When I got my start in the newspaper business I worked with a salesman who, while he was quirky, he and I got along quite well. Occasionally, I’d hear rumblings from the other reporter that the salesman really didn’t understand what us editorial guys did and thought we were actually quite lazy.
Then, one year I happened to be covering the town’s Christmas celebration where one of his daughters was singing in the choir. He sat down next to me and we got talking. Once the event was underway, I was up and down and running all over the church taking photos and making notes from the first note to the final hymn. Afterwards, he was surprised at how hard I was working. He told me that he just assumed that I showed up, took a picture, made a note or two and left. It really opened his eyes to what a reporter’s life is actually like.
He’s not alone is this. From the outside, readers don’t see the early mornings and the late nights covering meetings and events that you have no say in their scheduling. Then after a full day of running around you still need to find the time to write it all up.
It’s not a job for those who want regular hours and a predictable list of daily tasks. But for those of us who choose to make it our careers, there aren’t too many things that we’d rather be doing with our lives.
Working in journalism is a great mix of being able to do something that is both exciting and important. Even on my most difficult days, when I’m mentally and physically exhausted, I always know that what I’m doing is important to the communities that I’m covering.
And that’s one heck of a bonus package.
I bring this up not to pat myself on the back, but rather to remind readers that the stories and photos that you see are the product of a lot of dedicated people. It’s through their hard work that you learn things about your communities that you’d never find anywhere else.
That’s why May 2 has been named World News Day to remind people all across the globe just how important news is to their daily lives.
Even if you didn’t choose to make news your life, just think how much poorer your life would be without it.
— Gordon Cameron is group managing editor for Hamilton Community News.
When I got my start in the newspaper business I worked with a salesman who, while he was quirky, he and I got along quite well. Occasionally, I’d hear rumblings from the other reporter that the salesman really didn’t understand what us editorial guys did and thought we were actually quite lazy.
Then, one year I happened to be covering the town’s Christmas celebration where one of his daughters was singing in the choir. He sat down next to me and we got talking. Once the event was underway, I was up and down and running all over the church taking photos and making notes from the first note to the final hymn. Afterwards, he was surprised at how hard I was working. He told me that he just assumed that I showed up, took a picture, made a note or two and left. It really opened his eyes to what a reporter’s life is actually like.
He’s not alone is this. From the outside, readers don’t see the early mornings and the late nights covering meetings and events that you have no say in their scheduling. Then after a full day of running around you still need to find the time to write it all up.
It’s not a job for those who want regular hours and a predictable list of daily tasks. But for those of us who choose to make it our careers, there aren’t too many things that we’d rather be doing with our lives.
Working in journalism is a great mix of being able to do something that is both exciting and important. Even on my most difficult days, when I’m mentally and physically exhausted, I always know that what I’m doing is important to the communities that I’m covering.
And that’s one heck of a bonus package.
I bring this up not to pat myself on the back, but rather to remind readers that the stories and photos that you see are the product of a lot of dedicated people. It’s through their hard work that you learn things about your communities that you’d never find anywhere else.
That’s why May 2 has been named World News Day to remind people all across the globe just how important news is to their daily lives.
Even if you didn’t choose to make news your life, just think how much poorer your life would be without it.
— Gordon Cameron is group managing editor for Hamilton Community News.
When I got my start in the newspaper business I worked with a salesman who, while he was quirky, he and I got along quite well. Occasionally, I’d hear rumblings from the other reporter that the salesman really didn’t understand what us editorial guys did and thought we were actually quite lazy.
Then, one year I happened to be covering the town’s Christmas celebration where one of his daughters was singing in the choir. He sat down next to me and we got talking. Once the event was underway, I was up and down and running all over the church taking photos and making notes from the first note to the final hymn. Afterwards, he was surprised at how hard I was working. He told me that he just assumed that I showed up, took a picture, made a note or two and left. It really opened his eyes to what a reporter’s life is actually like.
He’s not alone is this. From the outside, readers don’t see the early mornings and the late nights covering meetings and events that you have no say in their scheduling. Then after a full day of running around you still need to find the time to write it all up.
It’s not a job for those who want regular hours and a predictable list of daily tasks. But for those of us who choose to make it our careers, there aren’t too many things that we’d rather be doing with our lives.
Working in journalism is a great mix of being able to do something that is both exciting and important. Even on my most difficult days, when I’m mentally and physically exhausted, I always know that what I’m doing is important to the communities that I’m covering.
And that’s one heck of a bonus package.
I bring this up not to pat myself on the back, but rather to remind readers that the stories and photos that you see are the product of a lot of dedicated people. It’s through their hard work that you learn things about your communities that you’d never find anywhere else.
That’s why May 2 has been named World News Day to remind people all across the globe just how important news is to their daily lives.
Even if you didn’t choose to make news your life, just think how much poorer your life would be without it.
— Gordon Cameron is group managing editor for Hamilton Community News.