Tag: Small Town Reporter

The second-best job in the galaxy. Seriously.

20 Observations on Newspaper Reporting

  1. ALTHOUGH THEY RELY ON THEM, few people say they actually trust the news media. (I call it “Ross’ Paradox.”)
  2. Everybody has a story. And many want to share it.
  3. Newswriting is a form of reality-creation, wherein readers trust you to describe the world beyond their immediate perceptions. Don’t ever abuse that trust.
  4. Every face is a door, and if you knock just right, you’ll be invited in to witness wonders.
  5. First-responders have the darkest sense of humor of anyone outside of reporters. It’s an evolutionary strategy that serves both well. Continue reading “20 Observations on Newspaper Reporting”

“The Merchant of Sonoma”

THEY SAY THAT THERE IS never any “first Jewish settler” anywhere — because no matter who it is, some other Jew was there beforehand. Better instead to say “first known Jewish settler.” And in the case of Sonoma, that honor and claim falls to Solomon Schocken: immigrant, ship’s cook, entrepreneur.

This month marks the 140th anniversary of the opening of the well-stocked “S. Schocken – General Merchandise” store on Sonoma Plaza, in the building previously occupied by General Mariano Vallejo’s military barracks (now a museum). To introduce him to the Sonoma Index-Tribune‘s readership, I wrote a piece on Mr. Schocken for the paper’s June 1999 quarterly magazine. Please enjoy.

Mentors — An Appreciation

BECAUSE OF DARRYL CURTIS, I still say “deh-TAILS” instead of “DEE-tails.”

Darryl was my boss at Santa Rosa news-talk radio station KSRO more than 20 years ago. To say I learned from him everything I know about radio reporting would be an understatement, just as it would be to name Bill Hoban as being responsible for everything I learned about newspapering during my 1998-2003 tenure at the Sonoma Index-Tribune. I owe both of these guys a lot; not only for teaching me about the craft, but also about the ethics involved — and the sheer joy of doing the job. Continue reading “Mentors — An Appreciation”

Of Tone-Outs, Turnouts and a Press Badge

IT’S HARD TO WATCH LIVES literally going up in smoke in order to tell other people about it. But on a professional level, it’s thrilling to see firefighters bringing order to chaos.

When I worked for the Sonoma Index-Tribune between 1998 and 2003 (and for the Sonoma Sun in 2008), I wore a pager that one of the departmental chiefs had loaned me for the duration. It was the same make and model worn by the firefighters themselves (professional and volunteer), and would beep three times before broadcasting the appropriate jurisdiction’s “tone-out” (a two-note musical chime, unique to the responding department[s]) and an abbreviated situation report along the lines of: “Sonoma; possible structure fire; Andrieux Street cross of Broadway; time out, 1400.” Continue reading “Of Tone-Outs, Turnouts and a Press Badge”

Why I Love: Sonoma

IT’S THE HISTORY. IT’S THE diversity of food, from restaurants to markets to semipermanent food-trucks. It’s the out-of-state license plates ringing the Plaza on weekends. It’s the eight-acre Sonoma Plaza itself: families having picnics, occasional Tai Chi enthusiasts or Morris dancers, the rose garden(s), the three fountains, the bridge over the duck pond, the ducks, the former chickens, the sundial, even the smelly gingko tree. Continue reading “Why I Love: Sonoma”

Overheard in Sonoma

(For Leah Garchik’s back-page-of-the-San Francisco Chronicle feature.)

Ms. Garchik,

I was walking on the west side of Sonoma Plaza this morning when I passed a middle-aged touristy couple, just as the man was saying to his female companion, “Someday, she’ll know what beer is.” His words are a mystery to me, and I hope amusing to your readers.

Be well,

Neal

Rethinking “Privacy”

RECENTLY, ONE OF MY FAVORITE blogs switched their commenting software from one which featured anonymous “handles” to one which can also link readers under their real names. It has caused me to rethink what I thought I took for granted about privacy — and explain why I now post solely under my real name.

In 1996, I was irate with a local politician who had left a “How’m I Doing?” flyer on our door. I told her exactly how I thought she was doing, and was about to toss it in the mail, when Ann pointed out that I hadn’t signed my name to it.
Continue reading “Rethinking “Privacy””

See Augie? It IS A City!

IN 2008, A LOCAL CITY councilmember proposed changing our urban appellation from “City of Sonoma” to “Town of Sonoma” — reflecting the bucolic values to which we cling with blue-jean-and-Stetson stubbornness. That task proved a quixotic one, but good for a fortnight of local wag-stoking.

And now, this from the travel section of this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle, page P6: a nice piece about Sonoma Valley’s Glen Ellen touts the hamlet/burg/village as “an alternative to the bustle of modern Sonoma.” (Italics added.)

There it is, in black and white. Our little Anatevka-among-the-vines has gone from “Slownoma” to “Gonoma.” Next: Public WiFi, traffic jams and sunglasses.

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