Interview conducting and James Manut

This is the recording of my second interview. I spoke with James Manut, an Elder in the Sudanese community about his life in Sudan, his journey as a refugee and his role as an elder.

I think my interview conducting is OK, although there are some errors and common mistakes that I keep making. I feel as though I audibly agree too much, as if to show that I understand and encourage elaboration from the person that I am talking to. There's a lot of "yeps" and "okays" from me in the audio stream. I feel as though I need to show this encouragement to elaborate in a non audible way in future, or omit it completely.

Furthermore, I get tongue tied a couple of times. I feel as though this is not due to ill-planning, but rather my inexperience. After I conduct some more interviews I should learn how to be quicker with my wit and formulate questions without a period of "umms" and "ahhs". At one stage when I was asking about first impressions of Australia, I mixed myself up with a question about Australian Football. It sounds a bit funny when you listen to it and doesn't make much sense, but I feel that I will avoid being tongue tied by getting more experience.

I have been encouraged to leave a small pause between the end of someone's response and the beginning of my next question or my attempt to clarify. I feel as though out of habit from regular conversations I am not leaving this pause. At times I even cut-off Manut's speech to clarify or ask a new question. This is obviously a no-no and I need more experience to get better at that self control and awareness.

I have also been questioned about the tone of my speech. At times I may sound like I am a police officer who is interrogating, rather than a person that is in a warm, comfortable conversation. This comfortable conversation is what I am striving to achieve.

If you have any comments or criticisms, feel free to comment them in the comments box below, or send me a private message. I'm open to any suggestions that people may have.

The article on Sudanese Refugees in Australia will hopefully be available in 2 weeks time.

Introduction

This blog is dedicated to my portfolio of amateur journalist work. I'm 21 years old as I write this and I'm studying a Bachelor of Media/arts with a major in History at Adelaide University. Recently I discovered that my passion for news, current affairs and societal studies could be put towards a career as a Journalist.

The areas that I am interested in writing about are Politics and Anthropology, mostly in regards to people from conflict zones around the world. The legacy of Colonialism is my major interest, with the plight of Australian Indigenous people and African conflicts being at the forefront of my focus. 

I am very open to criticism, as one of the core reasons for creating this blog is for the progression of my skills. I am sure that over this period of time I will change my focus and learn both how to write, and what I want to write about.

I feel that it is important to have inspiration before you write. My inspiration for writing is to learn more about the people in my own community and to have a better understanding on the social issues facing Australian Indigenous people and Refugees from abroad. I am also driven by the prejudice of both my friends and the wider society in which I live. I feel that the dangerously common idea that Indigenous people, refugees and non-white immigrants from places of conflict are a threat to society can be changed by sharing a better understanding.

It seems as though the majority of news about Indigenous Australians, Africans and people from the Middle East will be about negative things, which skews the perception of an average onlooker. The idea that normalcy does not exist, that these people are in constant self-inflicted turmoil is something that needs to be challenged. The best way to do this is to focus on individuals and their own personal perceptions, and spread a better understanding of their culture.

While I am still young, I am going to make an attempt to avoid writing about my own opinions in regards to politics. It seems troublesome to publish my thoughts now, as I am sure that my opinions will change quite drastically over the next few years. I am going to attempt to focus my early work on the ideas of those who I speak to and interview, rather than my own. It is my ambition to write my own opinion pieces in the future.

In terms of my overall career goals, I hope to one day have a position that allows me to travel. I would love to go to different places in the world and report or write about social justice in places of turmoil. 

My first work will be an article on an interview that I am to conduct with two refugees from Southern Sudan (now the Republic of South Sudan). The theme of the article is of life in Australia for Sudanese refugees and their families, and will cover their hopes and fears for the future of South Sudan and the Australian Sudanese community.