Former Capital Gazette reporter from suburbs shares memories of newsroom
Editor's note: Former Evanston resident Meredith Newman received a journalism degree in 2015 from Syracuse University, then went to work in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, where five people were killed in a shooting last week. She moved in July 2017 to The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware.
When a man shot through the glass doors of the Capital Gazette building in Annapolis and killed four of my friends on Thursday, I was at a Mozart concert in Austria.
Gerald Fischman, an opera fanatic, would have loved the music.
I was fortunate enough to be in Europe this past week, where I was learning about new cultures. Rob Hiaasen, the most curious man I've ever met, would have wanted to learn about the locals.
I was there with my family, whom I don't get to see much of anymore since I now live on the East Coast. Wendi Winters, a proud mother of four children, would have told me I need to call my mother more. And to also go on more dates.
When I was in museums or old churches, I was secretly checking the Cubs score on my phone. I think John McNamara, a lifelong sports reporter, would have approved.
The fact that I won't be able to tell them about my trip breaks my heart. But to learn of how they died and of the trauma my surviving co-workers are going through absolutely crushes me. I didn't get the chance to meet Rebecca Smith, since I was working at The News Journal when she was hired. I'm sure I would have loved her.
Thousands of people across the country now know about the Capital Gazette, a small scrappy newsroom that produces multiple local papers in Annapolis, Maryland.
I wish people knew about the Capital Gazette because of the newsroom's stories, not because it experienced a mass shooting.
Like my old Capital Gazette editor Jimmy DeButts wrote on Twitter hours after the shooting, “We do our best to share stories of people, those who make our community better. Please understand, we do all this to serve our community ... We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment.”
Community journalism is not always sexy or flashy. But that doesn't mean it's not important.
The Capital Gazette, to me, is kind of like the gang from “Parks and Recreation,” a diverse group of quirky people who want to do great work for their community. It's the kind of place where, even though your story is filed, you stay just a bit longer to hang out with your friends.
It's the kind of place that recognizes and appreciates your work on a daily basis. When I worked at The Capital, there was a “stand up” meeting every Wednesday afternoon. It was a time when editors made announcements and reporters asked them questions.
At the end, the newsroom gave an award to the person who did great work that week. Everyone voted with comments about a reporter, editor or photographer's work. Wendi always emailed the comments to everyone.
If you won, you were awarded a $5 coffee gift card and got to stand a small, plastic trophy of a newspaperman near your desk for that week.
And if it was your last “stand up” meeting? Everyone went around the newsroom and said something nice about you. There was also ice cream.
When I left The Capital last June, it was the hardest decision I ever made. I didn't want to leave my Capital family, but I was ready to move on to new opportunities at The News Journal. On my last day, everyone in the newsroom took the time to tell me how proud they were of me.
I'll always remember Rob's big hug moments before I left.
I told them I'd see them soon, that we'd talk all the time. It was just under a year ago and the last time I saw all of them. I regret not reaching out more. I wish I reached out more.
Gerald, John, Rob and Wendi were interesting, complex and lovable characters whose stories deserve to be told. I just wish these stories were in the present tense.
I know they would want everyone to subscribe to their local newspaper, to be civically engaged if we're frustrated with our government and to take the time to tell loved ones how much they mean to us.
But I also know that they would want us to talk to the stranger next to us and ask them about where they grew up, what their nickname was in high school (and why). They'd want us to learn a person's life story and then tell our friends about him or her over a beer.
I think, above anything else, they'd want us to be empathetic.
Because maybe, just maybe, that's the one thing that can truly make America great again.