Summary

Many journalists, at some point in their careers, have had an “Ah-hah!” moment -- a sudden realization about the impact of their work or the work of their colleagues. Many of the journalists interviewed for the WNN report provided a single anecdote about an event that helped them understand and appreciate the power and purpose of journalism. We are sharing those epiphanies here.

Click on the photos to view each anecdote.

Interviews 41 - 60 of 117 BACK  1  2  3  4  5  6  NEXT Page size:  10 | 20 | 50
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Michael Becker

Web Editor, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Bozeman, MT

Michael Becker was convinced that citizen journalism was fated to be “the wave of the future” until he closely watched the coverage of a gas explosion in downtown Bozeman, Mont., in March 2009. Twitter feeds flowed through the day, but Becker says when he saw the next morning’s Bozeman Daily Chronicle he realized “it takes a newspaper – or at least paid journalists – to do the best job.”

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Nick Ehli

Managing Editor, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Bozeman, MT

Nick Ehli was a young reporter in Billings, Mont., when he decided to do a story about six-man football in the tiny community of Custer, Mont. He enjoyed writing the story, but was deeply touched when he learned how his reporting affected a tough rancher near that small Montana town.

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Mike Patrick

Managing Editor, Coeur d'Alene Press
Coeur d'Alene, ID

Mike Patrick was a young editor in his small, Illinois hometown when he learned that, even in familiar surroundings, a newspaperman can never “take anything for granted.”

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Jim Thompson

Publisher, Coeur d'Alene Press
Coeur d'Alene, ID

As a young man watching his father’s management of a daily newspaper, The Bonner County Daily Bee, in Sandpoint, Idaho, Jim Thompson learned how precious was the power of the press. Thompson watched his father abruptly fire two assistant editors who did not respect his wishes that his newspaper report “all sides of an issue.” Thompson saw newspapering in a new light after that incident.

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Kathy Best

Managing Editor (Creation), Seattle Times
Seattle, WA

Kathy Best tells the story of her decision, while at the Seattle PI, to re-investigate a sensational child abuse case in Wenatchee, Wash., after one of her colleagues said, “There’s something not right about this.” Best got flack in her newsroom for the assignment to recheck the story, but it paid off when the truth came out and the arrests were proven unwarranted.

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Suki Dardarian

Managing Editor (Curation), Seattle Times
Seattle, WA

Suki Dardarian sees “the power and purpose of journalism” in her newspaper every day. She cites a recent article, “Seniors for Sale” (included in The Times enterprise story collection), that reports on the mishandling of senior citizens in adult family homes. “Nobody knew about these situations,” says Dardarian.

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David Boardman

Executive Editor, Seattle Times
Seattle, WA

After a Vietnamese family suffocated during a Seattle cold snap when they used a charcoal burner to heat their home, David Boardman says The Times acted in a unique manner to protect the city’s non-English speaking public. Boardman says “it said to these new arrivals -- this is what a newspaper does!”

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Frank Blethen

Publisher, Seattle Times
Seattle, WA

Frank Blethen tells the stories of The Times’ coverage of Boeing 737 flaws and the misdeeds of Washington Congressman Brock Adams – two instances when pressure was put on the newspaper to constrain its coverage.

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Mark Zusman

Editor & Co-Owner, Willamette Week
Portland, OR

Mark Zusman says, “On a regular basis, at Willamette Week, I am reminded both of the responsibility of what we do and yet the power of what we do -- even in this small little corner of the world.” He provides several examples to verify his point.

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Richard Meeker

Publisher & Co-Owner, Willamette Week
Portland, OR

Richard Meeker was bitten by journalism while growing up in Washington, D.C., in the 1970s, hanging out with a schoolmate who was the child of Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post. Seeing the drama of Watergate played out in the Graham household, Meeker learned “what journalism was all about.” He sees that community service mission fulfilled in ways large and small at Willamette Week.

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Dennis Fujimoto

Photographer / Reporter / Columnist, The Garden Island
Lihue, HI

Dennis Fujimoto began his professional journalism career shooting photos for TV Guide. To conquer his timidity, a veteran reporter taught him to remember he was just as good as his subjects when he shot their pictures. Then he turned that around, and he learned to treat everyone he shot as if they were a “cover person” – an attitude that acknowledges the abiding impact of putting a picture in the paper.

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Richard Stein

Graphics / IT / Web Supervisor, The Garden Island
Lihue, HI

Richard Stein experienced a special dimension of journalism’s power in a rodeo ring in Pendleton, Ore. He was videotaping the annual rodeo for his newspaper’s website when he realized he was an eyewitness to once-in-a -lifetime events -- events he could share with his community through journalism.

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Nathan Eagle

Managing Editor, The Garden Island
Lihue, HI

Nathan Eagle learned one of his first key lessons about journalism when he wrote a story for his high school newspaper that shook up the administration. That lesson about the power of the press was reinforced, at his first professional newspaper job, when he discovered a prominent community deacon was neglecting his tenants. He told the story to the community and then learned how to hang tight, even when criticism flowed his way.

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Pedro Rojas

Executive Editor, La Opinión
Los Angeles, CA

Out of curiosity Pedro Rojas says he decided to attend the immigration rally in Los Angeles on May 1, 2006. He encountered hundreds of thousands of people, filling the streets of L.A. Only one La Opinión reporter and two photographers s were assigned to attend, but six reporters and four photographers showed up on their own. The newspaper knocked out a pre-printed section and replaced it with the story of the event. Rojas was moved by his staff’s initiative. “It was a testament to what we do,” says Rojas.

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Rob Curley

Senior Editor, Digital, The Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas, NV

Rob Curley was thrilled when a newspaper reader recognized him early in his career and asked him to talk. But he soon realized what concerned this reader was an issue he had not fully weighed in his concept of how the public engaged with his newspaper.

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Tom Gorman

Senior Editor, Print, The Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas, NV

Tom Gorman was working at The Los Angeles Times when a melancholy assignment brought home his newspaper’s power. “Journalism touches a lot of people’ lives,” says Gorman, a lesson he re-learned when six teenagers died in an auto crash.

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Brian Greenspun

Publisher & Editor, The Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas, NV

Brian Greenspun is reminded of the impact of his newspaper when new business owners come to Las Vegas and invariably visit the publishers of the city’s newspapers. He also sees his newspaper as a means for ordinary citizens to find a platform they might not otherwise attain. “People who have nowhere else to go,” says Greenspun.

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Tom Arviso Jr.

Publisher, The Navajo Times & CEO, Navajo Times Publishing Company
Window Rock, AZ

Tom Arviso, Jr. says, “The role of our newspaper was always questioned by our government.” Personal relationships also interfered. When Arviso’s friend, the Navajo Nation President, Albert Hale, misused tribal funds, Arviso had to make a tough call. But the facts his newspaper had verified persuaded him to publish the stories that drove Hale from office. And Arviso learned, “The truth always prevails.”

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Henry M. Lopez

Digital Development Manager & Project Manager, Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe, NM

Henry M. Lopez was writing an obituary for The New Mexican when he was reminded of the power of the press in a grandmother’s kitchen in Santa Fe.

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Rob Dean

Managing Editor, Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe, NM

Rob Dean used the power of his newspaper to focus public attention on an “achievement gap” in Santa Fe’s schools. The results were a clearer understanding of the issues at stake, a public forum, and some state legislation to begin to address this complicated problem.

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