Philosophy Interview with Tony Aiello

I interviewed Tony Aiello, founder of the La Mirada Blog and radio personality at Adviceradio.com.

Please tell me the publications that you’ve worked for—maybe your experiences in the past?

“I worked for the La Mirada blog, which is my website. I became a journalist somewhat accidentally because we didn’t have a local newspaper in town and we were really lacking news and I’ve been interested in the news for our town for a long time and I read a lot of newspapers and it’s something that has always interested me. So there was kind of a gap there where we didn’t have a newspaper so I felt like I needed to create one for the community. I pretty much taught myself everything as far as journalism and editing, being the publisher of my website.”

Where did you study and what did you study?

“I didn’t go to college for a very long time…I’m a big believer that everyone has some journalistic qualities. You don’t necessarily have to go a certain route, ya know, a conventional route. Especially in this day and age, there are a lot of websites like myself…everyone is their own editor and publisher now.”

“I taught everything about journalism and writing…I pretty much taught it to myself. Just practicing and doing it over and over.”

“My dad used to always read the news. He couldn’t go a morning without reading the newspaper and I’m kind of the same way. I have to read it every single day and I’ll go from beginning to end; it’s like a ritual. I have a great interest in the way stories are put together.”

What type of values did you reap from your time as a journalist?

“I think meeting community members, really getting to know people when you’re doing a story…You get to meet individuals and you get to really learn a lot. You go into a story thinking you know most of it but once you start interviewing somebody and asking questions you discover there is so much you didn’t know and you learn…You get a little insight into people’s lives.”

What do you consider the foundation of being a good journalist?

"The foundation is reporting the facts and not putting your own personal opinion in and it’s a big responsibility whether it’s a little blog you have at school, or my blog, or a major newspaper. You really have a responsibility to the community because they’re reading your stuff, expecting responsibility out of you…getting the facts and reporting the facts. There’s nothing wrong with putting your two cents in but it should always be in an opinion-type piece; it shouldn’t be in a fact-reporting piece."

"But at the same time, a lot of these hometown blogs that start now in these little hometown newspapers are kind of doing a little of both where the guy will write the story and then he’ll also interject his own personal feelings and then continue with the story. Definitely the foundation I believe is reporting the facts to the public and providing a service to the public and being the facilitator to the public of getting the news to them and them trusting you to do it. I think that’s the very foundation of journalism."

"We work for the people. I don’t get paid a lot to do what I do now. It’s more like a community service that I’m providing. I really believe that. We’ll see where it goes but definitely I feel like I work for the people."

Have you ever encountered God as a journalist?...As an objective reporter, how have you encountered people and their faith and their idea of God?

"I really haven’t run into that too much. I’m trying to give some examples here but I can’t think of any instances. When we have our Kiwanis meetings or—I’m a member of different groups and organizations in the community—and there tends to be sometimes some prayers at the beginning that other members want so we incorporate God into the meeting a lot. But I really haven’t run into that too much when out in the field interviewing people. But I believe. I wouldn’t say I’m an official Christian. I’m not an official anything. I just believe there’s something bigger, more powerful out there and if I live my life right and make what I think are the right choices everything will fall into place. I believe there is a higher power."

In what way do you feel like what you do as a journalist matters?

“It matters because where else—especially in La Mirada because we haven’t had an official newspapers for years and years since the last one went out of business—where else are the people going to turn to find out what’s going on at their schools, at their parks, in their communities—everywhere, journalism is what provides that. People aren’t going to know what’s going on in their community unless I tell them or people like me tell them. And that is so important because people are so interested in what’s going on in their town. The silliest little things people love. They hear that Betty Sue and John got a couple of ribbons at the City Council meeting for their drawings of trees. People just love that stuff.”

How do you feel like your work connects to larger trends in media and journalism?

“I’m a pioneer. I was doing local news on the internet before anybody had even thought about it. I’ve been doing it for 10 years. I started in 2000. This is the next wave—facebook, and these blogs, and all that stuff on the internet. But newspapers will never go away entirely…The circulation may go down but they’ll never ever go away entirely because…people always want something in front of them to read…I, literally, was doing local news on the internet and on my radio show and now everybody has local news sites—all the papers, Biola—everybody has little local news sites that they run. I was doing it before it was even thought of…I think I’m leading the way to the next people behind me who are going to do this type of thing…It’s really catching on and it’s really becoming big now. There’s companies and there’s websites now and that’s all they do is just little tiny local community websites and they bring them all into one spot…It’s a big trend in news right now… Hyperlocal news is the next big thing in news, which is what I do.”

Is there anything you want to add, maybe insights of your experience as a journalist or about the realm of journalism as a whole?

“Like I mentioned, journalism is changing. It’s changing. There are online journalists now. People can sit at home and make their own little blog. I mean, everybody can do it. But like I mentioned, newspapers and magazines, they’ll never completely go away….Things are definitely changing and I’m just very proud to be at the beginning—one of the pioneers of this new movement.”

Prayer #3

Dear Heavenly Father,

I'm so weary of writing these days because it is no a small matter that we must be responsible for our words. I'm sorry if I've misrepresented anyone in my articles or misquoted people. Please help me to report and write in a way that honors You, because without Your grace I'm incapable of it. Please help me to grow in competency and accuracy in what I write.

I also trust You with my family and friendships. It seems as if everyone is upset with me in one way or another these days. Please teach me how to love people and to discern who is safe to trust. I thank You so much for Uncle Rob and Jennifer and how supportive they've been toward me through all my struggles this semester. I know I need to grow in compassion. Please, Lord, help me to do that.

I'm so amazed by Your grace and love for me, Lord. Thank You for sending Jesus as a living sacrifice that I may be saved from my sins and come to know You in faith. Because He was wounded, I was healed. Because He died, I now can live. Lord, thank You so much for abundant life!

In Jesus' name, amen.