Podcasts for the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations
Jun 2, 2026 · 1 hr 18 min · 11 segments
Dr. Richard Downie, Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Pacific Council on International Policy; Kristin Ghazarians, Associate Director of the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force; Jim…
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Richard DownieGuest
Kristin CasarezGuestJim NewtonGuest
Alexandra BelenHost
I'm gonna open it up in a, in a minute, but I have a question for you, and that is skills.
What skills, what attitude, personal attitude, and what character traits, right-
... are important? It's like the skills is like we just talked about this as, uh, before we started.
Um, w- what, what do you guys need to know and be capable of doing if you wanna go into this, into this particular field? What, what attitude, how you carried yourself also in your own careers, has been helpful? And what character traits would you, would you say matter to be successful? Who wants to take the...
[laughs] Um, uh, you know, there is, I, there, uh, y- there is a kind of grit and a toughness and a willingness to make people mad that is sort of essential for a certain part of the business.
Um, but there, you know, there's also s- there's sports writers and restaurant critics and, uh, and, uh, art critics.
Um, uh, you know, the work that I mostly did is beat reporting, which is to say covering an institution or a subject over a long period of time.
I mean, I do think it, it helps to be kind of, uh, willing, you know, uh, able to take criticism.
Um, Scotty Reston, who I mentioned, used to say that the great, uh, accountability in journalism is that your byline appears on the story, and you have to see the person the next day, and they'll punch you in the nose if they didn't like it.
I'm gonna open it up in a, in a minute, but I have a question for you, and that is skills.
What skills, what attitude, personal attitude, and what character traits, right-
... are important? It's like the skills is like we just talked about this as, uh, before we started.
Um, w- what, what do you guys need to know and be capable of doing if you wanna go into this, into this particular field? What, what attitude, how you carried yourself also in your own careers, has been helpful? And what character traits would you, would you say matter to be successful? Who wants to take the...
[laughs] Um, uh, you know, there is, I, there, uh, y- there is a kind of grit and a toughness and a willingness to make people mad that is sort of essential for a certain part of the business.
Um, but there, you know, there's also s- there's sports writers and restaurant critics and, uh, and, uh, art critics.
Um, uh, you know, the work that I mostly did is beat reporting, which is to say covering an institution or a subject over a long period of time.
I mean, I do think it, it helps to be kind of, uh, willing, you know, uh, able to take criticism.
Um, Scotty Reston, who I mentioned, used to say that the great, uh, accountability in journalism is that your byline appears on the story, and you have to see the person the next day, and they'll punch you in the nose if they didn't like it.
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