A legacy byline

Bernie Casserly died this past week.
He gave me my first job - reporter for the Catholic Bulletin (now the Catholic Spirit) and allowed for my first "real" byline.
Bernie was also my mentor. I didn't realize that, however, until many, many years after I moved on to other communities and other jobs.
Bernie respected reporters, and had this belief that, no matter where they practiced their craft, writers should be paid a fair salary -union scale. You can image my surprise when I learned, as a rookie reporter, that my salary was to be the same as the reporters at the Pioneer Dispatch.
As a publisher, he was encouraging -always with a big smile- yet careful not to let you tread onto ground you weren't ready for. I started work at the Bulletin in June of 1969, and I didn't get my first byline until sometime in September. I hope it wasn't because I disappointed him with my writing. I like to think he wanted to make sure "I" felt comfortable with the responsibility that comes with having your name attached to your work.
Over the years, I ran into Bernie at conventions. I always made a point of greeting him (gently reminding him of who I am) and thanking him for giving me a break and a push on the path to a career in journalism. That alway put a smile on his face.
Bernie taught me to respect the craft of journalism and respect the people who choose it as a career.
I can hope to make as great a difference in a student's life as Bernie made in mine.

Homework - Make it worthwhile

Just a little about homework.
Now that I'm a student, I'm learning that homework can be irritating. I'm not referring to the actual task of doing the homework; it's when, as a student, I do the homework and nobody else in the class does, or if the teacher doesn't refer to it in class AT ALL, or gets behind and says "we'll go over today's homework the next time we meet." So what's the point of the homework! If it's just busy work, well sorry, I gotta lot of work to keep me busy.
So, let me put my teacher hat on and make a clarificiation ... when homework is assigned for the Brovald Sim class and the student is instructed to turn it in, that means turn it in! Only two students turned in the paper's contact information on Monday, as assigned. Let's see if we can get that number up to 100 percent this coming Monday.

It's a new semester

A new semester, a new group of interns, and I am excited to be part of their new experience as it unfolds over the course of the next few months.
There is so much information that Joni and I try to convey during the first class that the students seated around the table look like deer caught in the headlights by the end of our time together. I know they won't remember even half of the important points that we talked about ... but that's OK. I just need to remember to have patience, afterall this is all new to most of them.
I have added some new resource material on the class Web site under the category "story resources." Quite timely is a report about what new voters expect from election coverage.
Oh, if you're reading this, and are one of our students, I forgot one very important point:
Have fun with your internship!
I look forward to seeing you next week.

Tough as nails

Small paper not afraid of big issues

Next it was off to Isle.
Positioned on the southeastern shores of Mille Lacs Lake, it retains its small town environment while having a resort-community feel.
Driving up Main Street (yes, the second one of our tour, if you are counting) we stopped at a grocery store, and while there, picked up a copy of the Mille Lacs County Messenger – the next paper on our tour. We knew the office was located on Main Street, but had a hard time spotting it! We asked a woman who pointed out to us a building a half-block down, which was having an awning rebuilt. We took the occasion to ask her if she read the paper. "Oh yes," she said. "I have grandchildren in sports, so I'm always looking for their names and cutting out the articles."

Ahh, another satisfied consumer of refrigerator journalism!
We walked across the street to the office. And once again I was reminded of a lesson I learned early in my journalism career ... confirm your appointments!
It was by happenstance that editor Brett Larson was there! He'd forgotten about our meeting.
I tell interns that editors are very busy people. They don't intend to forget or put things onto the "I'll get to it" pile, but the mass of paper, e-mails and calls that come to the desk require tremendous management skills.
It was my bad.
Although I had e-mailed him a couple of days before, I should have called.
“What a great office,” I couldn't help but think has Brett gave us a tour of the recently renovated digs.
It wasn't lost in a no-name building like the Lakeshore Weekly in Minnetonka, and it wasn't showing its years like the Pine County Courier. It felt professional and very inviting, and on MAIN STREET.
The Mille Lac Messenger is locally owned "reporting the news of the Mille Lacs area since 1913," and has a sister publication, Aitkin Independent Age. Brett has had an on-again-off-again working relationship at the paper.
He is a college professor who pulls no punches with his coverage and columns. Take for example a recent one taking Nick Coleman (StarTribune columnist) to task over an interview he conducted with Larson about an alleged attack that shut down the paper's Web site.
I gotta think that besides good "refrigerator journalism," the Messenger readers look forward to the wealth of local columnists featured in the paper.
But what got my attention is the gutsy local no-holds coverage of local issues, mixed with features and interesting local news items. Larson described it this way: “We’re somewhere between the big city government watchdog and the community cheerleader.”
He said their readership is stable, and with some start-up community news Web sites, he is confident “We will remain the source of news.”
Larson's biggest challenge? Continuing to publish stories that you know are going to bring a strong reaction.”