{"id":4337,"date":"2020-04-06T08:31:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T12:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/?p=4337"},"modified":"2020-04-22T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T18:12:03","slug":"professor-profile-kristopher-brooks-newshound-with-boundaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/2020\/04\/06\/professor-profile-kristopher-brooks-newshound-with-boundaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Profile: Khristopher Brooks, Newshound with Boundaries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Khristopher<\/a>
Brooks reporting in Bedford\u2013Stuyvesant, while freelancing for local news service Patch in July 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Khristopher Brooks\u2019 morning starts at 5 a.m. with coffee, cereal and a frantic consumption of news.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the morning it\u2019s hectic. Listening to NPR like, \u2018What else, what else, what else,\u2019\u201d said Brooks, Hunter College\u2019s new Reporting and Writing 1 professor, describing his prep work for a day at CBS Moneywatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooks explained that in order to be up to speed on the news, his mornings are spent \u201cfrantically\u201d researching articles while getting dressed and eating breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom like 5 to 8:30 in the morning, I\u2019m looking at the [New York] Times headlines, I\u2019m looking at USA Today, I’m looking at the Wall Street Journal, I\u2019m looking at Bloomberg, Reuters, CNN Money, CNET, CNBC. … I\u2019m looking at everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooks added: \u201cIt\u2019s insane, but it\u2019s quick. It\u2019s a brain download of everything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack when I first started, the editors were really adamant about \u2014 especially young journalists \u2014 religiously reading the paper every day<\/em>,\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\u2014 Khristopher Brooks<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This \u201cbrain download\u201d happens quickly in part because Brooks has been reporting for over 14 years, and stays true to the mantra he learned fresh out of journalism school: \u201cRead the news\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continues to carry this advice to his students today at Hunter. \u201cBack when I first started, the editors were really adamant about \u2014 especially young journalists \u2014 religiously reading the paper every day<\/em>,\u201d he said, tapping the table to punctuate his words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From news to narrative<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After graduating with a double major in journalism and political science from Central Michigan University in 2006, Brooks immediately got an internship with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with the AP launched him into writing and reporting on higher education, for publications in Kentucky, Virginia and, finally, Nebraska. But it was when he started as a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald that he reached a key crossroads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He started reading court stories from a fellow reporter that were written in a narrative style, something he hadn\u2019t encountered before. \u201cNothing splashy on the front page at all,\u201d he recalled, \u201cbut the way he told those stories made me realize that that\u2019s how I want to write.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooks then left Omaha with the \u201csole mission\u201d of finding a graduate school that would teach him how to write narratively. He was quickly accepted into New York University and left for New York in 2010 for a master’s degree in literary reportage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was there where he learned how to use journalism as a means for storytelling, creating characters from his sources and their quotes as conversation. While in school, he flexed his narrative muscles by writing a series of highly detailed stories on hair salons in Bed-Stuy<\/a> as he freelanced for Politico New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooks used his advanced writing skills to cover higher education once again, working outside of the city for publications like the Florida Times-Union and Ledger Media Group. He eventually returned to New York and in 2017  began reporting at Newsday, then moved to CBS News in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping readers understand<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

His current position at MoneyWatch, the financial newsdesk at CBS, has Brooks finding a monetary angle on the daily news: \u201cWe at CBS \u2014 and a lot of journalists \u2014 really have two charges: We break the news. And if we can\u2019t break the news, we break down the news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when basketball superstar Kobe Bryant died, Brooks wrote a piece about the process of buying his jersey<\/a>, taking his death as breaking news, and breaking down the process by reporting on how much a Bryant jersey could cost consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, the goal of MoneyWatch is to make readers more aware of the economy and how it could affect them. Its team of reporters is working to answer whether or not an event is \u201ctaking more money out of your pocket or putting more in,\u201d he said. The final question being: \u201cIs this helping you understand how money works better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice for young reporters <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At MoneyWatch, the day begins with a fast, 15-minute pitch session, where reporters decide what they\u2019ll work on for the day. To a new reporter, pitching may seem intimidating, but Brooks suggests young journalists continue to be well-read and persistent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always going to work out in your favor if you keep pitching,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m telling you, whether you get a \u2018yes\u2019 or a \u2018no,\u2019 it\u2019s always going to work out for you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s still the best way to learn how to write, is to read<\/strong>.”<\/p>\u2014 Khristopher Brooks<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Being up to date on the news is also good housekeeping for a journalist. And for Brooks, the most accessible way to learn is by reading other journalists’ writing. \u201cThat\u2019s still the best way to learn how to write, is to read,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you just read the Times, every day for one year straight, you could be a great writer. Just read their stuff, \u201d Brooks said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting boundaries<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After a full day of researching and reporting, Brooks is ready to leave his Midtown office around 6 p.m. As soon as he steps out the door at CBS headquarters onto 57th street, he sets up a media boundary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cut everything off,\u201d said Brooks.\u201cI stop doing everything news related. I stop answering emails. I start paying more attention to my family or watch tv shows that I missed out on. Spend time with my cats.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an approach perhaps rare among journalists, creating a distance between reporting and the real world. \u2026 At least until 5 a.m. the next morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reporting and Writing 1 instructor Kristopher Brooks\u2019 morning starts at 5 a.m. with coffee, cereal and a frantic consumption of news. It ends with his cats. In between, advice from the CBS News reporter on reading, pitching, writing and “breaking down” the news. Read this Professor Profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":4368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1,18,253],"tags":[32,238,237,236],"class_list":["post-4337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-news","category-homepage_news","category-journalism-program-news","category-prof-profiles","tag-cuny","tag-hunter-college","tag-kristopher-brooks","tag-professor-profile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4337"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4385,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4337\/revisions\/4385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}