He Doesn't Own The Place

by Christine Yee

John Bathke is an award-winning reporter, anchor, and talk show host at News 12 New Jersey. Bathke spearheaded News 12 New Jersey's series of reports on immigration and anchored a live town meeting about immigration, which set station records for viewer response. He also is the creator, host and producer of "Another Side of the Street," a TV magazine show about why people live where they do. He has earned awards for his series, "Generation of AIDS," marking the 20th anniversary of the virus, and was a guest host of "Jersey's Talking," a former long-running prime time variety program. Bathke started working in television news in 1993 at WMGM in Atlantic City and later worked as a writer and producer at KYW in Philadelphia. His work has been honored by Lincoln University; the Society of Professional Journalists; the National Association for Black Journalists; the South Asian Journalists Association; the Garden State Black Journalists Association; and the North Jersey Press Club. He earned a master's degree from Northwestern University¼s Medill School of Journalism. Bathke can be reached at Jpbathke@news12.com. Q: How has your ethnicity affected the way that you cover ethnic communities and culture? Has it hampered or benefited your reporting?

I've never viewed my being white in covering a non-white community -- I've never viewed my ethnicity -- as hampering it in any way. I'm very sensitive about it and aware of it. When I go into a community where I may be the only white person, I want to make sure that I am covering the people living there somewhat on their terms. It doesn't mean that I'm not asking tough questions or doing what I need to do as a journalist, but I also can't just walk in like I own the place. The other thing that I find in covering ethnic communities, and for me the tool that I've used that really helped me, is to find someone in that community to make a connection with, to build trust with. And they in turn can introduce me to other people in the community as I build the story. For example, in a story I did on immigration, I covered a community of Asian Indians. I didn't know anyone in that community before I went in to do the story, except for one person who was sort of a community leader, and who I put a call to, established some trust with him, and went to see him. He took me up and down the main street of that town and introduced me to a bunch of Asian Indians who have businesses there, who live there. I was able to interview them and build a story from there.

You've covered many different stories from Tropical Storm Floyd to domestic violence. Do you feel like you've been pigeonholed now as the diversity or ethnic reporter? If so, is that a bad thing?

I don't think it's a bad thing at all. I'm very proud of it, if in fact, people do think of me in that way. I have the freedom to choose, which is a great thing. I have the freedom to pitch these things, because of the projects that I have done in the past that have dealt with diversity and ethnicity and have been successful. I think, and I'm only guessing because I haven't spoken to my employers directly about this, they're more apt when I go in and pitch another project to say yes, based on success that we as a station have had with these projects in the past. I'm very, very proud of that. I don't think I'm pigeonholed.

Your "Immigration US" three-part series and "Generation AIDS" three-part series won numerous awards. Of all your work, what are you most proud of and why?

I'm most proud of "Another Side of the Street," because it was such a big project. It was a magazine show, and to conceive the idea, to come up with the stories, to shift them, and to put them together and to connect them together was a really fulfilling experience. And to have so many viewers love that show, and that so many viewers who maybe ordinarily not have been watching our channel, tuned in to see it, was a great accomplishment for my station and for me as a journalist.

"Another Side of the Street," you collected stories from four different communities and explored why they live where they do. You told a story of a woman fighting to keep her neighborhood safe even at the cost of sending her son to prison; a couple who is disabled and live in a specially tailored home; gays in a community where they allow open tours through their homes; and four people who live in handmade huts. How did you find these stories? Did you consciously go out and seek those stories in these areas?

I had for awhile wanted to do a show about the relationship between people and their community, because that can be a powerful thing. I also wanted the show to have diversity, not just ethnically and socially, but geographically. Those stories came from all very different parts of New Jersey. Those were the components that went into thinking about the show. Then I started looking for stories. I started asking around, asking sources I've known, people I've known, telling them about the show, and what I was hoping to achieve. Little by little, the story started coming to me. I have a brilliant editor who makes life very easy, who works with me on many of my special projects, so it was a tremendous experience putting the show together.

Q: Did you get good feedback?

