<p>im applying for my high school's newspaper which is a highly ranked newspaper, and i just wanted to get a better understanding of one of the essay questions on the application--</p>
<p>the question is, If you could interview any historical figure, who would it be and why?</p>
<p>^so about the above question--what is the question trying to get from the response? what information is supposed to be derived from the person who answers it?</p>
<p>thx</p>
<p>We don't have a newpaper. We do have an annual poem/short story/art magazine called The Grindstone though. I don't do anything with it.</p>
<p>It's probably trying to see if you're creative/know random things. Maybe it's just trying to get a better feel for who you are, or a is way to find a balanced group of people.</p>
<p>I'd interview Nadia Comaneci. Maybe.</p>
<p>They probably want to understand you a bit better - ie. your creativity, interests, etc. I would be truthful in picking the person, but try to highlight and develop my own character through the person I choose. Hope this helped.</p>
<p>I'm news editor of my school newspaper btw.</p>
<p>thanks gxing and lablondie :)
hmm. i would probably choose one of the world's famous dictators. like adolf hitler or benito mussolini. not that im like a control freak or anything, but it just intrigues me how they did what they did.
also like..if in a essay or interview question when they ask you what improvements can be made to the newspaper, how can you sound honest and truthful and full of ideas without sounding offensive? (thats my weakness -_-)</p>
<p>Say what you believe, but just be polite.</p>
<p>If I were you I'd put Abraham Lincoln or some other historical figure that has garanered an extremely mixed response. Say that you'd like to ask difficult, but ethical questions to them. What separates a good journalist from a great one is someone who can give equal attention to both sides of an issues and write their article with tact. Anyone can write a story about Mother Theresa or Michael Jordan.</p>
<p>hmm. so would george bush (the current president george bush) be a good person to use, or does his name carry too much political baggage and make things possibly risky?</p>
<p>when they ask about improvements, i think you can give criticism, but balance it out with compliments. afterall, they have been working hard to edit the paper all year long.</p>
<p>Interview Jose Reyes and ask him how he learned to fly.</p>
<p>Wow, your school has an application?</p>
<p>We have to beg people to join.</p>
<p>^^ you wouldnt believe how disorganized our paper is.. horrible. everyone quits and they only did one issue this year so far. the advisor is a really nice guy, but he has no idea how to motivate kids</p>
<p>Junior89, I liked the line on Jose Reyes.</p>
<p>mm. competition for our HS newspaper is utterly ridiculous. there are only 30 or so spots on the staff. half of those spots are for returning staffers who are incoming seniors, so theres only about 15 spots for newcomers (That includes incoming juniors AND seniors). so the competition is pretty much cutthroat. and not only that, since they have so many applicants, the process is a paper application and then an interview process. x_x.
i am kind of nervous. i was a member of my middle school's newspaper for two years and i had various editor positions (which one of the current staffers told me serves as a definite plus), but who knows....</p>
<p>Bump............</p>
<p>i think it's to get an idea of what your area of interest is. If they need applications, they clearly don't know you. You could just as easily choose a famous scientist, a famous general, a famous writer. Its just a way to see what types of things you think are most important.</p>
<p>I saw someone else put their newspaper positions, figured I would put mine down if it makes my response seem more reliable:</p>
<p>I was photo editor junior year, layout editor senior year</p>