Yoav Gonen on How Personal Priorities Change With Age

In Chapter 19 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing as You Get Older?" As he gets older, Gonen finds he puts a greater priority spending doing the things he loves with those he loves the most, namely family and friends. With age, Gonen finds he has a better grasp of what he wants out of life and what relationships, including being an uncle, bring him joy. Yoav Gonen is a reporter and City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post daily newspaper. Previously he spent nearly six years covering the education beat for the New York Post. Gonen earned a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Journalism from New York University.

How Parents Influence Journalism Career Choice - Yoav Gonen

In Chapter 8 of 11 in his 2011 interview, education reporter Yoav Gonen answers "What Role Has Family Played in Shaping Your Career Aspirations?"  Gonen notes how he was a late bloomer and was uncertain where to take his career in the years after college.  Gonen's father sees his passion for writing and suggests Yoav apply to a journalism graduate program.  The rest is history.  Yoav Gonen is the education reporter for the New York Post newspaper in New York City.  He earned a Masters of Journalism degree from New York University and a BA in English from the University of Michigan.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen: What role has family played in shaping your career aspirations?

Yoav Gonen: I was a late bloomer. I remember quite vividly when I was on the phone with my - it might have been both my parents, I definitely remember my mom was on the phone, my parents pretty much paid for all of my undergrad college, and I told my mom that I was signing up for a pottery class and she said, "You're gonna be paying for that class, because I'm not." And, you know, they were always - they pressured me a little bit but not too much, I mean, they were trying to help me figure out what to do.

It took me a long time, interestingly, it was my dad who - I don't really know - it seemed kind of out of left field at the time but he's - I was, I think in my mid-20s, and he's like, "Maybe you should go to journalism school." And, you know, I enjoyed writing but I wasn't on my college newspapers staff or anything like that. He kind of threw that out there over dinner one time and it struck me, you know, I don't know why I hadn't considered it but it seemed like a good idea and as soon as I got to journalism school, I knew that was I wanted to do.  

How Reporter Balances Ethics With Incomplete Information Constraints - Yoav Gonen

Yoav Gonen returns to Capture Your Flag to build upon his 2009 interview with a 2010 conversation with host Erik Michielsen. In Chapter 3 of 17, Gonen, a New York Post education reporter, shares one of the great challenges in journalism, handling incomplete information. Gonen notes it is rare to have complete information, so going to press with a story requires sound judgment that balances need for ethical reporting with need to participate in a competitive news marketplace. He shares one challenge, a high school principal accused of having a drinking problem, and how he went through the decision to research, write and publish the story.

Yoav Gonen earned his BA in English from the University of Michigan and his Masters in Journalism from New York University.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen:  As a newspaper reporter, how do you maintain an ethical approach when you may not necessarily have complete information in developing a story?

Yoav Gonen:  Often times, that presents a big problem because there are times when you might be getting conflicting information from different sources, and you can sometimes have an article saying, well this person said this and this person said that.  Sometimes what they say is… might be negative toward someone, and you want to be careful just putting stuff out there because somebody said it.  The constraint you have is that your competitors are probably out there working on the same story and they might be getting stronger information or different information.  There was recently a principal who was removed from a school and there were rumors going around that it had to do… it had something to do that he had a drinking problem.  So, I was hearing this at various levels and at some point it came from reliable enough sources that I felt comfortable putting it in there, but the truth is you can’t know for a100% - I mean these are accusations. 

So, you do hesitate to put this information out there because everyone that picks up a paper is going to read about this guy and read that people are accusing him of having a drinking problem and that is a big deal. You want to cross your T’s and dot your I’s as much as you can.  You reach out to as many people, you make sure you turn over every stone and then at the end of the day you have to decide, “Okay, I’m I comfortable enough with the people that have told me this that I believe them or am I not?”  And then you just got to make the decision.