Before the Skype session, the class studied Brown's 2007 NPR radio story about one veteran's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how it affected his marriage. Brown did a follow-up story with the original parties six months after the first story.
She spoke with us about the process of creating that story, the specific interview approach she took to this story and who she spoke with for the information.
She first talked to the wife alone for one hour and realized what a compelling piece it was, and the poignant aspects of the story. She then talked to the husband afterwards, when she already had an idea for the outline of the story that she wanted to take.
She said she chose the format of allowing the husband and wife to exclusively tell their story because she "wasn't around for the entire story." It was the couple's story and she wanted them to be the sole narrators.
In the follow-up story, however, Brown said she had trouble convincing both individuals to tell the rest of their story.
Brown didn't originally set out to become a journalist. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from University of California-Berkeley, and five years later her went back to school for her master's in journalism.
She said that she wanted experience in the world before began writing.
However, she didn't have intentions, when she chose her undergraduate major to report on mental health.
"It was a coincidence," Brown said. "I chose psychology because it was my junior year, I had to declare something and psychology is what I had the most credits in. ... My interest in mental health evolved as I got into these stories."
About one-third to one-half of the stories Brown covers are metal health related. She has dipped her toes in many different types of media, but most recently she has been trying to immerse herself more in the print style of magazines, newspapers, and online.
One of her favorite stories that she has covered is a documentary she completed about children with bipolar disorder.
"I got to know the families well and understand them," Brown said.
A second story that stands out to her, is one she did about siblings of people with mental illness, the burden of people who are well.
By: Emily Brown
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