The work of journalists has always intrigued me. I went to college thinking I’d be one. Even after I decided to get my degree in PR, my senior project focused on journalistic ethics and the first amendment. Working with words and telling stories as a career had been on my radar since grade school.
As a fourth grade Girl Scout, I was mesmerized by a tour of The State/Record’s printing operation. In sixth grade, I “published” a neighborhood magazine in the summer. I still have stacks of journal notebooks from middle school where I chronicled vacations, crushes, classes and thoughts about life.
As a ninth grader, I had a class assignment to interview someone in the career field I thought I’d like to pursue after college. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to interview a newspaper reporter. A friend’s uncle was Bill McDonald, a long-time reporter and columnist at The State, so I got to interview him.
I wish I could say I remember the details of going to his office and what our conversation included, but the subsequent 40+ years have clouded that recollection. I do remember being amazed that someone as important as a newspaper reporter would take time to talk to a ninth grader. To me, newspaper reporters held a certain celebrity status that rivaled sports heroes for other people.
I recently found the folder from that assignment as I was going through boxes left from my parents’ attic. It included my research about the field of journalism and a feature story from my interview (written in the inverted pyramid, of course) along with answers to a series of questions I’d asked him. One thing that jumped out was his observation about pay. Bill McDonald told me you don’t go into this line of work for the money.
I’m assuming the part about the money still holds true today. But in spite of this, there are still lots of dedicated local reporters who work long days, nights and weekends, churning out news stories and analysis to fill today’s unforgiving news cycle that requires updated content around the clock.
In recent years, local print, broadcast and online outlets have been forced to refocus how they cover news because there was just so much more to cover and so many ways to do it. Since then, local news outlets have been my personal go-to for information during these times of political upheaval. I can only absorb so much news daily, and I’ve decided for my own sanity to focus most on what’s happening closest to home.
I’m really grateful for these front line reporters’ commitment to this profession. They are showing us faces and facts in the context of our own neighborhoods, streets and downtowns.
While I’ve long since stopped my hard copy newspaper deliveries, I subscribe to two newspapers’ digital versions along with the non-profit news site, the SC Daily Gazette (support their work here). SC Public Radio’s growing stable of journalists reporting from the State House and around the state and its podcast series, the SC Lede, are my daily go-to (support their work here). I follow dozens of local reporters on X where they share their news stories and sometimes give additional insight and backstories to the articles they are writing.
While my career path didn’t end up leading me into a newsroom, I have spent more than 30 years working with reporters to help them tell their stories. One of my favorite parts of the PR work I’ve done all these years is media relations. I enjoy immensely working with reporters who cover our communities.
Bill McDonald told me in his interview that having a “nose for news” and “ink in your blood” were critical to being a successful newspaper reporter. While the ink part may no longer be as pertinent, the “nose for news” part certainly is more important than ever. You’ve got to love this work in order to do it well.
I offer a shout out to all the reporters, editors, photographers, videographers, designers, producers and everyone else who staffs print, TV, radio and online newsrooms around the clock to keep us informed.
Keep up the good work.
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