By Kathryn Howell
Exciting, unbelievable at times, sometimes very sad. The past few months in my new job, police reporter for The Tribune, have been a whirlwind of activity, to say the least. In my very first days, I covered some bizarre things – from skull bongs to burglaries to stabbings to carjackings. I've had the opportunity to see how the “big guys” work – the camera crews from the Big 4 news stations. Amazing thing about the camera operators. At one news conference, I asked a “camera guy”, “why are we here, again?” My meaning was, why do you think that this (particular incident) is news. The camera guy answered in a somewhat bored tone, “we're here because Channel so-and-so got here first.”
Ah ha! My first lesson in what makes something newsworthy, from an insiders point of view! He, of course, was correct. My job is to find out what is happening in our community and report it to you. Being somewhat naive when I first started, I really had never given much thought about how newspapers get their stories. Many leads, I know, are phoned in – particularly when community events are involved. But for what we call “hard” news stories, the ones that involve murders, robberies, or drug busts, I have to rely on the community, for the most part, in letting me know what they hear or see! The police, in general, don't call reporters when crime happens. The second week into my job, I went to Radio Shack and bought a scanner, which my good friend programmed for me. I take it everywhere that I can, and have picked up some amazing things – but I can't have it on all of the time. That's why I rely on community involvement for my reporting.
A few days ago, my best friend asked me what the most important thing that I have learned from this job. My answer was simple. I have gained an enormous amount of respect for the law enforcement officers that put their lives on the line everyday to keep us safe. I hear what they do and the frightening situations that they get involved in on my scanner all of the time. They are doing their job, yes, but the officers that I have met have a deep, personal commitment to make a difference – and that, is from an insiders view.
