Sharing the joys of journalism
I got to get excited about journalism today. It was invigorating, in the midst of what sometimes can become an almost routine job, to remember who we are and why we do what we do.
A small group of high school students, potential young journalists, from Zavalla, came to tour The Enterprise. A fair number of groups visit for tours of the newspaper. I generally lead tours for those with any serious journalistic interest. I still do a few church groups, Scout groups, and elementary school classes, but if they want to talk journalism – I’m usually the guide.
This group of inquisitive young people showed up, not only with a positive attitude and a generous dose of enthusiasm, but with a news tip as well.
On their way to our building, they passed the scene of a man apparently attempting suicide on bridge along Eastex Freeway. They were anxious to share that information with me and excited when I used my cell phone to call the third-floor newsroom, from the first floor conference room of our building.
We already had the story, in fact reporter Emily Guevara was already back from the scene with a video. But it gave them a sense of participation and the opportunity to see how quickly news that’s happening becomes news on our Web page.
Jeremy Parker of our on-line department even showed them the unedited video before he posted it on BeaumontEnterprise.com
I had the chance to share with these students, the journey from film, photo chemistry and printed pictures to digital photography and computerized images; from the typewriter and scanner-ready copy to complete pagination and direct-to-negative production; and from newspaper clippings in file folders to an on-line archive of all our stories.
I got to tell them about journalistic principles and ethics – like the fact that we don’t generally cover suicide attempts, unless they are very public like the one Friday morning.
And I shared a bit about what it’s like to observe and participate in the documentation of today’s events that, tomorrow will become part of history.
Along the way I got to feel good about what we, at The Enterprise, do every day.
It was a good feeling and a good day.
A small group of high school students, potential young journalists, from Zavalla, came to tour The Enterprise. A fair number of groups visit for tours of the newspaper. I generally lead tours for those with any serious journalistic interest. I still do a few church groups, Scout groups, and elementary school classes, but if they want to talk journalism – I’m usually the guide.
This group of inquisitive young people showed up, not only with a positive attitude and a generous dose of enthusiasm, but with a news tip as well.
On their way to our building, they passed the scene of a man apparently attempting suicide on bridge along Eastex Freeway. They were anxious to share that information with me and excited when I used my cell phone to call the third-floor newsroom, from the first floor conference room of our building.
We already had the story, in fact reporter Emily Guevara was already back from the scene with a video. But it gave them a sense of participation and the opportunity to see how quickly news that’s happening becomes news on our Web page.
Jeremy Parker of our on-line department even showed them the unedited video before he posted it on BeaumontEnterprise.com
I had the chance to share with these students, the journey from film, photo chemistry and printed pictures to digital photography and computerized images; from the typewriter and scanner-ready copy to complete pagination and direct-to-negative production; and from newspaper clippings in file folders to an on-line archive of all our stories.
I got to tell them about journalistic principles and ethics – like the fact that we don’t generally cover suicide attempts, unless they are very public like the one Friday morning.
And I shared a bit about what it’s like to observe and participate in the documentation of today’s events that, tomorrow will become part of history.
Along the way I got to feel good about what we, at The Enterprise, do every day.
It was a good feeling and a good day.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 2:12 PM
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