Rochester Journalist Profile

The subject I interviewed for this journalist profile was Gino Fanelli. Fanelli is a journalist for CITY Newspaper, and specializes reporting on city government, social issues, and beer. Fanelli took some time out of his day to be interviewed over Twitter direct messages.

I first asked what inspired him to go into journalism as a career.

“I started writing when I was young and developed a passion for it, and always had a bit of a curious nature” Fanelli responded. “I think the thing that really drove me to want to go down this path is the virtue of accountability. There's an important civic duty of demanding transparency and trying to contextualize a very complicated, and often corrupt, world. I sort of approach things from that viewpoint, a functioning democracy is hinged on having people willing to ask questions and put the powers at be to task. One of the core tenets to good journalism is giving a voice to the voiceless. It's an important thing, and one I take a good amount of pride in being able to do.”

I then asked him how he goes about ethics and balanced reporting in his stories.

“You have to always be checking yourself. Anyone who claims to have no bias whatsoever is a liar, it's human nature to have thoughts and opinions. But of paramount importance is ensuring everything you place in a story is verifiable. There are always things you may know to be "true" that you may not be able to prove, and you have to just let go or do the legwork to validate. Most important is having some humility. You have to be able to admit when you're wrong, to question yourself as much as you do anyone else, and know when to take a step back.”

Next, I asked Fanelli how has putting importance on verifiable information and humility shaped his career goals.

“I mean, I never set out to be a pundit” he replied. “So, I guess not a ton of effect on my career itself. I'm not really a "spotlight on me" kind of person, so it's really a matter of just doing the work and letting it speak for itself.”

When asked about how he acquired his standards and goals, Fanelli responded with:

“I've been doing this for about seven or eight years. A lot of things you learn as you go. As far as goals, I sort of live in the moment and just do what I can to give the dedication to what's happening right now. I think if you're oriented toward thinking of the future, you often lose what's happening right now.”

After that I asked him what has been the biggest challenge he has faced so far in his career as a journalist.

“I don't think there's any question that there is a lot of volatility across the country around the media and its role in society” Fanelli says. “Some criticism is well intentioned. Some isn't. People can be cruel, and you're often navigating a mine field. I consider this a public service job, and you just have to suck it up and push forward against adversity.”

Finally, I asked him how he felt about journalism in the era of #fakenews and #alternativefacts.

“The terms have become remarkably obfuscated, but you know, life is a choose your own adventure book” he responded. “You can be a person who wants accurate, factual reporting, and it's not exactly difficult to do. There's also a set of the population that consumes media that reaffirms their own biases. Where there's a demand, there will always be a market, and it is toxic, but we all just have to keep pushing for truth.”

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