Jeanette Beebe. Photograph by Kyo Morishima
For this installment of A Typical Workday, I interviewed impartial journalist, fact-checker and radio/podcast reporter and producer Jeanette Beebe, who covers science, medication and know-how with a concentrate on social points. Beebe’s reporting has appeared in Time, Scientific American, Common Science, The Christian Science Monitor, Shopper Experiences, Medscape, Quick Firm and different shops.
Her work as a contract area producer and recordist has been broadcast by the BBC, Gimlet Media and NPR, and she or he reality checks for numerous podcasts and magazines, together with Scientific American.
(This dialog has been edited for readability and brevity.)
House base
I’m primarily based in Akron, Ohio, which is about 40 minutes from Cleveland. I’m fortunate sufficient to have a house workplace. It’s on the second flooring, and there’s some inexperienced area that I can see outdoors of my window. We’re smack dab in the course of the Highland Sq. neighborhood, which is type of part-nature, part-city, which I actually like.
Workplace setup
We purchased the home final summer season, and it’s a historic home. It has this actually beautiful vintage wallpaper of ivy, from many years previous, with paneling. It’s a soothing background for work. I’ve my desk, a sofa, my little train bike that folds up and my massive bookshelves.
Each day routine
I’m going to mattress late, after which I rise up late. I’ve breakfast, feed the canine and get to work in all probability about 11:30 am. I’ll work till about 5 p.m., when my husband normally will get house. From 5 p.m. till 9:30 p.m. is our time, which suggests dinner, going out with buddies or going out to do one thing. And when he’s winding right down to mattress, I’ll head into my workplace once more for my night time shift from 9:30 p.m. to about 1:30 a.m. That’s what I name it, my night time shift, which is so treasured to me. That’s after I do plenty of my artistic work — I’m additionally a poet — and writing for any characteristic tales I’m engaged on. My best time is nighttime, which is without doubt one of the causes I’ve been a freelancer for therefore lengthy.
Each day rituals
I drink plenty of water, so much of water. And I additionally like seeing my canine and my cats.
Staying targeted
Perhaps that is only a dumb reply, however I don’t care if I don’t focus always. If I’m distracted, it’s not by stuff on my laptop. It’s extra like I’m fading, like I’m sleepy, and I lean into it. I really like being a freelancer a lot as a result of it lets me work in ways in which if I’m impressed, I can actually lean into it. And if I’m distracted, I can, inside purpose, let my thoughts be distracted.
Favourite break exercise
It has been meditation. It doesn’t need to be something fancy. You don’t have to take a seat on a cushion and have your posture be simply so. It’s largely simply watching your breath and listening to the place breath is and the place your thoughts is and watching it. And if it goes someplace else, observing that after which gently directing it again.
Monitoring story concepts and assignments
I exploit Google Calendar for my deadlines, and I have a look at the calendar on my cellphone and on my laptop every single day. I was actually into organizational techniques, however these appear to be extra hassle than they’re price. I normally have solely 4 work assignments at a time — a fact-checking project, a radio or audio project, a print or digital project, after which generally there’s one thing else. It really works properly to place the deadlines in a calendar.
I’m probably not organized relating to maintaining observe of story concepts. I’m my bookshelf, and there’s simply piles of paper.
Favourite device or app
It’s a water-proof notepad known as AquaNotes which you can put within the bathe. It additionally comes with a pencil that may get moist. It’s unimaginable, and I exploit that on a regular basis. I exploit it for my poetry and for story concepts. Really, that might be a very good story: Why do individuals get impressed within the bathe?
Recording and transcribing interviews
I do all my cellphone interviews utilizing Skype, with a 3rd occasion app known as Call Recorder. The app mechanically information the decision and never simply that; it information each ends of the dialog on completely different tracks. That’s actually useful for podcasting and radio and audio manufacturing as a result of I don’t want to listen to my questions. I simply need to hear the clips from the opposite individual. I additionally use a program known as Descript. It does AI transcription and rather more. It’s virtually like a full-fledged audio editor. I might extremely suggest it for anybody concerned with doing video or podcasting.
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If you want to appoint a freelancer to be profiled for A Typical Workday, please electronic mail Barbara at freelance@healthjournalism.org.
