We were there so long that we bonded a bit, and the chatter eventually turned to the workloads we'd each been handling at our respective news outlets. All around, things are not good. No matter who I talked to, the story was the same: With fewer journalists in each newsroom, the remaining reporters are all handling more breaking news and dailies outside their beats, while project stories -- weekenders, longer page one offerings -- are falling by the wayside. Even when an important story pops up, it sometimes gets short shrift because of other duties.
Not that I like taking work home all the time, but I've often found myself editing video on weekends, driving out to interviews on my off hours ... just so a story gets the proper attention. For an example, check out that story I did on the fatal Toyota crashes in New England that some suspect are a result of sudden unintended acceleration.
So, I'll say up front that I'm still trying to figure out how to balance increasing reporting responsibilities with good journalism. What I do know is this: I can offer the multimedia bells and whistles on a story because of the skills that I've learned through NAHJ. I wouldn't know how to capture and edit audio and video if it wasn't for the lessons I got from NAHJ members Russell Contreras and Sara Fajardo, and the refresher courses I've received through regional training sessions such as the one that NAHJ Boston hosted recently.
This is the kind of training and support that we need to make sure all our members get, even if it's not in a formal setting. Look around your newsroom. Who has skills that you'd like to learn? Ask them to sit down with you. And offer to share what you know with others. That's how I learned to dig into public records. If you ask, I'll pass along that knowledge ...
We've all got more job responsibilities. Knowing where to look for help is the first step to getting a job done well and done quickly.
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