Read all about us, for a change of pace
Years ago, a Daily Herald photographer - an exceptionally good one, I might add - was explaining why an assignment requiring him to do a short interview with his subject was not his cup of tea.
Many photogs, he said, are inherently shy. "We hide behind our cameras."
It's different for reporters, obviously; they have to be in constant contact with people. Still, there are some I'd almost characterize as shy. But even the most gregarious of writers realize their work isn't all about them; it's about their subjects. Not long ago, the company decided it was time to inject a little more personality onto our website, so the call went out for all reporters and editors to put together brief autobiographies.
We certainly didn't have a mutiny over this assignment, but we didn't have people thanking us, either. As I collected the DuPage staff's mini-memoirs, I noticed something: Everyone was invited to inject personal details, but what most people seemed most comfortable sharing was their work. And this staff has produced some pretty darned good work. Some examples:
• Jake Griffin, county government reporter, was a member of the reporting team's award-winning coverage of the Northern Illinois University campus shootings and subsequent recovery efforts. He also chronicled the DuPage Water Commission's misspending of its $69 million reserve fund. Most recently, he detailed how hundreds of public pools in the state don't comply with federal safety regulations.
• Christy Gutowski, our DuPage legal affairs reporter, has covered more than 100 trials in circuit and federal courts throughout the suburbs, including those of serial killer Paul Runge; Brian Dugan, killer of Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville among others; Eric Hanson, on death row for his slaying of his parents, sister and brother-in-law in Aurora/Naperville. The Dugan coverage won a national multimedia award.
• Justin Kmitch was on the Lisagor Award-winning team honored for coverage of the rampage of factory worker William D. Baker, 66, who killed four co-workers.
• Elisabeth Mistretta was among reporters who won a Lisagor this year for coverage of fugitive Robert Maday, a prisoner headed to court who overpowered his guards and led police on a 48-hour manhunt throughout the suburbs.
It's not just about the stories we run in the newspaper and scramble to post online, but our writing staff makes weekly appearances on ABC 7 Sunday Morning News to discuss stories. Our staff, companywide, has talked about everything from pro sports to homes and garden issues to bike trails. From the DuPage staff, we've had appearances by Griffin, who detailed the long-running controversy over Navistar's ill-fated attempt to move to the closed Alcatel-Lucent building in Lisle; Gutowski, who chronicled the case of a man wrongfully convicted a rape in Woodridge, and Anna Madrzyk, who told of an 11-year-old budding NASCAR driver from Lombard.
We also call on the news staff to be interviewed on WBBM-AM NewsRadio 780 at 9:20 p.m. every Thursday. Again, the range of story topics is broad: Reporters have discussed crime stories, political turmoil and the weather.
Even reporters who shared something about themselves outside the newspaper still gravitate toward their writing accomplishments. Take Beth Mistretta. Her bio mentions how an essay written as a college student years later became part of a book that generated some serious buzz.
Beth's also on the alumni board of directors for the Loyola University John Felice Rome Center.
All this and more is coming to dailyherald.com in the not-too-distant future.
jdavis@dailyherald.com