Caring is what makes reporting special

By Andrea Fanta
Summer 2002 Scholar

Posted: June 21, 2002

I've been on the job two weeks now, and so far I've covered a parade, a meeting and a press conference attended by one reporter: Me.

Sigh.

I began asking myself: How do you keep that "joy of reporting" our mentors talk about when your stories run on page B-1,000? How do you stay excited about stories that have nothing to do with political scandals, gory crimes or policy change?

The answer hit me yesterday. To keep the flame burning, you have to care, care, care.

Care that someone from that small town cut the parade story out and pasted it in his scrapbook. Care that someone read the riverfront story and knows about talk of new industrial development there. Care because one reporter who attended a press conference was able to tell many readers that they might not be able to dial 9-1-1 from their cell phones during a crisis.

Caring is what separates a reporter from a mouthpiece.

The other day, at an intern mentoring session, my friends and I were handed a packet of photos taken in 1989 after a disgruntled worker stormed the newsroom here and killed seven people.

Some photos showed victims being wheeled out on stretchers. Another showed the body of a worker shot dead in the pressroom. His body was lying on the floor, and some newspapers had fallen on him. His arms were extended out in resemblance of crucifixion.

We were asked to choose which photo to run on the front page.

We can't run the dead-body photo, everyone said. People reading the newspaper over breakfast won't be able to finish their meal when they see that.

That's when it hit me. You know what? If someone sees the picture and can't finish their Cheerios, good. Let that indigestion spark debate about how easily the shooter was able to acquire the arsenal he used. Let it spark talk about how and why the shooter had fallen through the cracks of the social-work system and was off his medication.

The secret is that simple. Don't just write about something that happened. Write about what happened because it matters to someone. Write it in a way that shows why, how and to whom it matters -- even if the "it" is nothing more than a bicentennial parade.

Dare to teach. Dare to care.

Andrea Fanta is a senior at Belmont University. She was a Summer 2002 Scholar at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. Reach her at sfsanta@aol.com.

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