In journalism, sometimes, it pays to show up
As a journalist, I get my article ideas from all kinds of places - press releases, newsletters, Facebook event listings, tweets, meeting agendas, even old-fashioned tips. But, every once in a while, I find out about something newsworthy simply because I happened to be at the right place and the right time.
The big example of that was my first piece about the Hatchery, the food business incubator that eventually opened in the gentrifying East Garfield Park neighborhood. This was back in November 2016, when I was fired by the Niles Bugle and still trying to figure out how to fill the resulting enormous hole in my budget, while also trying to do as much work as possible for Austin Weekly News. I saw an ambiguously worded item on the agenda of the Chicago City Council's Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards about a pretty large parcel next to the Kedzie/Lake 'L" station. I only found out that it was a business incubator because I decided to attend the meeting and hear the applicants' presentation. And that allowed me to follow up to find out more.
[A paragraph-long aside](As an aside, the now-co-owners of the Hatchery were deeply Not Amused when I started asking those questions, because they were "not ready to reveal the project," and a not-so-small part of me wanted to just point out that they talked about the project during a freaking public meeting and, theoretically speaking, anyone with a phone could have livestreamed their entire presentation. I get wanting to spin the whole thing in the most PR-friendly possible, but this became public matter the moment it was discussed at a public meeting that literally anyone can attend. And after a kid tried to rob me with a toy gun while I was interviewing one of the people involved, well, I was even less inclined to put any stock in their protests. But I digress>
More recently, back in May, I attended the Metra Board of Directors meeting to hear about whether the commuter rail transit agency should adopt a new policy for adding and removing stations. While the broad wound up postponing the discussion indefinitely, because I was already there, I was able to hear about some plans for improving the weekend service. And when I attended an August meeting to follow up on that, I found out about a South Side station improvement project that I've never heard of before (from what, btw, used to be vg36's neck of the woods).
When, a few days later, I saw Block Club Chicago do their own, more thorough piece on the aforementioned station, it was gratifying that they acknowledged that I broke the story first (scroll down a few paragraphs). But it also occurred to me that I could have just as easily broke the story themselves if they attended the meeting.
Chicago Sun-Times used to have a transportation reporter who attended Metra meetings pretty regularly. Chicago Tribune has a transportation reporter, but I almost never see her at transit-related meetings. And at a lot of committee and commission meetings, I occasionally see Sun-Times and Chicago Reader folks, but usually, it's just me and the Documenters.
On the other hand, I will be the first to acknowledge that showing up to meetings is something of a gamble. Sometimes, what seems promising doesn't turn out to be as promising, or gets postponed. Sometimes, you find something that you think is promising, but you can't sell it to anyone you write for. And just as, sometimes, you get lucky and hear some interesting information, sometimes, luck just isn't on your side. And going to meeting becomes harder to justify when the time you could be spending working doesn't lead to anything useful.
Which I suppose is why the aforementioned Documenters program exists - people get paid specifically to show up and take notes. But then, I'm still not entirely sure what happens to the information they collect. And I still think just being there at meetings is useful... when it pays off.
I suppose it goes back to the fact that, when you are on staff, you have a bit more flexibility to pursue leads that don't necessarily pan out. But when you're a freelancer and you get paid by the article, you got to be more judicious when it comes to how you spend your days. And even staff writers have less time to pursue leads, just because of the increasing workloads.
I suppose that I'm saying that sometimes it pays to take a chance. I just wish it wasn't such a gamble. Money-wise.
The big example of that was my first piece about the Hatchery, the food business incubator that eventually opened in the gentrifying East Garfield Park neighborhood. This was back in November 2016, when I was fired by the Niles Bugle and still trying to figure out how to fill the resulting enormous hole in my budget, while also trying to do as much work as possible for Austin Weekly News. I saw an ambiguously worded item on the agenda of the Chicago City Council's Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards about a pretty large parcel next to the Kedzie/Lake 'L" station. I only found out that it was a business incubator because I decided to attend the meeting and hear the applicants' presentation. And that allowed me to follow up to find out more.
[A paragraph-long aside](As an aside, the now-co-owners of the Hatchery were deeply Not Amused when I started asking those questions, because they were "not ready to reveal the project," and a not-so-small part of me wanted to just point out that they talked about the project during a freaking public meeting and, theoretically speaking, anyone with a phone could have livestreamed their entire presentation. I get wanting to spin the whole thing in the most PR-friendly possible, but this became public matter the moment it was discussed at a public meeting that literally anyone can attend. And after a kid tried to rob me with a toy gun while I was interviewing one of the people involved, well, I was even less inclined to put any stock in their protests. But I digress>
More recently, back in May, I attended the Metra Board of Directors meeting to hear about whether the commuter rail transit agency should adopt a new policy for adding and removing stations. While the broad wound up postponing the discussion indefinitely, because I was already there, I was able to hear about some plans for improving the weekend service. And when I attended an August meeting to follow up on that, I found out about a South Side station improvement project that I've never heard of before (from what, btw, used to be vg36's neck of the woods).
When, a few days later, I saw Block Club Chicago do their own, more thorough piece on the aforementioned station, it was gratifying that they acknowledged that I broke the story first (scroll down a few paragraphs). But it also occurred to me that I could have just as easily broke the story themselves if they attended the meeting.
Chicago Sun-Times used to have a transportation reporter who attended Metra meetings pretty regularly. Chicago Tribune has a transportation reporter, but I almost never see her at transit-related meetings. And at a lot of committee and commission meetings, I occasionally see Sun-Times and Chicago Reader folks, but usually, it's just me and the Documenters.
On the other hand, I will be the first to acknowledge that showing up to meetings is something of a gamble. Sometimes, what seems promising doesn't turn out to be as promising, or gets postponed. Sometimes, you find something that you think is promising, but you can't sell it to anyone you write for. And just as, sometimes, you get lucky and hear some interesting information, sometimes, luck just isn't on your side. And going to meeting becomes harder to justify when the time you could be spending working doesn't lead to anything useful.
Which I suppose is why the aforementioned Documenters program exists - people get paid specifically to show up and take notes. But then, I'm still not entirely sure what happens to the information they collect. And I still think just being there at meetings is useful... when it pays off.
I suppose it goes back to the fact that, when you are on staff, you have a bit more flexibility to pursue leads that don't necessarily pan out. But when you're a freelancer and you get paid by the article, you got to be more judicious when it comes to how you spend your days. And even staff writers have less time to pursue leads, just because of the increasing workloads.
I suppose that I'm saying that sometimes it pays to take a chance. I just wish it wasn't such a gamble. Money-wise.