Safety for journalists has taken on a renewed sense of importance as newsrooms grapple with the convergence of hostility toward those in the field and systemic racism that pervades even the most revered journalistic institutions. It seems journalists have more reason than ever to be allies for each other as the industry confronts itself while serving conflicted communities.
This program will be moderated by Jill Geisler, who will join Alex Marquardt, Sarah Matthews, Abby Phillip, and Michael Santiago to discuss “Journalists in peril: Creating a safer, equitable future together,” drawing on their experiences at CNN, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and their knowledge of journalism, allyship and equity.
Registration is open for this program, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020.
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The newspaper — located in State College, Pennsylvania — is the hometown media outlet for Pennsylvania State University. Since students returned to campus on Aug. 24, McAllister and her team have reported on the rising COVID-19 case numbers and other school news impacting the greater community.
The Journalism Institute reached out to McAllister to learn more about education reporting in a college town during coronavirus.
Can you share what education reporting looks like right now for the Centre Daily Times?
McAllister: Education reporting has been hectic at the Centre Daily Times since the start of the pandemic, but it became nonstop once Penn State’s campus reopened and students returned. Town-gown relations have always been an important coverage area for us, but it’s never been more critical to our readers, as the return of students has meant a drastic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in our county. We see reporting on those numbers and putting them into context as public service journalism. At the same time, there’s a need to hold leaders accountable for their decisions, explore the impact of remote learning on students, faculty and staff, and look ahead toward the future.
That’s also often meant an all-hands-on-deck approach to education reporting with our small staff. Just like COVID-19 has been everyone’s beat over the past six months, all of our reporters have played a role in reporting on education and its broad implications.
How are you handling covering the virus while fewer students are in person?
McAllister: Using social media as a tool to identify potential stories and sources has grown in importance as walking through campus to talk to people becomes less of an option. Various Zoom conference calls and town halls have also led to sources to follow up with and stories to pursue. And like any other situation, more reporting leads to more trust and sources coming forward. And our journalists have produced hundreds of education stories over the past months.
We’re still touching base with numerous sources every day. Despite a decrease in face-to-face interactions, our reporters have found it hasn’t been difficult to unearth information; the trickier part has been prioritizing everything and moving swiftly before a story becomes outdated. Reporter Josh Moyer was working on a story about experts’ thoughts on the need for a more updated Penn State case dashboard, for example, and then the dashboard became bi-weekly. With the ever-changing news climate right now, it has made our jobs more challenging but has also placed an increased emphasis on having the pulse of the community.
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Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity, Loyola University Chicago
Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership
One of the first things newly promoted managers realize is how little control they have of their time. They’re managing up, down and sideways, and all of those connections (bosses, staff and management colleagues) demand attention — some in planned meetings, most on the fly. The next thing they realize is that they no longer have the satisfaction of creating something single-handedly, like the great interviews, stories, images, designs or programs they personally produced on the front line. But in time, good managers discover another source of fulfillment, one that’s well worth their time: the development of others.
“I’m really pleased when a reporter I’m working with finds that great source, asks great questions, and explains a tough topic with the ease of a friend when I know she has developed those skills at least partly from my mentoring.” — Bob Zaltsberg, retired editor, Bloomington Herald-Tribune
“The ability to have more impact, more change, result from our collective work.” — Amy Pyle, National Investigations Editor at USA Today
“What makes me happy as a manager? The essential joy of working with a group of talented people and enjoying the practice of being a coach to help them reach their potential in the practice of the craft. I’ve always thought this Steve Jobs quote captured it well: ‘What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.’ ” — Kirk Varner, News Director, KSTP-TV, Minneapolis
“I enjoy giving my colleagues room for growth and watching their success.” — Damian Balinowski, Manager, Internal Communications at Hawaiian Airlines
“What makes me happy is watching people grow. Create the conditions to empower your team and you cannot go wrong. Assign tasks based on motivations (you taught me that, Jill) and people will thrive! Delegation, which many managers dislike, is a breeze when you align tasks to interests and talents.” — Colleen Comeau, Human Resources Director, New Brunswick Community Colleges, Canada
“…it’s about helping the people I lead achieve success. What I want is to help them earn promotions, find balance, explore new opportunities, and take on more challenging projects, whatever it is they’re striving for in their own career. I find complete joy in seeing others reach their goals and knowing I helped get them there.” — Richelle Hoenes, Director, Corporate Communications at AdventHealth West Florida Division
“Simply, watching people succeed.” —Ed Tobias, retired news coverage and crisis planning manager at the Associated Press
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“Reach out to your local university to find out if they have trauma, grief or PTSD experts who would be willing to visit your newsroom virtually. The sessions can include information about reporting on difficult topics, self-care, resilience, and peer support.
“The main session can be a 15-minute group session about experiencing trauma, and then have counselors in the newsroom for a few hours, available to talk to our newsroom one-on-one when they were available.”
Covering the ongoing, collective trauma of communities takes its toll on the journalists doing the work. Above is an excerpt from the Journalists Covering Trauma Facebook group’s tip sheet, a compilation of advice and resources from its more than 800 members on coping with mass tragedies such as the pandemic. Thanks to group administrator Naseem Miller of the Orlando Sentinel for publishing permission.
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In a departure from her typical beat as a New York Times journalist, Sarah Maslin Nir has turned her reporter’s eye on herself in her new book, “Horse Crazy, the story of a woman and a world in love with an animal” which upacks her and others’ obsession with horses. Nir began riding horses as a two-year-old but it wasn’t until she started writing a memoir about her passion that she realized the role they played in helping her heal from trauma.
Registration is open now for this free online program, which will be held on Sept. 21, from 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Nir will be in conversation with Rukmini Callimachi, a fellow New York Times journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and horse lover. They will discuss:
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This newsletter is written & edited by the National Press Club Journalism Institute staff: Beth Francesco, Holly Butcher Grant, and Julie Moos. Send us your questions and suggestions for topics to cover.
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