103: How to Break Into Legal & National Security Writing, Journalism & Analysis w/ Ben Wittes, Lawfare Blog [Espresso Shots]

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Ben Wittes is the Editor-in-Chief and co-Founder of the Lawfare blog, an online publication dedicated to national security issues, published by the Lawfare Institute in cooperation with the Brookings Institution.  It was started in September 2010 by Wittes, a former editorial writer for the Washington Post, Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith and University of Texas at Austin law professor Robert Chesney.  What started out as a fun little project in 2010, quickly turned into a massive news source for those interested in national security law. In 2017 alone the site had 15 million page views.  If you have ever wanted to be a journalist this is the Espresso Shots episode for you. Brew up a flight of different espresso blends, because you need to be energized for today’s amazing episode. Ben Wittes has been a journalist for more than 2 decades and, despite never going to law school, has a ton of knowledge about writing for an audience of those in the law field. For the next little while, Ben is here to give you some advice on the many ways enter the journalism field with a bang! He’s even got two pieces of advice that haven’t been heard before on T4C, so you should definitely stick around! And, to make this interview even better, Andrea and Ben share plenty of laughs along the way. Wanna add some humor to your mug this morning? Why not press Play? It will be a LATTE of fun!

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• What the Lawfare Blog is and who contributes to it
• How you should check out the Lawfare job board
• Why you don’t need to be a lawyer to write about law and national security
• What the most important skills are that you’ll need to write well on these subjects
• Why previous jobs or internships can be valuable assets for future journalistic endeavours
• 2 pieces of valuable career advice that can be useful regardless of the field you’re in
• Why you should learn to ‘vomit’ words onto a computer screen
• How to combine an academic interest and a job to make the perfect career