Published: October 29, 2009 05:36 pm      

Magic of journalism continues through 10 years of stories, adventure

A little pink note is taped to the bottom of my computer monitor. It carries the phone number of a 90-year-old Mercer County man who called this summer simply to talk about training bomber pilots for action in World War II.

Journalists should be thankful for such wonderful story subjects unexpectedly coming their way. Unfortunately, at the time I was juggling four different stories. I returned his call, we had a nice talk, I hung up — and felt guilty about not getting the story.

Saturday will mark 10 years since I started working at the Bluefield Daily Telegraph — for my “second enlistment.” Many, many things have changed since Halloween 1999, but the demands and pleasures of the job remain.

The pleasures outweigh the demands. It’s still a thrill to get my newspaper in the morning, open it up at the kitchen table and see my byline on a good story. As far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with the media and daydreamed about being part of the magic. It still feels magical.

I’ve filed stories from the Wright Brothers National Monument in North Carolina, from the chilly football field on Wheeling Island and the flood-lit Georgia Dome in Atlanta. I filed a coherent report on Michael Vick’s arraignment from my brother’s home near Richmond, a couple of hours after my car was totaled when hit by an out-of-control driver.

I’ve interviewed one Nobel laureate and one Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, played softball with three Pulitzer prize winners, and listened to jokes from 20 or more official Grand Groundhog Watchers. One United States senator and a half-dozen legislators know me on a first-name basis. I’ve made mayors, college presidents and a pastor mad at me at one time or another.

When people have come up to me to thank me for covering a sports event, I always try to give credit to the athletes who have done the work. It’s simply my privilege to watch them and to describe the action. Of course, the free food in the press box is always appreciated.

Editorial cartoons — which I should do more of — create other magical moments. When a drawing and caption can crystallize an issue for a reader in a unique and revealing way, often with humor thrown in, I continue to get an indescribable feeling of satisfaction. It is a powerful medium for making powerful points.

And I am proud to be a part of a newspaper that serves this extended community we call Four Seasons Country. That service is most evident through institutions like the Community Christmas Tree and the Chicory Square concerts, but it has another dimension.

Time and again, I have witnessed my colleagues taking pains to get answers to difficult questions, fielding irate phone calls, standing up to powerful politicians and office-holders, and dealing with everyday judgment calls about delicate ethical dilemmas. They do this often with an eye on the clock, because the deadline is approaching and there’s no time to do five rewrites or wait for a mental writer’s block to clear.

Over the years, I have met inspirational coaches who had charisma and a down-to-earth eloquence, others whose actions declaim louder than their bland “coach-speak,” and still others who are just plain jerks. I believe that to be no different than any other profession.

When there are multiple games to cover, I find myself wishing that I could have cloned myself and be in three or four places at once. More often than not, one or both of my “days off” each week include running off to prepare a feature story, to cover a game or to write a column. I am very, very lucky to have an understanding wife.

My presence in the newsroom on my day off has become an inside joke. Our copy coordinator Sue Richmond often picks up on incoming calls and will transfer one to my desk with the disclaimer, “I know you’re not really here, but here you go.” Photographer Eric DiNovo will ask about the starting time of a game he’s to shoot and I’ll respond, “I don’t know. I’m not really here.”

Journalists are never really off the clock, though. Waiting with me in line for jury duty, a lady asked me if the paper could cover a story dear to her heart. In church, people will bend my ear about not getting their paper delivered on time. While my dog Thor and I are jogging around Athens, folks want to know my take on their favorite sports teams. At lunch they may ask me about mountaintop mining or the state legislature or the future of newspapers. (Yes, I fully believe newspapers still have a future.)

Daily, the story ideas keep coming. I’m grateful for them, though often they require patience by all parties involved, and rarely a suggestion just falls flat.

In 10 years, I’ve learned a lot about how to ask questions, and how not to ask questions. I’ve learned about human nature. I’ve learned about journalistic integrity and the corporate bottom line. I’ve learned how truth is seen very differently by different people in different circumstances. I’ve still got a lot to learn.

And through it all, the magic continues.

Tom Bone is a Daily Telegraph sports writer and editorial cartoonist. Contact him at tbone@bdtonline.com.