After two years of having the freedom to assign myself only what I deemed the most important articles for the UMaine student newspaper, I've been thrown back to the "little fish" status and do not have the luxury of gracing page A1 on a twice-weekly basis.
Now I'm either buried in the state section or making the cover of a weekly. In that, I get the lowly, just above intern-status assignments. Super local. I no longer choose my assignments. Instead of rushing to Augusta for a 21-hour workday watching a legislative session debating gay rights, I talk to kids at skate parks, speak with the elderly and children with autism. The small stuff.
What I'm reminded of is how easy it can be to take 20 plus hours of substantive information and throw a story on page one. What isn't as easy is making a couple doxen kids in skinny jeans who gathered to rally against drugs interesting.
What's more is that I'm reminded how much more difficult, and satisfying, it can be to be given a crappy assignment and come out with something decent -- opposed to being given something wonderful and come out with something decent. It's oddly gratifying.
Now I'm either buried in the state section or making the cover of a weekly. In that, I get the lowly, just above intern-status assignments. Super local. I no longer choose my assignments. Instead of rushing to Augusta for a 21-hour workday watching a legislative session debating gay rights, I talk to kids at skate parks, speak with the elderly and children with autism. The small stuff.
What I'm reminded of is how easy it can be to take 20 plus hours of substantive information and throw a story on page one. What isn't as easy is making a couple doxen kids in skinny jeans who gathered to rally against drugs interesting.
What's more is that I'm reminded how much more difficult, and satisfying, it can be to be given a crappy assignment and come out with something decent -- opposed to being given something wonderful and come out with something decent. It's oddly gratifying.
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