I d forgotten how much fun it can be, working as a general assignment reporter on a daily newspaper. Though I started my career as a reporter, I ve been a professor of journalism at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., since 1983. In my application to become a Fellow, I wrote that I d like to be a reporter at a quality, aggressive, community-oriented newspaper for the summer. The Morning Journal of Lorain is in the northern part of the county, and The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, also circulates here. The reporters at the Chronicle-Telegram hustle to beat the competition, and the editing and supervision by the metro desk are excellent.
Local coverage is the newspaper s focus.
I received an assignment the first morning that I arrived here. I interviewed a resident of Elyria United Methodist Village, Maxine McConnell, who just happened to be celebrating her 84th birthday that day. I m just frustrated because I m not going to be around to see where it goes. I used that quote in my lead. A nice couple, Bob and Eloise Stilgenbauer, both 81, also were sources for the Internet feature.