{"id":2926,"date":"2024-02-16T21:03:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T21:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taratw.com\/?p=2926"},"modified":"2024-02-16T21:39:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T21:39:32","slug":"jessica-chen-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taratw.com\/jessica-chen-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Laid off by the LA Times, documentary filmmaker Jessica Q. Chen has more stories to tell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jessica Q. Chen<\/a> is one of the latest casualties of what many media analysts are calling an extinction level event<\/a> in journalism. The LA Times fired her and more than 100 of her colleagues, after the organization’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shion, said losses of up to $40 million a year could no longer be sustained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s heartbreaking, because Chen has the type of resume that should make her teflon to such budget cuts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has years of experience producing stories for Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, and UNHCR. Her work at National Geographic<\/a> earned her a DuPont award \u2013 one of journalism\u2019s most prestigious accolades. She received an Emmy nomination for her Women of Apollo<\/a> series. And she recently made her feature film directorial debut with Surf Nation<\/a>. The movie will premiere on PBS during the summer Olympics, and tells the story of two young surfers battling their personal demons to become the sport\u2019s first Olympiads from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In a bygone era, Chen could very well be primed for a promotion. Instead, she\u2019s unexpectedly searching for a job, as are another 3,000 journalists who lost their gigs from American print, broadcast and online news outlets during the past year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke about what challenges she faces while unemployed, and why she straddles the plane between objective journalism and a personal approach to her subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s such a push for true crime stories and celebrity biopics; and that\u2019s affecting the audience\u2019s expectation of what a documentary looks like…<\/strong>“<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jack Zahora: <\/strong>First and foremost, how are you doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Q. Chen<\/strong>: Yeah, I’m doing fine. All things considered. I think we all saw it coming. I’m brushing up on skills, thinking how to future proof my career, whether that’s getting an AI certification or learning more marketing and business skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JZ: <\/strong>Why is it that the Times looked at your position and said, \u201cokay, she\u2019s an award winning storyteller, but we can\u2019t afford to keep her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JQC: <\/strong>Yeah, I do think the appetite of our audience is more narrow. I feel like, in the last three years even, there’s such a push for true crime stories and celebrity biopics; and that\u2019s affecting the audience\u2019s expectation of what a documentary looks like \u2013 the production value has shifted. And those changes don’t really align with the way that news organizations have done things in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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