Two SAJA members whose work you have been reading for several years now are making the move to academia. NYU's journalism department has lured both Suketu Mehta and Mohamad Bazzi to its faculty as full-time professors. They both join NYU after getting prestigious fellowships.
In a statement, NYU says Mehta, best known for "Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found," the landmark nonfiction book that was a Pulitzer finalist in 2005, and "who has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, will begin teaching next spring" and Bazzi, most recently Middle East correspondent for Newsday (and winner of SAJA's first Daniel Pearl Prize for reporting on South Asia), "who this coming year will be the Edward R. Murrow Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, begins teaching in the fall of 2008."
With these appointments, the number of full-time journalism professors in the NYC area who are SAJA members has almost doubled - to five (George Thottam of Iona College; Sandeep Junnarkar of CUNY; and me, at Columbia, are the others; anyone we missed? let us know).
SAJAforum posed three identical questions to Mehta and Bazzi about their moves. Their answers are below, along with photos. You are welcome to use the material below, crediting SAJAforum.org. Post your thoughts in the comments section, please.
THREE QUESTIONS FOR SUKETU MEHTA, BRAND-NEW JOURNALISM
PROFESSOR
[Photo by Jerry Bauer]
Q: Why did you decide to become a professor at this stage? Won't you miss daily journalism?
A: It dovetails nicely with my new project, a book on New York.
I'll be teaching a course on reporting new york, and another on reading
New York.
Q: What made the NYU job attractive?
A: A steady paycheck and an apartment in the Village. Also, I went
to NYU as an undergrad, so I'm attached to the place. I hope to corrupt
young minds like mine was corrupted, all those years ago.
Q: We will check in with you in the months ahead to see how it's
going, but for now, can you give others who are in a similar place in
their careers some tips?
A: I didn't go looking for this job - I was recruited. I put
everything i had into writing my Bombay book, and I got this great job
as a side benefit. So I don't think journalists should look for jobs
teaching journalism - they should concentrate on the writing, and the
jobs will come to them of their
own accord.
More on Suketu: SuketuMehta.com | NYU bio
THREE QUESTIONS FOR MOHAMAD BAZZI, BRAND-NEW JOURNALISM PROFESSOR
[That's Bazzi on the right, receiving the first SAJA Daniel Pearl Award for reporting on South Asia from Steve Coll, former managing editor of The Washington Post at the 2002 SAJA Convention.]
Q: Why did you decide to become a professor at this stage? Won't you miss daily journalism?
A: Throughout my career, I've been committed to helping and educating young journalists. I've spoken to many classes, helped students secure internships at Newsday, mentored rookie reporters, and trained young Iraqis with no journalism background to become local reporters for Newsday. I've enjoyed these experiences as much as I've enjoyed reporting and writing my own stories. Part of that is because I remember what it's like to be a young person who is inspired and drawn into journalism by good teachers. When I was in eighth grade, I had an English teacher who encouraged me to write for the school paper. I think the best way I can repay my teacher -- and the many other mentors I've had along the way -- is by continuing to do good journalism that challenges the dominant wisdom, and by helping train the next generation of journalists.
I'm sure that I'll miss daily journalism. I've been reporting for newspapers since I was 14 years old, when I was in junior high school in Queens, NY. This is my 10th year as a full-time staffer at Newsday, the last 5 years as a foreign correspondent. I've been very lucky in getting the opportunity to do so many different beats in my years of reporting. It's been a great adventure.
Q: What made the NYU job attractive?
A: I want to do more long form writing, and being a journalism professor will give me the time and resources to do that. I still plan to make regular trips to the Middle East, and to continue writing about the region.
Q: We will check in with you in the months ahead to see how it's going, but
for now, can you give others who are in a similar place in their careers
some tips?
A: Keep writing good stories, and try to produce reporting that can't be found elsewhere: narrative and analytical journalism that explains the underlying causes of events with insight and nuance. That's the way to set yourself apart in the new journalism landscape.
More on Bazzi: SAJA profile | NYU bio
Photo shows Bazzi interviewing Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir Al-Hakim in March 2003, a few months before his assassination.
