Getting an early start in journalism

At the recent University of Wisconsin-Madison mini-conference on Journalism and Democracy there was a running joke from panelists and speakers on when they first got into journalism. John Nichols, Associate Editor of The Capital Times and Washington correspondent for The Nation, got it started. He reminisced about applying for job at age 11 from the editor of the weekly newspaper in Union Corners, Wisconsin. And since the editor was also the entire editorial staff and production staff, young John got the chance to start reporting at an early age.

He elaborated on that situation by recalling the day that vice presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey came to town and let it be known that he was willing to meet with the local media. The young 11-year old journalist was ushered onto Humphrey's campaign bus. "The high point of my reporting career, and the low-point of Humphrey's political career coincided," he joked.

After Nichols spoke UW-Madison journalism professor Lew Friedland and several other panelists acknowledged their own reportorial roots went back to about the same age. It's been said before, the high school age is not too young to attract people to a life-long career in journalism. Even junior high school age is not too young.

One perfect example is here in Madison, where many more young journalism careers are being launched at a monthly publication called The Simpson Street Free Press, circulation 22,000. Since 1992 SSFP has been engaging teenagers and training them in the rudiments of journalism as a way to improve their writing skills and promote their academic success.

This is worthy of mention at this time because the SSFP was honored last Friday with the Coming Up Taller Award, which comes from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The award was presented to SSFP journalists Sisi Chen and Deidre Green by First Lady Laura Bush and Andrew Hazlett of the National Endowment for the Humanities, at a ceremony in Washington D.C. The recognition is well-deserved.

My own journalistic career also began at age 12, when I signed up to be a carrier for the Milwaukee Journal in my home town of Prairie du Chien. I pedaled (literally) the Journal for about three years. In the western part of Wisconsin the Journal was a morning paper, and reading each morning's edition at breakfast after finishing my route opened up a whole new world of events and issues to me.

Then in high school I got my first reporting job, covering sports for The Prairie News. My first editor was Margaret Quimby, who was famous in her own right.    There I discovered that I not only had an outlet for my instinct for helping people with information but also that my press pass gave me free entree into the important events of my world. I have been reporting ever since.