The two journalists, Amy Katz and Vafa Mostaghim, spoke about their careers at Voice of America (VOA) to journalism students during Atom Time on Nov. 1. They answered questions about their experiences in the field of journalism.
Katz is currently a senior executive producer for Central news at VOA, and Mostaghim works for SAIC, though he worked at VOA for many years prior to his new position.
Some of the questions asked of the two journalists were about their favorite moments that they had while working at VOA. Katz and Mostaghim both agreed that the best moment they had was after the 2009 post-elections in Iran. During that time, despite Iran’s strict laws against unapproved news, many Iranians worked to get stories out to the world and to VOA, even though it was illegal.
“That was all sent to us by viewers at their own peril,” Katz said. She continued on to say that that was her proudest moment as a journalist. Mostaghim agreed, and, since he grew up in Iran, talked about all the different experiences that being a journalist has granted him.
“Everything is exciting in the journalism field, you know, traveling, meeting new people,” Mostaghim said. He also talked about the new perceptions on the world that journalism gave him. One of the events that changed his perception the most is when he traveled to Israel to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“That’s the benefit of being a journalist, and being on the scene and seeing things for yourself,” he said.
VOA is a federal organization, which broadcasts in 44 different languages throughout the world, with an audience of 123 million people. Katz talked about how she enjoyed working with the a diverse staff at Voice of America.
“It’s like working in the United Nations, it’s amazing, it’s enriching,” Katz said. They also talked about how important it was in journalism to report the truth, and not slant the facts.
“As journalists its our job not to take a position, but to present things on their own,” Katz said. She stressed the difference between propaganda and real news outlets. “We are straight journalists, we are not propaganda, which is a misconception.”
The Q&A session lasted the entire Atom Time, giving media students a chance to talk to professional journalists and learn more about the art of journalism.
