SevenQuestions: Mack Reed, Timesman turned cyber newsie

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Seven Questions

Mack Reed used to be a hardworking, neglected bureau reporter for the Los Angeles Times but now appears to be much more content as a content guy for Cox Interactive in Orange County. His Web site is a nice place to check out his writing skills, which are considerable, and his hobbies, like photography, bicycling and attending strange events in the Nevada desert. 12 September 1998

1 Describe a vivid memory of the Burning Man Festival. Back to the 7Q index

Ummmmm ... Huh? Yes, I have quite a few memories left, though quite a few more were doubtless left on the cutting room floor amid the detritus of empty beer cans, cigar butts and molted feathers. Don't ask. An astonishing hangover accounts for the muddy wordiness of the lede on my LA Times story about the affair in '96.

But I have returned not once, but twice more to Burning Man. And now I consider myself a solid citizen of Black Rock City, the only burg on the planet that -- in the space of two weeks -- springs up magically from the desert, blooms into wall-to-wall art, nudity, intoxication and irresponsible pyrotechnics, and then vanishes without a trace.

Favorite memory this year? The sound of a monster Hemi V-8 that was borne --revving ferociously -- up to the sacrificial burning of the Man by 12 strong lads, where it roared in harmony with the explosion of fireworks. That and those little Smarties things that make your lips pucker.

2 What's a little-known side effect of long-distance bike riding?

Uhhhhh ... what? Oh. Memory loss.

3 Tell us one thing most drivers don't know about bike riding that would help them the next time they confront a bike in traffic.

Hitting a bicyclist may look like it would cause less damage to your car than hitting a Land Rover.

But it will surely cost you far more in lawyer's fees, lost wages during court proceedings and sleepless nights from your pathetic, guilt-stricken conscience. It will also cause anxiety, weight gain, toxemia, impotence, hives, rickets, costly divorce and spontaneous combustion, so just STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM US TWO-WHEELERS. Next question.

4 What was the deciding factor in your move to working in digital media?

It was destroying the medium I loved. I decided I'd have more fun in the lifeboat sleeping with the enemy than nobly sinking beneath the ice-peppered waves. Besides, I love working in text, photos, video, Quicktime VR and interactive polls, where once I worked only in text. For a sample, see this story.

5 Say they made you editor of the LA Times. What's the first thing you'd change?

So much is changing there right now that I'd be loath to say.

Management is slowly paring down suburban bureaus in favor of ultra-localized coverage cranked out by relatively inexperienced, half-salaried reporters. Publisher Mark Willes is cottoning on to the melding of marketing and news that is already driving the digital news biz.

I guess I'd kick out a lot of the high-paid "auteurs" in the Metro section who turn out three overblown projects a year (not to say that they are all overblown, the paper still does some brilliant investigative and advocacy journalism, nor are any but a chosen few the kind of overfed walruses who sport little more initiative than to peck away at their massive tomes and spend the bulk of their time contemplating petty internal politics) and promote all my hardworking former colleagues from the bureaus who could show the deadwood a thing or two about a solid work ethic.

6 Tell us about a story in which you went into your reporting with one conception of how the story would come out, then wrote a story that was 180 degrees in the other direction.

Can't think of a one. Initial information always turns out to be just a roadmap to the facts, nothing more. The facts are the story, and I try never to write the story until I have them all.

7 What's your best advice for improving writing skills?

Read. Read everything. Read writers you admire, writers you detest. Read poetry, magazines, old farts like Henry James, young farts like Sam Clemens, twisted wizards like Burroughs, gifted scribes like Martin Amis, potboilers like Condon, geographers of the spirit like James Tiptree Jr. madmen like Lester Bangs. Read the Bible and the Talmud, the Koran and the AP style book. Read 'zines and tabloids, the Village Voice and the Watchtower.

Then write like hell. Your days are numbered, and you'll never get anywhere unless you put words to page on every single one of them. Sooner or later, you'll find your voice. Then you'll spend the rest of your life trying to clear your throat to say something important before the lights go out.

