Ahalf-centuryin, thisisstill mydreamjob

from Gambit: May 16, 2023

Bigfinish

FIFTYYEARSAGOTHISWEEK,ONMAY 16,1973,ANERVOUS18-YEAR-OLDKID from the9th Ward walked into thecacophonousTimes-Picayune newsroom to begin asummer internship as areporterfor his hometown newspaper. It would becomehis dream joband,over thenexthalf-century,his career That kidwas me

Barely ayearout of high school and still wet behindthe ears, Ihad no idea what layahead,but my initial trepidation— theveryideathatIWAS WORKING FORADAILY NEWSPAPER— quickly gave waytoa rush of adrenaline everytimeI showedupfor work

In fact, it wasnot knowing what thenight might bring— Iworked“nightsidegeneral assignment” Wednesdays throughSundays,2:30-11 p.m. —that made thejob so exciting.SomenightsIcovered amurder, othersa fire,still othersa picket line, visiting dignitary, refineryexplosion,oraspeechby then-Gov.Edwin Edwards.

Ilived forthe adrenalinerushofa bigstory —and, of course, afront-pagebyline.

Newsroomsbackthen were loud,filled with the telltale sounds of typewriters clacking and reporterstalking to sourcesonthe phone or joking with each other overthe clatterofteletypemachines. Shouting wasmorethancommonplace;itoften wasnecessary. Andifyou weren’thavingfun,you were in thewrong business

We typedour storiesinduplicateonlegal-size sheets of newsprintusing carbon papertomake thecopies. Andthose functionsonyourlaptop called “cut”and “paste”— thoseare literally named forthe wayweoften hadtocut partsof ourcopywith scissors andpastethem higher or lowerinthe story—orremove them altogether

Beforehewasahard-nosedreporter,ClancyDuBos playedleadguitarinateenchoralgroupcalled “JustUs”thatperformedatmonthly“guitarMasses” inhislocalCatholicparish.He’spicturedherein1971 withLeslieBrandtandPamGarrity.

Reportersand editorswereadifferent breed back then.Quite afew were straight outofCentral Casting, which is to saythey includedoddballs,drunks and legends

Ihad alot of mentors amongthem, and Iamprofoundlygratefultothem Many of them aregonenow —EdAnderson, my first nightcityeditor; Jean LaPlace,who showed me around thebuilding on my firstday at work; VinceRandazzo,the cigar-smoking, no-nonsense city editor whogave me my first shot at covering politics;Dave Snyder,who wasevery reporter’s favorite supervisor; andmanyothers.

Imade andreconnectedwith wonderfulfriends along theway.Igot to work forseveral yearswith thelateFrank Donze, my high schoolclassmate who wasa universally lovedand respectedCity Hall reporter. InvestigativereporterPierreDeGruy and Iusedtosneak outonFridayafternoons and go sailing.Pierrelater served as my best manwhen my wifeMargo andIgot married.

In away,I caneventhank the oldTPfor my marriage. Oneof my newsroom buddies back then wasfeature writer Lily Jackson, aSouthernbelle from North Carolina.A fewyears afterI left theTPand beganfreelancing for Gambit,Lily introduced me to her daughter,Margo,but cautioned her to “stayawayfromhim.” Uh,me.

That maybeaninevitability in today’sdigital world, butIthink it distractsreporters from ourcore mission, which is seekingand telling thetruth

As Isharethese thoughts,I’m reminded of abit of wisdom a veteranreportergave me many yearsago.“There’stwo things reporterslikemost,”hesaid. “The first is writingfor anewspaper;the second is bitching aboutwriting foranewspaper.”

Ihave no doubtthatmyyounger colleaguesenjoy theirworkas much as I’ve enjoyedmine, andI admire howtheymanage to do so much morethanIhad to do as a young reporter

As I’ve gotten older,I oftenfeel theweightofhard-earned wisdom —the kind that comesfrombeing haunted by one’s mistakes

Ialso feel blessed

DuBos,kneeling,picturedhere with(clockwisefromDuBos)

TPreporterMillieBall,PRexec RosalieBaker,TPreporterAnita Schrodt,andTPsportswriter PeteBarrouquereinawarmupforthe1976NewOrleans GridironShow.Proofthat beforetheMackelMane,there wastheDuBos‘Do.

Thankfully,Margo ignored Lily’s admonition,and Lilyforgave us. We gotmarried,boughtGambit and have livedhappily ever after —and Margoremains my best editor.Overthe years, newspapers changed dramatically.Itstarted withcomputers.Thencame the internet.The GreatDisruption Newsroomstoday don’tlook or soundanythinglikethose of a half-century ago. They’requiet, more like librariesthan busy hubs forink-stained wretches

Most newsroomsalso no longerhave copy desks, which is a shame. Thecopydesk washome to thenewsroomelderswho proofreadcopy, correctedtypos and wroteheadlines

Today’sreporters typically write theirown headlines, which involvesmuchmorethan accuratelysummarizing theirstories

In today’sdigital newsroom,it’sall aboutthe “clicks” —and headlinesdrive clicks. Reportersalso add“links” to theironlinestories, whichgenerateadditionalclicks. Alas,the internet hasmade reportersinvoluntarymembers of the paper’ssalesteam.

DuBos,anoldfisherman, withhisbestcatch—andhis besteditor—formerGambit

PublisherMargoDuBos,pictured herein2018atthePressClub ofNewOrleansannualawards banquet,whereDuBoswas honoredwiththeclub’sLifetime

AchievementAward

My career hastracedthe last half-century of localhistory, alongwiththe tectonic changes that technology hasbrought to journalism,and broughtmeback to whereIbegan.Inadditionto writing forGambit,I have recently rejoined TheTimes-Picayune|The Advocate as an editorialboard member andcolumnist.

Nowadays I’mmoreworldly, less patientand lesstrusting. Butin ways toonumeroustocount,I’m still that kidwho nervouslywalked into thenewsroom 50 yearsago withnoideawhatlay ahead