AJR Asks   

What is your dream journalism job?

What is your dream journalism job?

Brooks Boliek, Washington bureau chief, the Hollywood Reporter
"In a lot of ways I have my dream job, except for the pay. My bosses are 3,000 miles away. I have an office around the corner from the White House. I'm at the nexus of commerce, technology and politics.... I would like to do more science stories, especially discoveries. I dream about writing about inventions. And Outside magazine would be nice."

Michael Hedges, reporter, Scripps Howard News Service, Washington bureau
"To have a contract to write cover stories for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair or the New York Times Magazine. I'd like to do about six to eight stories a year and focus on whatever flash point or international crisis that is happening at the time: in-depth stories with a high profile that are done from the location, and I'm paid a lot of money to do."

Chris Wilson, celebrity reporter, Star
"I'd like to own my own tabloid, but I think they've all been bought up. I'd like to be the overlord; that would be great."

Christopher Kirkpatrick, Capitol reporter, North Carolina's Durham Herald-Sun
"I'd like to be a GA reporter and write about timely breaking news but put [it] in a feature/news format. Those stories usually have impact and are professionally satisfying."

Sabrina Eaton, Washington correspondent, Cleveland's Plain Dealer
"Technology will soon pose dilemmas for humanity straight out of science fiction, such as genetically engineered humans, cloned people and body parts, and discovery of life forms we never dreamed of. My ideal job would be covering those controversies when they hit Washington for a major news organization."

Bill Silcock, managing editor, KOMU-TV, Columbia, Missouri
"The first would be to have the budget, freedom and time to tell the story of American popular music, especially the influence of Irish blues singer Van Morrison. The other would be to take a crew to the Thursday Islands [between Australia and Papua New Guinea] to look at the indigenous culture there and the problems they face."

John Hendren, national writer, Associated Press
"Investigative reporting in Honolulu or covering Armageddon on a fat expense account. These are possibilities that would entice any reporter." Hendren adds a more "serious" answer: "You mean other than my current job, which is as close to ideal as you can get? Probably investigative reporting of Congress. There are just so many things to cover there..energy issues, environmental issues, land issues."

Compiled by Kent German and Sean Mussenden