I have a confession to make.
I have been accused of bias over the years, as have most reporters. Sometimes I’m left-leaning, according to the source, other times I’m right-leaning. Sometimes I’m considered too cozy with this interest group or that one. But those are not my biases. My bias, the big one, is fiction.
If I can work a snippet of poetry or a comic book reference or sometimes just the title of a favourite work into a piece, it’s a good day for me.
I love words of all kinds but the words used in a beautiful piece of literature, in a ghost story, or even in a poem that tries really hard but doesn’t quite make it – those are the words I love most. Therein lies my bias.
And so, the headline… pilfered from Shakespeare, I’m afraid. But the sentiment is mine. Because I am leaving, and it is incredibly bittersweet.
I have worked at the Burnaby NOW for half a decade. Like many reporters given a chance by editor Pat Tracy, I came in to cover a reporter’s vacation and a few months later, I had a job. While many of my fellow j-school graduates panicked about the recession, I had a real, honest-to-goodness fulltime reporting job. I was, and am, incredibly grateful. Not just to Pat, but to all of you – you’ve shared your stories and opinions with me; your passion, your anger, your hopes and your doubts. I’ve watched your businesses start and struggle and catch hold in the community. I’ve spoken to amazing people over the years. I’ve learned a lot from all of you.
In addition to Pat, I owe a debt of gratitude to many other people who helped me along. My first editor after Langara was Barry Link at the Vancouver Courier. He allowed me to intern there and work with reporters I’d admired for years. Barry was incredibly patient, even while helping me through my awful constant-errors-due-to-blind-panic stage. Each of the people in that newsroom taught me so much about telling stories, about connecting with the community, about being ethical, and about being a good human being, while also being a good reporter.
Before journalism school, I have to confess (yes, another confession), I had no understanding of journalism ethics. It is a constant, careful balancing act. But I was fortunate enough to be taught by Ross Howard, who helped me learn the ethical parameters of the job and solidify my own ethical standards. He also pushed us to be better, to write clear and concise articles, to tighten, always tighten. He might have something to say about the length of this goodbye column, actually, so I should probably wrap it up.
While I have worked for the NOW for more than five years, I started in the industry 20 years ago. My mother, Cathrine Fuller, was a reporter on the Sunshine Coast when I was growing up, and I always wanted her job. When I was in high school, she introduced me to then-editor of The Coast News, JoAnne Bennison. JoAnne offered me the chance to write a column geared to high school students, and I loved it. I was also quite terrible. But she read those columns and turned them into something readable, which was an incredible gift.
She also gave me an important piece of advice. If you’re considering journalism because you want to be a writer, she said, don’t. Reporters don’t have much time or inclination to write anything else, and editors can’t stop editing themselves.
Twenty years later, I am heeding her advice. I want to be a writer. I want to create worlds instead of reporting on this particular one. Sensible or not, I’m leaving journalism for fiction. OK, I know it isn’t sensible. But it is time. And so, as of Friday, Oct. 2, I am leaving the NOW.
Thank you to everyone who has allowed me to tell their stories, to everyone in the newsrooms I’ve worked in, to my fine colleagues – it has been wonderful.
See you in the funny pages.
