An Interview with Alex Rodriguez (not the baseball player)

For our big interview, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Rodriguez, the Nation/World Editor for the Chicago Tribune.

While Mr. Rodriguez is not a “suicide expert” as far as his previous work in the field, I felt very confident that his insight on covering trauma in general would prove to be extremely powerful. And I was not wrong.

During our conversation, Mr. Rodriguez shared with me how he got his start in the field, what news organizations he’s represented throughout his career, and where his job has taken him. When presented with the opportunity to travel the world and cover international news, Rodriguez was hesitant because of his lack of experience. However, he greeted the opportunity and accepted. He covered combat across the globe, ranging from Iraq, to Russia, to Pakistan, to Iran, and even areas in Africa. He quickly fell in love with covering combat, but was not exempt from feeling affected by what he saw.

Rodriguez described the horrors of war that he witnessed on a regular basis, graciously sparing the particularly gory details. He was witness to a handful of suicide and roadside bombings that took place in various parts of Baghdad that he was covering. He was in the midst of cross-fire when the Beslan school siege occurred and was present for the bombing. He quickly learned how to adapt to high-risk situations like these, and took responsibility for ensuring the safety of his fellow journalists and crew.

When it came to coping with the trauma that he witnessed, Rodriguez said every news organization he worked for made it a priority to provide any kind of emotional and mental support necessary. While he never felt the need to seek it out and found ways to cope on his own, he described feeling haunted by the images he saw on a regular basis.

The biggest take-away from my conversation with Rodriguez was his emphasis on the importance of not only covering combat across the world, but trauma overall.  He said we need reporters who take risks, but do so intelligently, in order to educate the masses. He believe it’s crucial for citizens to stay engaged and informed on traumatic events so they are better able to form opinions. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Mr. Rodriguez and hear his insight on the importance of covering trauma.