Web tools in action: How I almost localized a story about Thomas Kinkade

As a fresh reporter at a smaller newspaper, it’s not always possible or feasible to get big scoops. Small papers also have a limited area of interest, so it doesn’t make sense to write about something hundreds of miles away from the paper’s location. But that doesn’t mean reporters at smaller papers shouldn’t pay attention to nearby papers.The Sacramento Bee's story on famed painter Thomas Kinkade's arrest.

Here’s a short story about how to take small tidbits from a broader story and (almost) localize them. The story didn’t turn into anything, but perhaps something can be learned from the process.

Recently, famed painter Thomas Kinkade was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. At first blush, this is likely nothing but fodder for good water-cooler talk. But the Sacramento Bee story linked above contains a brief mention of his financial troubles, including this passage:

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: how to | 2 Comments

Reflections on covering my first real election night

Outside one of the election night parties I covered on June 8, 2010.I was told there would be pizza.

Coincidentally, I had a slice of pizza for lunch on the day of California’s June 2010 primary election. Maybe some part of my subconscious was telling me that I couldn’t really do my job without some kind of election-night day pizza. There was no newsroom party at our small, twice-weekly newspaper. Instead of a whole flock of staff members staying at the office late into the night, we had two reporters (myself and my editor) and two photographers bouncing around the two prominent races that were relevant to our area (a county supervisor race and a sheriff contest). I was assigned to the sheriff race, which I had been covering closely.

I would spend the night at two very different campaign parties – one at an upscale bar in midtown Sacramento, and another in the ballroom of a local hotel. I arrived at the first party (the upscale one) a short while after it was scheduled to start, and the candidate was nowhere in sight. I chatted with our photographer for a bit, and noticed there were at least four TV news vans and a photographer from the local metro daily.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: firsts | No Comments