| My time in Sacramento was a bang
Author: Lori Bergen
Published: December 03, 1998
Last Updated: May 20, 1999
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Institute for Journalism
Excellence
My summer as an ASNE fellow at the Bee was the most fun — and best dose
of reality — I’ve had in a long time.
For example: My weekend section cover story that rated “safe and sane”
fireworks earned me minor celebrity status in some Sacramento circles.
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Radio talk shows debated the merits of “a girl” rating anything that blows
up.
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Fireworks stands across Sacramento area sold out of “The Heat,” “Hornet
Fountain” and “Lady Bugs” — everything that earned the “Awesome!!!” rating
from our pyrotechnic expert.
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Customers used my story as a shopping list. For five days I could drive
past parking lots all over town and see people clustered around fireworks
stands, gripping tattered copies of my story.
I recounted this experience to students in my news and feature writing
class last week to illustrate several truths I had almost forgotten about
journalism.
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It’s fun! There is sheer joy in doing journalism, and it can be a pleasure
to write for a newspaper. You’ll meet interesting people, like our expert
who blows things up for a living. You’ll see amazing things, like a secret
warehouse piled floor to ceiling with shipments of fireworks. And you’ll
enjoy special privileges, like getting permission from the fire marshal
to shoot off fireworks before the law allows.
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It’s scary! The utter terror of responsibility you assume when you take
a position, make an evaluation, extend an opinion or report one fact over
another is humbling. People will read what you write, and they will trust
it until proven otherwise.
Don’t disappoint them.
They will act on what you report, and you owe them nothing less than
the most accurate and fair account possible, be it a feature or hard news
story.
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It’s a group effort! Even though a byline will credit you, the story package
represents a collective of editors, copy editors, photographers, graphics
designers and sources who may ultimately contribute more than you do.
“My” fireworks story was an assistant features editor’s brilliant idea,
and I relied heavily on material provided by a PR representative for the
California fireworks industry, who provided access to people, statistics
and background that made my job that much easier.
I felt secure in the fact that my copy would drop through a safety net
with very tiny holes and undergo scrupulous editing — one of the great
pleasures of writing this summer.
The reporters and editors I met are some of the smartest and creative
people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with — committed to quality in
their work and aware of their responsibilities.
I’m grateful for what I learned in the Bee newsroom — taking your work
seriously, yet having fun while you’re at it. It will make my job in the
classroom easier.
Bergen is assistant professor at Kansas State University’s journalism
school in Manhattan.
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