9.06.2005

Loyalty in journalism

In the last couple days, some fascinating stories have started appearing about the plight and perseverance of The New Orleans Times-Picayune staff …

… And as a fellow journalist, I can’t help but read each of these stories and think I’d be doing the same thing. Granted none of my experiences have come close to the hell and pride the Picayune staff must’ve felt this last week, but their stories stir up my memories of going for a day without eating to cover the big breaking story, or getting just five hours of sleep during a five-day span of putting together a Homecoming edition of our college newspaper (Yes, just one hour of sleep each day that week, and by the time it was over my eyes had been open for so long it actually hurt to close them. To this day, in some strange way, it remains perhaps one of the most amazing personal feats of my lifetime accomplishments.)

During college, I also have fond memories of gutting all of our half-finished newspaper and starting the week’s edition from scratch amid the breaking news of the 9/11 attacks -- and the amazing teamwork that came out of it -- and I can only imagine what it must’ve been like to cover the Utica tornado had I not left my post at the News Tribune a couple months earlier …

Yes, the loyalty a journalist has for his publication can be an amazing thing …

Enjoy …
aFrom the Los Angeles Times
aFrom The New York Times (if you can't get in try the same story at the Wilmington, N.C., Star)
aFrom The International Herald Tribune

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