Opinion

A reporter says goodbye, but it is ever really over for a reporter?

By JEFF EPSTEIN
Thursday is my last day working for the Eagle Times. I’m leaving because I have accepted a journalism position elsewhere.

I’ve never written a “Reporter’s Notebook” before. Some reporters write columns and essays, others don’t. I am generally not comfortable writing commentary at the same time I am working as a reporter, lest people conflate or misconstrue the two roles. 

But I can’t leave without saying goodbye. I want to thank everyone I have worked with, even those who spoke to a reporter reluctantly. While I reported stories in various places on both sides of the river, I primarily covered four towns in Vermont: Windsor, West Windsor, Weathersfield, and Springfield.

Having never lived in Vermont, my perspective was that of the outsider. I happen to think that is useful for communities where people have generally known their neighbors for years. My job is not to make friends, but to try to hold up a mirror that reflects, as best as I can, the reality of what is happening. 

Given that, I am most appreciative of the professionalism with which elected officials and town managers treated me. The strongest impression I have is that these people take pride in their work and want very much to help the towns where they serve. It troubles me that some voters either take their town workers for granted or write them off as useless because they do not understand what they do.

Some places I worked had not seen a news reporter cover their meetings for a long time, so my turning up was a bit of a surprise. But the reporting will go on: my editor tells me there will be a new face to replace me on the beat, so our commitment at the Eagle Times to inform our readers continues.

Unlike a weekly paper, a daily such as the Eagle Times has to be created from scratch every single day. The function of a daily newspaper is often misunderstood. While it would be nice to provide a comprehensive and complete report of every municipal meeting with total accuracy, that usually is not realistic. The hardest deadline is that of the printer. Production and editorial deadlines therefore back up accordingly.

When I cover a government night meeting, I usually have to leave well before the end of it in order to write my story, which takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. The story, along with any photos I took, gets transmitted to the editor’s desk via the internet. The editor only has time to do light editing before adding it to the page being composed. Page composition is completed in another office and added to other pages before the paper is locked down for the printer.

On this end, therefore, the goal is only to hit the highlights, the items of greatest interest: the budget, the big program, and in Weathersfield, of course, the prospect of a paid municipal fire department. It is an unofficial, quick summary, much as you might hear from a friend who attended the meeting (and took notes). It is the beginning of a reader’s journey, not the end.

Armed with that information, it is easier for the reader to then go through the meeting video or the official minutes with a sense of what to look for and where to find answers to questions. That’s also where to find the routine items of a particular interest, such as liquor licenses and permits. (Reporters rarely write about those unless there is something unusual or newsworthy about them.)

Some stories are written later from the meeting video, including the items discussed after I left, or meetings I could not attend in the first place. (I can only be in one place at a time, and for some reason the first and second Mondays are especially popular meeting times.)

Do mistakes happen sometimes? Yes, of course, and I don’t like it any better than you do, but it can happen. We do sometimes correct a story in the online edition if we got something wrong. Keep in mind, however, that your disagreement with something does not necessarily qualify it as “something wrong.”

Despite these reporting efforts, I encourage you to not rely on media alone. Try to go to at least a few meetings in person. For one thing, the boards want to see you. They want to watch you watching them so they know you care.

Nowhere was that more true than in Weathersfield. Despite my efforts to be impartial regarding the fire department issue, I leave with a deep respect for the integrity of Town Manager Ed Morris and select board chair Kelly Murphy, a woman of strong opinions who nevertheless rose above herself to act as a facilitator. They worked hard, as did the rest of the select board, to pull concerns and information from both departments and from the voters. They don’t know the opinions of the voters who never showed up, but they were able to answer the questions of those who did. 

Pro tip: don’t be afraid to ask questions of your municipal officials. They are there to listen to you. Just remember, you need to listen to them, too. They are elected or paid to run the town and usually know more about it than you do.

And don’t be afraid of us in the press, either. Most of us work with a sense of public service and you will almost always do better explaining your position to a reporter and taking your chances than to remain silent. No, you cannot control the newspaper and you may disagree with the resulting story, but as least your contribution will be added to the mix. Get in the game!

I have learned so much from all of you. I am so grateful to have spent time in your beautiful communities and, I hope, helped you understand what is happening in town. I’ll come back to hike the trails when mud season is over. (Is it ever over for a reporter?)

 

Jeff Epstein was the Vermont reporter for the Eagle Times and his final article for us appears on today’s front page.

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