…actually, I really should change that headline to say, “Hello from The Anniston Star public safety beat, which includes three police departments, a sheriff’s office, a courthouse and an army installation the size of Manhattan.”
Does it sound exhausting?
It is.
Overwhelming?
Yep, check that one, too.
But here’s the thing about my first real journalism job. By “real” I mean full-time, post-college job. I wake up every day, and I am thrilled to come to work. As I told one of my Washington and Lee journalism professors in a recent Facebook message, Anniston is an awesome news town. Every day, I’m covering something new, something crazy, something I’ve never thought about before.
Just last Sunday, The Star ran a 2,800-word enterprise story I wrote about the area unsolved homicides and how local police here excel at clearing (solving) cases. But do you know what clearance really means and what factors play a part in it? I didn’t
Check out the story on my newly updated Clips page.
Yes, this job is exhausting, but – in the words of the crime reporter I recently replaced – it’s also exhilarating. Part of that is because each day on the job as a beat reporter is completely different from the day before it. Part of the holy-crap-this-is-so-cool feeling comes from working in a newsroom, surrounded by people who care about the community they are covering. Part of it comes from feeling like all those late nights reporting for the Rockbridge Report actually did prepare me for a “real” newsroom.
I never thought I’d end up in Alabama. I certainly never thought I’d end up Anniston, Alabama – covering drugs and unsolved homicides and army changes of command ceremonies. But at this point – more than two months in – I’m so glad I did.
It sounds cheesy, but I love my job. OK, ending dorkiness now…if possible.
