try to build relationships to get background information. That goes a long way.”

Stringer and Bunting also urged that students be mindful of people’s agendas and take accurate notes.

All in all, this was an informative session touching on everything the students need to know. It also got lots of feedback from Don Hecker.

Best advice: Know people’s motives for giving unattributed information, and know the difference between off the record, on background and attribution-Hecker.