For my career day, I shadowed Dana Littlefield, the Public Safety Editor for the San Diego Union Tribune. The San Diego Union Tribune is a daily newspaper located and published in San Diego, California. During my career day, I shadowed Ms. Littlefield throughout the newsroom in the building. During that tour, I learned about the different teams within the newspaper and they function together as one unit. They all worked together just to produce the paper for the day. The intricate process was very astonishing. I was also able to join in the morning meeting all the editors have with the lead publisher. They discussed what each team had planned for the day and what stories each reporter was covering, if any story at all. The last thing I was able to do was learn from Ms. Littlefield how technology is used to coordinate the website along with new stories that come in throughout the day. I even got to ask many questions about this field and received lots of helpful advice in the process. Overall, I really enjoyed my day at the San Diego Union Tribune.
Questions
1. Over the years, which stories have you liked writing about the most? Most proud of?
The most proud story Ms. Littlefield has written is from the perspective of a mother who's son is a murderer. With this story, Ms. Littlefield learned about the rules of writing an article and twisted them to make it an outstanding article. She brought in the reader by explaining the situation and the causes in detail, which normally doesn't happen when writing an article.
2. How do you interact with other people during your work day?
There are many ways Ms. Littlefield interacts with people on a daily basis. First off, she attends a meeting every morning at 9:00am discussing what each team and what each reporter will be covering for the day. She also works with her own reporters to find the best way to capture stories and implement them online and in the paper. Calls come in all the time for her team since she runs the breaking news team. Lastly, Ms. Littlefield stays in communication with the other teams to officially assemble the stories and create the daily paper.
3. What in your educational background most prepared you for this job?
While it might seem like basic education would be extremely important to prepare you for this career, internships and hands - on experience is the most important. If gives you access to your career choice and how it functions within the real world. In fact, Ms. Littlefield described your college education as a "foundation" for what to really expect within this career choice. A journalist needs experience writing actual stories and conducting actual interviews to understand how it works.
4. What are the most important rules or practices that you must follow in order to be considered a dedicated and responsible professional in this field?
As a journalist, you have to be very careful both out in the field and in the office. You are handling very important information that is about the personal lives of others. If you are cautious with how you handling these situations, this is considered responsible. This also shows that you are dedicated to your craft. This field also requires you to step out of your comfort zone as you are put into dangerous situations sometimes.
5. What advice do you have to young people who are interested in this profession/field?
Well for starters, it's very important to be observant of what you are learning both in school and through experience. You also need to prepare yourself by getting the experience needed. Being able to notice the difference within the different articles is also important. If you understand the way an article works and why it works, you will have the knowledge to be able to do it yourself.