I was talking with a young person recently who asked me about my career in journalism, and more specifically, what about it I was most proud of.
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The young person is a bit of an idealist, and his notion of newspaper journalism and what goals young reporters should set are influenced by big, famous investigative efforts like Watergate. He wanted to know if there were any stories like that I’d written and was proud of.
Yes, I said, I’ve either written or edited hundreds of stories about local corruption, or politics, or government or business that had an impact – certainly not as big as Watergate – but those aren’t the stories I’m most proud of.
"Then what are you proud of?" he asked.
I told him I was proud of a story I wrote almost 20 years ago about a woman who was a single mother trying to get off welfare and get her college degree so she could support her family. After that story was printed, the community where I was living came forward to help her out. As a result, she was able to get the help she needed at that moment to put her life on track. Last I heard, she was a registered nurse, owned a home, and her kids were in high school.
That’s a story I’m proud of, I said. And when I finally leave this profession, it will be stories like that I’ll take with me in memory as the best work I’ve ever done. That story, and many others I’ve had a hand in over 30 years, made a difference and changed a small part of the world for the better. At least I hope that’s true.
When you come right down to it, that’s why many people stay in the profession of newspapering. It certainly isn’t for the money, which is low. It’s because it’s a place where they can make a difference.
I remember a seminar I took part in a few years ago where the speaker looked out over the crowd of young journalists and asked, "Who here believes they can change the world?"
A couple of hands went up, but most of the young people were shaking their heads ‘no. ‘ "Then you need to get up and leave right now," the speaker said. "Because this is a profession where you can change the world if you work at it. If you don’t believe that, then you ought to look for another career."
In my years at Greater Media Newspapers, it’s been my honor to work with dozens of journalists who share my idealism and desire to change the world. I believe we’ve written hundreds of stories about events organized to help people in need that made a difference. Those stories solved problems, or at least helped. They changed the world for the better.
But that would not have been possible had there not been hundreds of residents in our communities, outside the world of journalism, who also believed they could change the world.
I am continually amazed at the depth of human compassion and the spirit of giving evidenced by the citizens of this state. I am humbled by their desire to lend a helping hand, or open their checkbooks, to those who need it most.
And if you’re looking for a perfect example, look no further than the recent Guns and Hoses softball game in East Brunswick that raised over $19,000 to benefit a local family. If you don’t receive the Sentinel that covers East Brunswick, you can read the whole story on our Web site, www.gmnews. com, but here’s a nutshell version:
The annual charity softball game pits East Brunswick police officers against volunteer firefighters and Rescue Squadmembers in a benefit game to raise money for a local family in need. The cops always slaughter the firefighters (the score was 18- 1 at the end of the first inning), but every year the event raises more and more money through donations from individuals and businesses that contribute cash and prizes.
The spirit of giving is contagious. This year, the winner of the 50/50 took the $2,500 prize and put it right back into the kitty. That’s community spirit at its best.
Afew weeks ago the Sentinel ran a story written by managing editor Brian Donahue previewing the event and letting readers know about the recipients of the money that would be raised. This year, that money was raised to help 6-year-old Brett Fegel, who is fighting brain cancer and who has endured more than 15 surgeries in the past nine months, and his father, Fred, who has battled cancer for two years.
Brett’s mother, Kristen Fegel, works as a pharmacy technician and provides the family with limited health insurance coverage. But Fred is unemployed as he helps care for his son, spending most days at his bedside. Meanwhile, the health care bills continue to rise. Both the Fegel family and organizers of the event credited the newspaper coverage with making the benefit more successful. And that is something that Brian Donahue, and all of Greater Media, can be proud of. But the real credit should go to the people who actually made it happen – the good neighbors who organized or attended the event and donated money or prizes, the firefighters and rescue personnel who came out on their day off to play softball for a good cause.
It’s stories like this that make it all worthwhile, and they happen every week in all of our Central Jersey communities. It’s stories like this we can all be proud of.
It’s stories like this that changed our small corner of the world. • • • As I said, we like to help out, even if we don’t always fully understand the cause. Recently, for example, we received a press release from the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey looking for volunteers to help with the group’s summer bat count.
That’s right, they want people to help them count bats, which the group says are very important to our ecosystem but which are declining in population around here and need to be protected. Volunteers are asked to find a place where bats roost during the day, then visit it twice during the summer to see how many bats fly out just before sunset. The volunteers will make a data sheet, which will be returned to the foundation for research purposes.
So if you’re looking for something to do on a few of these summer evenings, why not count some bats? I can’t think of anything more romantic, can you?
To participate, you can e-mail Maria Grace at maria.grace@conservewildlifenj.org or call 609-984-0621.
Gregory Bean is executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at gbean@gmnews.com.