A few days ago, I posted some advice to a copy editor in danger of having to write her first feature stories, if her freelancers flaked, as freelancers will do. Well, she ended up having to write a story. Writing what she knows, Mel interviewed comic book creator Mike Oeming:
Despite what he calls “horrible” grammar skills, Oeming has honed his writing to work in concert with his art.
“I’ve always been a storyteller and see writing and drawing as an extension of that, an extension of each other,” he said.
A comic-book reader since childhood, Oeming found his calling – and his inspiration – through a 1985 book drawn by legendary artist Art Adams.
“I saw ‘X-Men Annual 9’ and it changed my life,” he said. “It was the art of Art Adams, and he made me want to be an artist, just by looking as his drawings.”
Oeming got his start at 14, an inking gig on 1989’s “Newstralia 2” for Innovation Comics. Since then, he’s gone on to draw his own creations.Oeming works on independent books like “Powers” and “Hammer of the Gods” primarily for himself, though he hopes “others can share in the love of what I’m doing,” but he shifts priorities for company-owned or “work-for-hire” titles.
“When I write for Marvel, I’ve learned it’s both for myself and the fans – I have to please both,” he said.
Welcome to the life, Mel!
At last Friday’s annual awards banquet, the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce had a surprise for Hesperia Star editor Peter Day: A fancy glass (or crystal, I can never tell the difference) award for “outstanding coverage” of the chamber over the last year.
It now sits next to our second place trophy from last year’s Hesperia Days parade.
Neat.
A copy editor friend of mine has been assigned the duty of assembling and filling her paper’s entertainment page. It’s normally taken care of by freelancers, but freelancers aren’t full-time employees, and they can’t really be relied upon, as a general rule, the same way you can rely on someone whose entire livelihood depends on you. (This is the only reason I’m employed full-time by the media, I’m convinced.) So, this self-described “natural introvert” is concerned she might have to do a little entertainment reporting. As she falls on the writer side of the writer/reporter continuum, she wanted to know what to do if she got stuck holding the bag some week.
Here’s my reply, as a former entertainment and features reporter:
Start with stuff that you’re interested in. If you’re interested in it, so is somebody else. Look through the listings of who’s touring through the area, for instance, or who’s got a gallery show or whatever, and whatever jumps out at you personally, give them a call. You’ll find it’s a lot easier to turn in a good story that you care about than the more advanced stuff.
One of my first big entertainment interviews was Neil Gaiman. While I was very nervous talking to him (more than with, say, Pat Buchanan), the fact that I knew what I was talking about when asking him questions meant I did a pretty good job at it. Naturally, I had to cut the comic stuff down so that it fit into a mainstream paper (which is why there’s a more comic booky version on my blog nowadays), but it’s better to have too much material than too little.
After that, when looking at the upcoming choices, try to find a hook that you do care about. Maybe you don’t care about, say, “Joey,” but maybe the plight of an actor who’s risking being forever typecast is interesting to you. Or, conversely, you could look at how few spin-offs of hit shows succeed. There’s a massive amount of flops out there, many of which look like they should have succeeded, on paper.
Don’t be afraid to talk to experts — you won’t always have the ability to get past a publicist to talk to the creative person yourself — but experts, especially at colleges in your area, want to get their names in the paper. Your paper may have a big book of expert sources for the media to contact. It’s worth asking. If not, call up your nearest universities and contact their public information officers and ask them if they have a list like that.
If you hate talking to people yourself, doing reviews is also always good, since you can sit in a dark room with a gun (or maybe that’s just me) and do your work that way. Local theaters and galleries never feel they have enough coverage, and both lend themselves to this kind of approach. You can also do straight stories this way, although there will have to be some actual talking to human beings, once you’ve gone and gotten the color info yourself.
Finally, remember that it’s all fishwrap. While the goal is to make every paper a jewel, you’re only as good (or bad) as your last story. If you stink it up one edition, just focus on the next and don’t obsess about something that’s already lining a bird cage anyway.
Maybe some of the other reporters who wander through here periodically, like Todd, might offer some words of wisdom of their own?
Tracie Troha has a much bigger story than it might appear to be in Saturday’s Daily Press.
Those who know Postmus best say they were not surprised by his decision.
“I always knew he wanted to move to a more administrative office,” said Hesperia Councilman Jim Lindley. “I think he can do some real justice for taxpayers in the office.”
Lindley said as supervisor, Postmus’ job was to make policy and let county staff execute it. If elected to county assessor, Postmus will have an opportunity to actually work on some of the policies he created.
Victorville Mayor Mike Rothschild, who has made no secret about his interest in being on the Board of Supervisors, said if Postmus was elected assessor he would consider running for the First District seat.
“I haven’t made any decision,” Rothschild said. “I wouldn’t run unless (Postmus) is definitely out of the picture. I’ll have to wait to know for sure.”
If he lost the election, however, Postmus said he would continue to serve his two remaining years on the board.
I think Rothschild is only one of a handful of possible candidates, and I think Postmus’ position potentially opening up could lead to some very interesting moves among High Desert power blocs and casts a very interesting light over this year’s city council election. We’ll be reading more about this in the months to come, I’m sure, and sometimes from unexpected angles.
Fresh Air (“Jazz hands!”) interviewed Jim Amoss, the editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, about reporting during Katrina and after.
The newsroom Jim Amoss leads was widely praised for its unflinching coverage of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. In a piece one month ago, Amoss said “New Orleans has become two cities — an enclave of survivors clustered along the Mississippi River’s crescent and a vast and sprawling shadow city where the water stood, devoid of power and people.”
Definitely worth a listen.
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