SevenQuestions: Arik Hesseldahl, tech reporter in the Big City

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Seven Questions

Arik Hesseldahl is a New Yorker by way of Oregon who recently graduated from the master's program in journalism at Columbia University. He writes mostly about technology, but a visit to his Web site is the place to find out about the one thing more death-defying than a New York subway ride; of course I speak of bungee jumping. 1 October 1998

1 What's your gut reaction to the recent hacking of the New York Times Web site? Back to the 7Q index

I figured it was about time. I've been following the hacker scene for about two years, since doing my masters project at Columbia, and of all the sites we've seen getting hacked in the past few years, I've been wondering why no newspaper sites were among them. I figured they'd be tempting targets. I was surprised it hadn't already happened.

Then I started banging away on a story by calling a contact I had at the Times itself who confirmed the hack and that the site was down.

2 Name a topic you'd love to write about if you weren't writing about technology.

History. I minored in history in college, and of late I've been reading Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" about the Lewis and Clark expedition and Tony Lukas' "Big Trouble" about the murder of the former Gov. of Idaho in 1905. I'd really like to run across a great story from history and do a book someday.

3 Share an anecdote that illustrates the contrast between your current home in NYC and your previous home in Oregon.

My first reaction is to describe the differences in the way pizza is served in New York and back home. But that's kinda silly.

In Oregon, as with most places in the country, you drive yourself pretty much everywhere. For the first year I was in New York, I was afraid to take the subway, simply because I didn't want to get lost. I spent a lot of money on taking taxis everywhere. But in the last year and a half, I've become a regular straphanger.

Here's another.

Days before I moved to New York, President Clinton stopped in Idaho Falls, Idaho, near where I was living at the time (Pocatello, Idaho) as he was leaving his vacation spot in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was major front page news. Two weeks later, after I had moved to New York, the president came to town, and the reaction was very different. The biggest concern was how his motorcade would tie up traffic. I honestly don't think it was on the front page of any of the New York dailies that day. What a change.

4 Tell us about the highest and lowest points in your journalism career.

Lowest point: accepting a job with The Central Oregon Business Journal in early 1994, knowing full well it was going to fold in less than one year, which it did, not long after I had moved on to The Idaho State Journal.

Highest point: Getting accepted at Columbia University. I had been lying in wait for the mailman every day for about a week. Then the big envelope came.

5 Have you noted any Web trends that seem to have escaped the notice of the non-technology press?

The non-tech press has really missed the point with the hacker underground.

As much as I find it interesting when a high-traffic site gets hacked, I find the mainstream press makes no real effort to gets inside the minds of the people who run in the underground circles. Not that the hackers make it any easier for a reporter to do so. A few have tried, with mixed results.

6 Describe something you learned at Columbia's graduate journalism school that you wouldn't have learned on your own.

How not to get freaked out when interviewing someone who's a "celebrity."

How to really love working rewrite for the front page, all night, on election night.

How to edit video and sound for the web.

How to juggle more assignments than the mind can comfortably comprehend, and get them all completed on time on three hours of sleep a night.

7 What was your deep-down motivation for bungee jumping?

Finding out if the falling sensation I used to experience in dreams was anything like the sensation of really falling for a long time. It was, more so than I expected. I highly recommend bungee jumping to those who have not tried it and have strong hearts.

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Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan >Back to SevenQuestions

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Arik Hesseldahl is a New Yorker by way of Oregon who recently graduated from the master's program in journalism at Columbia University. He writes mostly about technology, but a visit to his Web site is the place to find out about the one thing more death-defying than a New York subway ride; of course I speak of bungee jumping.		1 October 1998
1	What's your gut reaction to the recent hacking of the New York Times Web site?	Back to the 7Q index
	I figured it was about time. I've been following the hacker scene for about two years, since doing my masters project at Columbia, and of all the sites we've seen getting hacked in the past few years, I've been wondering why no newspaper sites were among them. I figured they'd be tempting targets. I was surprised it hadn't already happened. Then I started banging away on a story by calling a contact I had at the Times itself who confirmed the hack and that the site was down.
2	Name a topic you'd love to write about if you weren't writing about technology.
	History. I minored in history in college, and of late I've been reading Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" about the Lewis and Clark expedition and Tony Lukas' "Big Trouble" about the murder of the former Gov. of Idaho in 1905. I'd really like to run across a great story from history and do a book someday.
3	Share an anecdote that illustrates the contrast between your current home in NYC and your previous home in Oregon.
	My first reaction is to describe the differences in the way pizza is served in New York and back home. But that's kinda silly. In Oregon, as with most places in the country, you drive yourself pretty much everywhere. For the first year I was in New York, I was afraid to take the subway, simply because I didn't want to get lost. I spent a lot of money on taking taxis everywhere. But in the last year and a half, I've become a regular straphanger. Here's another. Days before I moved to New York, President Clinton stopped in Idaho Falls, Idaho, near where I was living at the time (Pocatello, Idaho) as he was leaving his vacation spot in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was major front page news. Two weeks later, after I had moved to New York, the president came to town, and the reaction was very different. The biggest concern was how his motorcade would tie up traffic. I honestly don't think it was on the front page of any of the New York dailies that day. What a change.
4	Tell us about the highest and lowest points in your journalism career.
	Lowest point: accepting a job with The Central Oregon Business Journal in early 1994, knowing full well it was going to fold in less than one year, which it did, not long after I had moved on to The Idaho State Journal. Highest point: Getting accepted at Columbia University. I had been lying in wait for the mailman every day for about a week. Then the big envelope came.
5	Have you noted any Web trends that seem to have escaped the notice of the non-technology press?
	The non-tech press has really missed the point with the hacker underground. As much as I find it interesting when a high-traffic site gets hacked, I find the mainstream press makes no real effort to gets inside the minds of the people who run in the underground circles. Not that the hackers make it any easier for a reporter to do so. A few have tried, with mixed results.
6	Describe something you learned at Columbia's graduate journalism school that you wouldn't have learned on your own.
	How not to get freaked out when interviewing someone who's a "celebrity." How to really love working rewrite for the front page, all night, on election night. How to edit video and sound for the web. How to juggle more assignments than the mind can comfortably comprehend, and get them all completed on time on three hours of sleep a night.
7	What was your deep-down motivation for bungee jumping?
	Finding out if the falling sensation I used to experience in dreams was anything like the sensation of really falling for a long time. It was, more so than I expected. I highly recommend bungee jumping to those who have not tried it and have strong hearts.
Back to SQ index Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan		>Back to SevenQuestions