Interview with a Expert
Informational Interview
Michael BerryHill is an Award winning journalist as well as a published writer and professor. Born and raised on the east end of Houston, Texas, He is the son to a paint contractor and a housewife who hailed from Ohio. BerryHill attended Milby High school and post graduation pursued a degree in Liberal arts at Kenyon Mens College in Ohio. He went on to later acquire a BA in English as well as an MA and a PhD while attending the University of Minnesota. Michael BerryHill has used his years of education to build a journalism legacy for over 25 years with teaching being his pride and joy, the self acclaimed “best part” of his job. In his years of previous work, BerryHill has been an editor and major contributing writer to several notable publications including Houston Chronicle, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, D Magazine, Houston City Magazine and Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine; He also has a book published by University of Texas Titled, The Trials of Eroy Brown: The Murder Case that Shook the Texas Prison System. Before coming to teach at Texas Southern University where he serves as the chair of the Journalism Department, he thought at Vassar College, the University of Lyon in France and even University of Houston
I learned in my initial interview of Professor BerryHill that he did not actually receive a degree in journalism prior to teaching
His degree in American Studies was a huge advantage in his journalism studies
AI: Have you always known you wanted to be a Journalist?
MB: “When I was 9 I realized I was a writer. They took me off pencils and put me on pens, that plus constant reading made me wonder if writing was possible for anyone because there were virtually no writers in Houston.”
AI: Who were your major encouragers as a youth, who would you say really helped shape you into the writer you are today.
MB: “I was my own self motivator, my parents didn't think id make money but they were proud. I did have wonderful teachers in college, but I personally was always interested in ideas and issues so I just read more and kept writing.”
AI: Did you take any classes in particular that helped you improve your writing skill or gave you tips on being a better writer?
MB: Id have to say that American Studies game me great background for writing, I also did some debate in high school, we would do a year long oration and research and rewrite our papers constantly.
AI: so what challenges can you say being a journalist has brought upon you?
MB: Its very fast paced, I had to learn to write fast and work the phone. You learn to be a journalist you must build relationships and know people, get people to trust you. Don't lie and never make promises you can’t keep. I remember when I started out, drove write in like a pig in the mud. There were small battles with editors and disagreements but I always pushed forward.
AI: So how would you describe where you are in your career right now? What is your major role at the moment.
MB: My major role first an foremost is as a writer and story teller who writes strictly fiction. After that I am a teach because it is a great passion of mine. I used to think I was going to be a teacher and keep my writing pure but I discovered I could write for a living and keep my teaching pure. Although in all honesty, whatever you've done in the past is the past, your next story will always be your best story. Im working on one write now, I'm trying to really do my research on this next project because it is more personal.
AI: So what difficulties might a journalist in modern day face that might not have been a threat in past times?
MB: the fundamentals of journalism have not changed. Quill pen or not you must get facts right, you must do studies and write well which can be a lot of pressure because good information can be found but there is also a raise on expectations for young journalists. You must have more skills outside of just writing, you need to have headlining skill with tweets, photography, even social media. You’ve got to do a lot of these thing and older journalists will expect that savvy-ness from you although that may not be the case
AI: How would you say social media has affected the journalism world.
MB: Journalism is in some ways damaged, now with things online you can write what you want and publish it which like everything else has pros and cons. You can promote yourself and your own stories or more of other stories you approve of, but at the same time there is worry of yellow journalism running rampant in the online world, people just make things up and others go with it because no one is doing research. Journalism is about asking questions, these days lots of people have answers but no ones asking questions anymore.
Professor BerryHill is a Jack of all trades and a true Journalist. Despite his numerous accolades he continues writing, researching and exploring just off the pure pleasure journalism provides in it versatility of studies with his favorite niche being found in being able to write and discover things. BerryHill believes being a great writer is about being interested in important issues and explaining them through people all the while using emotion to portray the story. His book, Trials of Eroy Brown: The Murder Case that Shook the Texas Prison System is in consideration to be made into a movie which he looks forward to explore another side of writing by working on a script for the first time. Professor BerryHill along with being an awarded environmentalist writer is also a published poet despite the latter being his forte in the field of writing. He continues to explore his subject and find new topics of interest to cover with his latest project being a dedication to his beautiful daughter Elizabeth who suffers from intellectual disabilities, he hopes to delve into the world of the intellectually disabled from all aspects and views in order to fully present an unbiased and informational view on our sometimes misunderstood counterparts.
“Wonderful thing about journalism, you never know what you end up writing about, but our job is not to be know it all but to ask questions.” - Micheal BerryHill.