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.
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Wayne Snow
Managing Editor , The Opelika-Auburn News Opelika, AL
Wayne Snow was a bureau chief for UPI in Tallahassee when he first felt the chill of breaking a story worldwide. He learned: “You really, really better get it right.” |
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James W. (Jim) Rainey
Publisher , The Opelika-Auburn News Opelika, AL
Jim Rainey was a young reporter in western Tennessee when he discovered the AIDs epidemic had migrated to his small community. His articles shined light on the problem and alerted officials this problem warranted local remedies. |
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Joe DeLuca
Publisher Tampa edition and TampaBay.com, St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg, FL
Joe DeLuca was a college kid, working the late shift on the copy desk in Hartford, Conn., when the phone rang, and it woke him up to a metropolitan newspaper’s special place in its community. |
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Neil Brown
Editor and Vice President, St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg, FL
Neil Brown was a young reporter in Miami when a judge and his wife pleaded with him to continue coverage of their neighborhood’s dilemma, and the power of the news media was demonstrated for him. |
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Paul Tash
Chairman, CEO and Editor, St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg, FL
Paul Tash remembers a day when, “with a match and some kerosene,” a minister’s wife “sparked the interest” of The St. Petersburg Times. That incident led to a story that fully engaged the interest of The Times readership for many weeks thereafter. |
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Jim Alred
New Media Director, Rome News-Tribune Rome, GA
Jim Alred had been promoting the value of compelling news video for his newspaper’s website and had been receiving lukewarm interest, until the recording of a local performance by a local woman American Idol finalist grabbed everyone’s attention. |
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Charlotte Atkins
Editor-in-Chief, Rome News-Tribune Rome, GA
Charlotte Atkins made a decision during a week of sadness in her community to use her newspaper’s agenda-setting power to try to keep her community on an even keel. |
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Otis Raybon, Jr.
Publisher, Rome News-Tribune Rome, GA
The power and purpose of journalism became evident to Otis Raybon, Jr., after he wrote a story about a missionary to Peru and saw what happened. |
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Tom Clifford
Director of Digital Media, The Post and Courier Charleston, SC
Tom Clifford had often heard the classic complaint that newspapers “never print anything that’s good” about young people. When he decided to do just that: it paid off for him. |
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William (Bill) Hawkins
Publisher and Executive Editor, The Post and Courier Charleston, SC
The power and purpose of journalism became evident to Bill Hawkins when he was reporting for his high school newspaper, and those lessons have been reiterated many times during his journalism career. |