Tim Barrus: Local Journalism

I worked as a reporter in New Mexico. I covered local things. Like murder. I had to deal with the PR rhetoric of the FBI. At night, the FBI went home. I wrote about corpses being dug up. Crime scene photography becomes ritualized. So where do you go to talk to people about the stories you cover. I found a deep resource called football games. People will talk to you. When one side or the other stands up and cheers, you best stand with them. Did You See That is another one that can turn into Do You Remember the Time That Thing Went off. Or. They’re coming to get our guns. Folks around here say: I wonder if anyone shoots coyotes. Ten hands go up. I did a 3,000 word piece on the drought. When the rains came, the entire newsroom rushed outside to drink the rain and dance in the street. I had never seen anything like it. A film. That would not have happened in Manhattan. I also wrote the fishing report. I knew where fish were. You work 24/7 because everyone knows your phone number. Most days began at the police department. I had to pour over the crime report of shenanigans that happened the night before. The local sheriff was corrupt. We nailed him. Good work can bring a lot of chaos. Stuff you did not want to come up, comes up. You never really know how people will react to what you write. In SF, the Tenderloin Times had the real news. The Tenderloin Times never flinched. As you walk through the Tenderloin, you could see twenty stories per block. Pick one. Or. It will pick you.