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Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan >Back to SevenQuestions

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Mack Reed used to be a hardworking, neglected bureau reporter for the Los Angeles Times but now appears to be much more content as a content guy for Cox Interactive in Orange County. His Web site is a nice place to check out his writing skills, which are considerable, and his hobbies, like photography, bicycling and attending strange events in the Nevada desert.		12 September 1998
1	Describe a vivid memory of the Burning Man Festival.	Back to the 7Q index
	Ummmmm ... Huh? Yes, I have quite a few memories left, though quite a few more were doubtless left on the cutting room floor amid the detritus of empty beer cans, cigar butts and molted feathers. Don't ask. An astonishing hangover accounts for the muddy wordiness of the lede on my LA Times story about the affair in '96. But I have returned not once, but twice more to Burning Man. And now I consider myself a solid citizen of Black Rock City, the only burg on the planet that -- in the space of two weeks -- springs up magically from the desert, blooms into wall-to-wall art, nudity, intoxication and irresponsible pyrotechnics, and then vanishes without a trace. Favorite memory this year? The sound of a monster Hemi V-8 that was borne --revving ferociously -- up to the sacrificial burning of the Man by 12 strong lads, where it roared in harmony with the explosion of fireworks. That and those little Smarties things that make your lips pucker.
2	What's a little-known side effect of long-distance bike riding?
	Uhhhhh ... what? Oh. Memory loss.
3	Tell us one thing most drivers don't know about bike riding that would help them the next time they confront a bike in traffic.
	Hitting a bicyclist may look like it would cause less damage to your car than hitting a Land Rover. But it will surely cost you far more in lawyer's fees, lost wages during court proceedings and sleepless nights from your pathetic, guilt-stricken conscience. It will also cause anxiety, weight gain, toxemia, impotence, hives, rickets, costly divorce and spontaneous combustion, so just STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM US TWO-WHEELERS. Next question.
4	What was the deciding factor in your move to working in digital media?
	It was destroying the medium I loved. I decided I'd have more fun in the lifeboat sleeping with the enemy than nobly sinking beneath the ice-peppered waves. Besides, I love working in text, photos, video, Quicktime VR and interactive polls, where once I worked only in text. For a sample, see this story.
5	Say they made you editor of the LA Times. What's the first thing you'd change?
	So much is changing there right now that I'd be loath to say. Management is slowly paring down suburban bureaus in favor of ultra-localized coverage cranked out by relatively inexperienced, half-salaried reporters. Publisher Mark Willes is cottoning on to the melding of marketing and news that is already driving the digital news biz. I guess I'd kick out a lot of the high-paid "auteurs" in the Metro section who turn out three overblown projects a year (not to say that they are all overblown, the paper still does some brilliant investigative and advocacy journalism, nor are any but a chosen few the kind of overfed walruses who sport little more initiative than to peck away at their massive tomes and spend the bulk of their time contemplating petty internal politics) and promote all my hardworking former colleagues from the bureaus who could show the deadwood a thing or two about a solid work ethic.
6	Tell us about a story in which you went into your reporting with one conception of how the story would come out, then wrote a story that was 180 degrees in the other direction.
	Can't think of a one. Initial information always turns out to be just a roadmap to the facts, nothing more. The facts are the story, and I try never to write the story until I have them all.
7	What's your best advice for improving writing skills?
	Read. Read everything. Read writers you admire, writers you detest. Read poetry, magazines, old farts like Henry James, young farts like Sam Clemens, twisted wizards like Burroughs, gifted scribes like Martin Amis, potboilers like Condon, geographers of the spirit like James Tiptree Jr. madmen like Lester Bangs. Read the Bible and the Talmud, the Koran and the AP style book. Read 'zines and tabloids, the Village Voice and the Watchtower. Then write like hell. Your days are numbered, and you'll never get anywhere unless you put words to page on every single one of them. Sooner or later, you'll find your voice. Then you'll spend the rest of your life trying to clear your throat to say something important before the lights go out.
Back to SQ index Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan		>Back to SevenQuestions