This account was written for the MidAtlantic News Research Conference on July 18-19, 1997.
A Day in the Life of a News Researcher at the Savannah Morning News by Julia C. Muller ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Background Our editorial staff consist of about 80 people. (We are going through some turnover right now.) We have been a team operation since August of 1995. Our daily circulation runs about 80,000. We are a two person operation. I have been the head since November 18, 1985. I was the assistant for two years prior. Sara Wright has been the assistant since August 1987. She started in June of that year in our circulation department. Our supervisor is David Donald, the editor in charge of Research & Projects. The reporter assigned to our team was moved due to staffing problems. We are not electronic but do have Web and e-mail access. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I arrive at 8:50 a.m. My usual hours are 9 to 6 with an hour for lunch. My assistant has already prepared my papers for me. Today I am going to start a new tradition. I am reading the paper before I do much else. I had been doing this but somehow my priorities shifted. I have to get back on track. First, however, I check my e-mail. There is only one message from Newslib. It concerns the "Information Stores" question. I read it and file the information away. Not an operation that we will ever have but could possibly apply the information in the future. One of our photographers sees me checking out the Mid Atlantic conference page and asks me what is it. I explain that it is a seminar I am about to attend. She is impressed with the number of staff members from the News & Observer attending. I point out that it is a much larger paper and therefor can accommodate a larger staff. I mention that one of the issues we will discuss is image archiving. "Take good notes." "I will," I respond. She asks, "Do you need a tape recorder?" "I think I have one." But I don't think I'll bring it. I probably wouldn't get a good recording. I have a hearing problem so tapes don't work for me. I will take good notes though and let photo know I do not forget their needs. Questions, questions. Even as I work on this diary, our head editorial writer is asking about where the BMW plant in South Carolina is located. Since I drive to Hendersonville, NC about once a year, I know it is in Spartanburg. He is happy and goes on his merry way. Next, I step out to our copy machine to check to see if it has paper. I made the mistake of letting staff know that I am mechanically inclined. As a result, I am the office copy repair person. I also check the fax machines. I ask the departmental secretary to call for a new toner unit for one of the machine. At about 10:00 a.m. I sit down to read the paper. There is an amusing story about an 80-year-old man suing a dating service. He wants his money back or 21 more introductions. The reporter has really captured the issue. Unfortunately, he is one of the reporters that is about to leave our paper. I finish the paper. I then start the "rip down" for later marking. It will not take as long since I have already read the major local stories. It is a shame that I cannot keep all stories but space doesn't allow for it. My assistant is hard at work trying to catch up the papers I have marked since Sunday. She was in a car that was rear-ended Monday and missed two days. Normally, I would have done some of the clipping but was unable to do so. No matter, we catch up by the end of the day. We are usually within two days of being up-to-date. Otherwise, we guide the reporters to the issue they need. As I take the papers down, I realize I haven't read our Carolina edition. I stop to read the two stories on the front page. The first story is a little dense. I struggle through the story because the Carolina people call periodically for faxed copies of stories. I need to know what issues they are covering. Sometimes I wish that they made the news easier to understand. In the time before our 11:30 budget meeting, I continue work on one of my ongoing projects. It is a list of movies and other film projects that have taken place in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry. I started the project after "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" filmed here in June. One of our reporters compiled a partial list. I decided to flesh it out for future reference. I attend the budget meeting. The first lively critique in a long time ensues. Since I have read the paper, I offer my opinion on the various stories. I am definitely going to be reading the paper before I go to the morning meeting. In the past, if I spotted an error, I can question the editor it concerned. Today, no errors (that I notice). I also contributed to a potential story on a local golf course. I pulled the files and left them on the editor's desk. I know they are going to need the information. It is now lunch time. I take the hour at my desk. My assistant runs interference for me so I can eat in peace. There is no area to eat one's lunch in quiet so I stay at my desk. Our Statesboro bureau reporter calls. He needs to know if we have done any stories on local owned produce stands. I tell him that the only produce type stories we have done recently is on the state farmer's market. He ask if there is any kind of listing of produce stands. I say I doubt it as most of them are family owned shacks on the side of the road. Most are put up just for the season. I suggest he contact the state agricultural commission as they may be able to help. He says he has a call in to them. Our mail clerk bring in a note from someone requesting an obit. I tell him I'll take care of it. The lady had just passed the previous week so finding the obit was simple. She had sent a dollar with her request as well as a SASE. I send the obit and the dollar back. At 3:15, I attempt to start marking papers. One of our clerks walks in needing the correct spelling of a hospital in Albany. I go to the Internet. Using American Yellow Pages, I find the hospital. I explore the site for a few minutes. This is a habit. As I do so, one of the editors passes by and asks what the page does. I do a demo using our paper as an example. "Share knowledge" is our mantra. I show sites whenever I can. Back to marking papers. I am about half finished when the Richmond Hill bureau reporter calls. She needs to confirm some information I faxed to her a day or two ago. The fax copies weren't clear enough for her to read. I get the original paper and check the information. I ask Sara to get the file I had faxed because I couldn't remember the dates on the stories. Everything is cleared up and she can proceed with her story. As I finish up the next section of paper, a copy editor approaches Sara and me to pick our brains for information. She is in need of local places and events for a project she is about to start. Since I have been keeping a master calendar for the last two years, I offer to print it out for her in the morning. We share a printer with the photo department and the afternoons are very busy for them. The calendar is now 57 pages long. It contains local and regional events. She thinks it is exactly what she needs. Now it is time for headlines. This is another ongoing project I have going. Each day I type in the major local headlines from the front, local and occasionally the sports pages. The is part of a service I provide to our editors each month. The information is the previous year's headline plus the month's event from the Master Calendar I mentioned earlier. It is suppose to help the staff plan for future issues. I started doing each day's headlines because it is easier than going through the microfilm for them. My editor approaches me and requests an article from last year's TWA crash. He wants the local connection. I find that article plus two others, make copies and give them to him. When I go back to my desk to start a new duty, my voice mail light is on. The message is from a local attorney. He needs to know how many stories we have on one of his clients. I call back to find out the client's name. After he tells me, I check the file. It turns out we have only done six stories. Not enough for the change of venue he wants. He knows what the procedure is if he wants the copies of the stories for his case. I see the editor in charge of the court reporter and tell him about the call. He thinks the guy is crazy. I agree. Well, the day is winding down. I'll be walking out of the door on time for a change. This has been a quiet day for me. Not really typical. I didn't get the number of phone calls as I usually do. But I am not complaining. I enjoy my job. I appreciate days like this. It helps me get through those particularly hairy days that happen.
A Day in the Life
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