A new face on the beat for TP
If you happen to take a glance to my left, you’ll see a fresh new face occupying this page. That would be Brandon Lea, a relatively recent Colby High graduate.
He’s going to be helping me for the foreseeable future cover events and stories for the Tribune-Phonograph. At the moment, I’m just calling him an intern, for lack of anything better. Though “aspiring journalist” might be the more apt description.
Brandon is relatively new to the field of journalism, so you’ll have to give him a bit of a free pass. Not everyone who comes into this field studied the craft in college, and people find themselves in this profession in all manner of ways.
Take yours truly for instance. I was always more keen to teach, and had planned on taking history in college and pursuing my docotorate in the hopes that one day new minds might address me as Professor Pattermann, or Dr. Ross.
Alas, it was not meant to be. The Great Recession hit, and it was everything a man or woman could do to find a job, pay the bills, keep a roof over one’s head and have some food on the table.
I came into journalism out of necessity. I had no passion for it when I first came into it. It was simply a means to an end, a way to put some distance between myself and poverty.
Then a funny thing happened, I found myself enjoying journalism, enjoying the challenge of coming up with compelling stories and shedding light on unsung heroes or forgotten peoples. In short, I realized this was my calling.
Now, I’m not saying the same will be true of Brandon. In fact, it might not. But I ask that those of you who see him be friendly, introduce yourselves to him and give him the benefit of the doubt.
You see, I was lucky when I came here four and a half years ago. I at least had written a few years for my university’s newspaper when I was an undergraduate at Wisconsin. I already had five years under my belt at my previous paper when I cam here.
Just so, I felt it very hard to come here and write and to tell good stories. Part of that was because I was new on the job, and part of it was because I was still rough in so many ways. I knew sports, but covering a good news story was a challenge. It still is., In looking at Brandon’s first tentative steps into journalism, I am reminded of my own. Only now I have the luxury of teaching someone the craft, and guiding them along. I hope Brandon enjoys his time with the paper, and I hope he learns something not just about journalism but about himself along the way.
Us reporters tell people’s stories for a living, but we also see our own story unfold. My path as a journalist took me here, and I am eager to see where Brandon’s path takes him.
Only he can figure that out, but the journey is made a lot easier with a little bit of encouragement and a warm, friendly smile.
M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS
ROSS PATTERMANN R EPORTER
