(COLUMN)
Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that journalists have made it en vogue to ask celebrities what advice they would give to their younger selves. Of course, the answers range from not taking themselves too seriously, saving more money, being more committed, enjoying the journey and so on and so forth. Most of this advice of course is useless in hindsight for the individual reflecting on their past. After all, these are our own mistakes to make and lumps to take. Hopefully, we own them and develop into what we hope to be more thoughtful adults. But what about taking these same nuggets of wisdom and imparting them to young people traveling down the road once traveled?
As a guy who has now been associated with the Delta Democrat Times since I was a sophomore at MDCC (31 years), I’ve found my role over time shifting from the enthusiastic part timer just excited to get my name in the paper to the mentor, encourager and elder statesmen of the team. Thinking back to all of those young journalists that I’ve had the pleasure of working with like former sports editor Kenny Mister, most recently Jasmine Steverson, David Healy and somewhere in the middle years, David Vowell, brings the changing role to the forefront of the attention.
As I think back, my first encounter with anyone at the DDT came when I worked at McRae’s with former graphic designer, Sudie Nunnery. She worked at the DDT part time and knew that I was interested in becoming a reporter. In the spring of 1992, after I had made it back home from the Air Force and worked at McRae’s for a few months, she introduced me to the legendary DDT sports editor Mitch Ariff. On June 9, 1992, I started working part time as a sports reporter and people like Sallie Gresham and Woodrow Wilkins were those folks who had the role that I’ve assimilated to over the years-the calm, cool, experienced voice of reason.
And for a young reporter starting out in this business, every organization needs to retain folks who can help you see past the immediacy of negative feelings of public scrutiny, the tireless work (back then, the newspaper was a six day a week publication), the low pay and the demands placed on the body and mind.
After a very tough first night of covering a game in Eudora, Arkansas and coming back to the DDT to write the article, type up stats and pull an all-nighter trying to get the newspaper out, I quit. My eyes were burning from looking at the computer screen and heading home around 2 a.m. to a young family was unaccepatble!
But Mitch, having traveled down this road, gave me a call and told me that I still had a job if I wanted it and to focus on the love of sports writing rather than all of the extras. With this piece of advice, it got easier and easier until I stopped even thinking about the aspects of the position that gave me pause and anxiety. A couple of weeks ago, I finally convinced someone who I had been asking to cover high school football for years to give it a try. Having dealt with Kyla “Bunny” Winford to get information about Greenville Park Commission sports, I knew from her game summaries, provision of stats and sheer sports knowledge that she would be a good addition to our Friday night coverage. Thus far, three Fridays in, she has what it takes and even demonstrated the versatility to turn a terrifying situation on August 26 at the Leland/O’Bannon game into a great mix of sports and breaking news. Just as my elder colleagues in this business have imported to me over the years, just keep writing Bunny because it’s obvious the love for it is there.
Patrick Ervin is editor for the Delta Democrat Times. Write to him at patrickervin@ddtonline.com.
