Faces of Diversity: Sally Farhat
08.29.01
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| Sally Farhat |
One in an occasional series of interviews profiling former Chips Quinn Scholars who now work in newspaper newsrooms. Sally Farhat, business reporter for The Sun in Bremerton, Wash., was in the Chips Quinn Class of 1999.
Q: What did your Chips Quinn internship at the Valley Times in Pleasanton, Calif., teach you about journalism and reporting?
A: I had a great internship experience. My editors were nice to me, spent tons of time working with me on stories and were really nurturing. Sad to say, but the business is not this simple, especially when you're in a full-time beat position. So while I got great experience, I had the incorrect notion that all editors would be so helpful.
Q: Why did you decide to take part in the Chips Quinn Scholars program?
A: My University of Washington journalism adviser thought I would be a great candidate for the program and encouraged me to apply. When I got the internship at the Valley News, I was thrilled to get a chance to live in the Bay Area.
Q: You've covered a lot of different topics, including business, diversity, entertainment and community news. What kind of stories do you most like to tell? Has your ethnicity helped you in your reporting?
A: I love writing about diversity. But I think diversity stories in newspapers are much too event-driven. For example, I was once told, "It's Hispanic heritage month; go find a girl having a quincanera and write about her." Quincaneras, or coming-of-age parties, are the most over-written events when it comes to Mexicans, and I went out and found a better story.
I went to a reception Hispanic Magazine was having that week and talked to people there to get story ideas. One of the women I met asked me my nationality, and I told her I was Lebanese. She said she knew an Arab-Mexican-American doctor who provided health care and information to the Mexican-Americans in Detroit, often for free. That, to me, was a much more interesting story.
Being a Lebanese-American makes me sensitive to these types of issues. If I read another story about a Middle Eastern terrorist, I will scream.
Q: You mentioned once on the Chips Quinn Web site that you were thankful to Helen Thomas for paving the way for Lebanese-American female journalists. Has she inspired your career?
A:It's funny. I wrote that two years ago. After I met her and read her book, I realize that she doesn't have ties to the culture like I do. She didn't advertise her ethnicity like I do. But as a fellow woman, I admire her for making men respect women as journalists in the White House. She paved the way.
Q: You worked at the Detroit Free Press before returning to the West Coast to work for The Sun, a small newspaper in Washington. Do you think larger papers do a better job covering diversity than smaller papers?
A: Larger papers typically do better because they have the staff to do it. The San Jose Mercury News has a diversity team of reporters. Here at The Sun, we have to write two stories a day on our beats and need to focus on getting diversity into those stories, because we will never have the resources to have someone devoted to diversity as its own beat.
Q: How diverse is your newsroom at The Sun compared to the one at the Detroit Free Press?
A: The Detroit Free Press is one of the most diverse newspapers in the business. The newspaper's recruiter works hard to keep the paper diverse. The Sun, being a smaller paper, doesn't have a recruiter and most minorities don't want to work in this city, which is 90% white. Currently, there are only two other minorities in The Sun's newsroom.
Q: How do you think newspapers can improve their newsroom diversity?
A: It's hard. They have to make a conscious effort, and I don't see many of them doing that. I think other newspapers need to talk to the recruiters at the papers like the Free Press and learn from their successes.
Q: What one thing about the Chips Quinn Scholars program has been most helpful to you in your career?
A: Do I have to pick just one? I could list at least 10. All the wonderful people I have met have been very helpful. For example, Kristen Go, a 1996 and 1997 Chips Quinn Scholar who is now at The Arizona Republic, has been a great mentor. I met her when she was speaking at the Chips Quinn orientation in 1999.
Q: What do you feel has been the most important influence keeping you in journalism?
A: Chips Quinn hands down has influenced my staying in journalism. Mary Ann Hogan, Mary Kay Blake, Karen Catone and the other people involved with the program all encourage me when I feel down. Knowing that such successful people believe in me reminds me why I am in the business in the first place.
Q: You've emphasized how much you've appreciated editors and colleagues that have worked with you and given you their feedback and time. Do you think mentoring helps new reporters adjust to the newsroom?
A: It's a necessity. Young, new reporters can get caught up in the craziness of the business and lose their way. Mentoring helps figure out the little kinks, so they can get on with the important part of the job — reporting and writing. Mentoring happens at both large and small papers. It all depends on how important the newspaper's editors think it is.