I’m constantly amazed by the amount of knowledge I’ve gained since working for the newspaper.

 

Being a reporter isn’t like many other jobs. Even though writing is a craft lots of people have, finding ways to explain things to the average reader is a skill that has to be developed over time.

 

I often find myself covering events and meetings where the subjects are pretty foreign to me. But in order to make things understandable to anyone reading an article, I have to sound like I know what I’m talking about.

 

And that’s how I end up learning new things.

 

When I first started working for the West Sherburne Tribune in 2000, I knew very little about the workings of government. But after attending hundreds of county board meetings, city council meetings and township meetings over the years, I’ve seen how things work - or don’t work in some cases.

 

At each one of those meetings, something important was being discussed. It’s not always a subject I know or care about. But someone does, and it’s a reporter’s job to make sure it’s explained accurately.

 

I can remember my first monthly school board meeting I covered more than 10 years ago. The entire meeting was about the budget. School board members went through it line by line. Other than those board members, I was the only person there, and if I wasn’t there for the newspaper, I might have dozed off.

 

But I didn’t. 

 

I had an obligation to let people know how and where their tax dollars were being spent.

 

I hope people appreciated the information we put in the paper that issue. But even if a handful of people benefit from something the read in an article, it’s worth it.

 

Not all subjects are as dull as a budget meeting. Some turn out to be pretty enjoyable or interesting.

 

I’ve covered lots of plays, county fairs, music events and sports.

 

I’ve also covered community meetings about building bike trails, walking paths,  parks and bridge crossings.

 

I’ve learned about groundwater contamination,  water and sewer fees, drug abuse programs, zoning regulations, police investigations, K-9 training, EMS equipment, abuse at nursing homes, population projections and nature.

 

Just last week, covering an event on saving the Monarch butterfly habitat, I learned that some bees like thistles. It was a surprise to me, since I’ve spent the last few summers battling that prickly weed that continues to overtake my farm.

 

The ecologist who told me about it said it’s okay to get rid of the invasive thistle, but keep the native type.

 

See. I learned something else without having to look it up or watch a show on TV.

 

Lots of people get their information from television or the Internet. Sometimes I do, too.

 

But there are times when I’ll be with a group of people and a subject comes up and I’ll have some insight that no one else has.

 

That’s when I hear the question, “How do you know that?”

 

My response is usually, “I covered that for the paper.”