Since 2012, Jim Day has been a reporter and copy editor for the Corvallis Gazette-Times covering building, zoning, and community issues. Before the GT he was with the Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore. working as a sports editor and reporter.
Day is well versed in the business, spending half his 20 years in journalism as an editor and the other half as a reporter. Although he did go to community college, he didn’t graduate with a degree. In his younger years, when he started working as a copy boy, he didn’t plan that this would be his career. He kept learning and moving up to where he is today.
As a reporter, Day said his goal is to keep his calendar full with story ideas and meetings with sources so that there’s no room for his editor to assign him something he doesn’t want to cover. For him, it’s gotten to the point that his boss knows he will deliver and let’s him dictate his articles.
“It’s good practice as a reporter to be well planned so your editor doesn’t fill in the blanks for you,” he said.
When asked how he keeps his schedule full he called it the “snowball story effect.” He explained this means that one community murmur will lead to a city council meeting that will lead to the police department that will lead to a merchant that will lead to a source. The snowball keeps rolling until it hits the bottom of the hill—or the source, journalistically speaking.
“One person leads to another and then all the sudden you have an 80 inch Sunday story,” he said.
Day wasn't always at the point where he felt comfortable following the “snowball.” He said it took a while but that as a reporter you have to be able to get out of your comfort zone. You have to push yourself. He resisted at first, but then realized if he wanted the story he had to go get it.
“There’s a curiosity that’s important to be a journalist,” he said.
There are challenges in talking with people who've had a bad experience. Many times a source is talking because they feel wronged or upset, so maintaing sensitivity is important. Sometimes things hit a dead end when he realizes a source is just angry and has no basis of being wronged, but you have to sit through those meetings to make sure they don’t lead to something of substance.
“I find meetings interesting. Some people find them deadly dull. A lot of what you do is driven by meeting coverage,” he said.
Day writes about four stories a week and six “briefs” following up on previously published stories. Because his beat is covering city related issues most his sources are working during week days. But, as a sports reporter he worked more nights and weekends then he does now. Either way, he made it clear that you work when your story needs you.
When Day interviews people he said that the first step is the most important to make the source comfortable. If it takes 10 minutes to shoot the breeze and find a connection you have with them to bring their guard down, then it’s worth your time. You will get more from them if they are comfortable with you. Sometimes he finds he doesn’t particularly like a person, but it’s his job to represent them regardless.
“There’s people I like and I don’t like and I try to quote them both equally,” he said.
Day cautions about immediately believing your sources. The largest portion of a journalist’s job is reporting the truth, therefore facts are imperative. He admits that sometimes you have to be ruthless to land an interview, sometimes you have to scramble to find someone, and sometimes you have to sit and observe to get the answer you need. If you still don’t know something then find an expert who does, he suggested. The bottom line is that you need to ask questions.
“Have a little bit of skepticism. Trust but verify,” he said. “I’d rather ask a bunch of dumb questions than have a fact wrong. It’s about writing a factual and analytical story.”
To find the good stories Day said you need to find the hot-button issue of the moment. Is it what people are talking about? Or is it what people are afraid to talk about? Those are both good signs of a hot-button story. Some of his tips come from confidential sources, some from emails, some from reader phone calls. He said people are always willing to pitch a story idea and sometimes they pan out, if you listen.
He recognizes the challenge of drawing the line between being a reporter and being a person. He told of a time when he had to decide if he was going to intervene with something he was observing as a matter of safety. It was a college drinking story. Day cautioned it can be hard to know when that time is, when you tell someone your opinion, and when you become a citizen again—because generally speaking you don’t get involved. Reserve your biases. Let the reader decide for themselves.
“You want what you are doing to have an impact,” he said. “As a reporter you’re an active watcher.”
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