I got great feedback, not just from the people at the station, but from so many viewers. After it aired, there was a man who called me, who happened to be watching, and he saw the story about the blind couple. There is a couple who is blind and the husband is also quadriplegic, but they have sighted children who they are raising. The man donated them a car, because their children are old enough and able to drive. Particularly in that piece about the blind couple, so often when you see people with disabilities covered, they are reported on in the context of their disability alone. They're only being interviewed because of their disability. They are giving the first-person account of what it's like to have this disability. But in our show, we approached the story as, this disability was a part of who they are, but it wasn't all of who they are. They were humble people and I don't think they wanted a big spectacle about themselves. I'm very proud of that show. It was a labor of love to me.

Q: How do you develop your stories?

It starts with what's interesting to me. The second is what I think would be interesting to viewers. When you can blend the two, that's a great thing. It makes for a much better and pleasurable project.

Q: How do you pitch your stories to your editors?

I try to have a clear outline of what I want to do before I go in and talk about it. But my situation in New Jersey is probably different than most reporters around the country, because New Jersey is just about the most diverse place on earth. We have people living in this state who came from almost every country in the world. So ethnicity is all around us. And it is so much a part of what we do. And it has to be in the fabric of our coverage. I think when I pitch a project it might be received more favorably by my editors and by my managers than some people in other parts of the country, because we are so diverse here. ä People identify so much with their ethnicity in New Jersey. They feel very close to it. I don't really have a beat per say. I just do the projects that have been interesting to me that I've chosen to look into. My interest in ethnicity is something that has really evolved for me. In the beginning of my career ä it wasn't what I was thinking about. What I was thinking about then was, "OK, did I get the facts right?" Because I was on television, I was focused on my performance. But over the years, my focus has changed to what it is today. I think being in New Jersey had a big impact on that, because of the diversity that is all around us. I started to see more of how ethnicity, social issues, environment, where we live, is all tied together.

Q: Do you think you could cover the same stories for a bigger station or network?

Not in the same way. I think at a lot of bigger stations, they are much more breaking-news oriented. While we do a lot of that and while it's an important part of our coverage, I'm also lucky enough that my station values the in-depth pieces, and pieces about people, and some of the diversity projects we've done. I think if I was at another station, the approach would be different. It would less in- depth perhaps, but you have to understand that our station is covering the northern and central part of New Jersey, but we're part of the New York market. Our job is to counter program New York television on a daily basis. That's what we do to make sure New Jersey viewers have a reason to tune in for their New Jersey news and not to just watch New York for all of their news.

Q:You've said that you believe good journalism is about human rights and the human condition. Please elaborate on that.

Journalism has to be about people and about what is happening in this world and how it affects people. I think stories have to be presented in a way that people can relate to and identify with. What I try to do is to really get to the heart and soul of the person I'm interviewing and for them to share something about their life that people watching can latch onto and care about.

You've shared your experiences on panels about diversity issues in reporting and covering ethnic communities. What is a common question that is asked of you and what is your response?

How do you get people to talk so openly is a question that has come up quite often. It starts with being down to earth. The biggest compliment sometimes I feel I get when an interview is done is, "It doesn't feel like an interview. You didn't seem like a reporter." I don't know what they are used to or what people expect a reporter to be, maybe more in-their-face or something. But for me, I'm able to get people to open by just being myself, by being relaxed and taking a genuine interest in who they are. I have to remember when I'm interviewing people whatever they are saying and whatever they believe is their reality. You might dispute what they are saying or people may disagree with what they are saying. But for that person, it is their life.

Who were your mentors in respect to journalism?

They were people that I've looked up to over the years. While I may never have met them, I've learned from them. I think Linda Ellerbee is a phenomenal writer and I've always wanted to do a project with her. Jay Schadler, who is a correspondent for ABC News, sort of an adventurer journalist, but there is a real intimacy in his storytelling that I admire and something that I try to achieve in my own.

Q: What keeps you in journalism?

Hope that I can make a difference. It's a really cool thing to be able to come into people's homes, bring something new, give them information. And it's also a tremendous thing when you can bring them programming like "Another Side of the Street" and take people into other people's lives, in communities where they may have never gone, to meet people they would never have met. And they end up feeling like they know these people, because of the work that we've done as journalists. And that's a really special thing about this job.