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My column is up on the web and in driveways this AM: “Night at the City Council.” It includes additional behind-the-scenes action during my on-the-scene coverage of the marriage equality resolution a few weeks ago. I go into the interesting politics in the room as well as my “history” with the mayor. 
A snippet:
Mayor Bell walked in — I said hello to my former neighbor (as in way back when I was 8, a lifetime ago). I mused to myself that this is the oddity of local politics: there’s always a chance you actually know the people running the government.
I checked my videocam as people started streaming in. I casually noticed that the seat next to me remained open. I didn’t realize why until the meeting was about to start and Lavonia Allison of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People sidled by me and sat down. “Hmmm. Had I taken her usual seat?” I wondered briefly, then I went back to Tweeting to update readers in real-time as the council started taking their chairs.
See my Aug. 17 coverage with video, “NC: Durham City Council votes unanimously for marriage equality resolution.”
Good news! My N&O/Durham News gig has been extended…
More below the fold.
Back story: I'm the first out lesbian columnist for the News & Observer, one of the largest newspapers in the state and possibly the first out lesbian columnist for a major newspaper in NC; Anyway, several columns have now run in The Durham News, its Bull City community edition. It's a monthly column (I rotate with other local folks) and it was to be a six-month gig.
I recently had lunch with editor Mark Schultz, and he told me that the reader response to my columns has been great, and that the paper wanted me to continue writing. He asked me whether I'd like to increase the column to twice a month, but I didn't think that I can add that much to my already-full plate. I will be able to go longer on pieces if I want/need to — usually I was constrained to 550-600 words.]
Here are links to all of my columns so far, if you want to take a peek:
Night at the City Council
Sept 9, 2009
2 degrees of Stuyvesant, NYC
Aug 12, 2009
How city grew out of its shell
Jul 08, 2009
Sounding off on the need for speed
May 13, 2009
Pols now tight-lipped on gays
Apr 08, 2009
Fighting pet prejudice (this one garnered the most reader response by far)
Mar 15, 2009
11 Comments
Perhaps you should hire a journalism student as an internTalk to someone at your local university.
You have a lot to offer an intern — both print and online journalism. Working on PHB and the News & Observer would look good on a resume.
Your intern would do research and take notes for you. That would allow you to have much more time writing.
A fall internship would start right about now. The university usually has someone on staff who draws up the program details.
I am awaiting the flood of angry emailsBy some of the black bible-beaters (and like-minded individuals who weren’t there) who were sitting on their hands during the ovation.
Hometown Girl does goodVery impressive that they wanted to double your contributions to the paper. next month write on Hank Williams Jr…your hate email will be a few shades dimmer….yeah lets say dimmer.
Good article at the newspaper …As a (yeah .. yeah .. he’s saying it again) journalist I enjoy POV reporting rather than stale point of fact reports.
Congrats on getting the reporting gig extended and the suggestion about an intern ain’t a bad idea.
It would help you with your sometimes I’m sure “where do I start now” work and give a journalism student some insight into this thing that’s called The New Media.
Do me a favor for the sake of the intern. Just don’t use him/her to do filing as I saw so many times at CBS Broadcasting.
Internships are suppose to be a learning experiance, not how to be an unpaid lacky.
Um, do we have to start calling you Edwina R. Murrow yet ?
wrote this to the “letter to the editor” linkMs. Pam Spaulding,
Brings Durham local politics to the Nation, and the Nation to Durham, all just by showing up and being present.
Whether at a Durham City Council meeting, speaking to, and being honored by a panel of prestigious internationaly recognised women, tirelessly reaching out to new voices (and not so new voices) of Black and Brown bloggers, and representing her LGBT community at Pride.
She works through painful bouts with her hands and feet, she works fulltime, and works more than fulltime on her extra curricular activities, and quietly brings gifts of food and toys to animal shelter dogs. That’s a woman to be reckoned with, and she’s a “must read” online,
thanks, PeteyI’m sure that Mark Schultz the ed will publish it.
BTW, I still haven’t received any bible beater mail yet. I’m shocked that this didn’t rile them up.
my list of your accompliments reminded me of Peggy LeeI’m A Woman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
“If it’s lovin you’re likin, I’ll kiss you and give you the shiverin’ fits
‘Cause I’m a woman! W-O-M-A-N, I’ll say it again “
check out these two letters of feedback about the columnTslk about polar opposites…
1. A TOTAL WASTE OF NEWSPAPER SPACE! THE MEETING CAN BE VIEWED ON TV CHANNEL 8. — from a reader named Myra
2. Splendid piece in this morning’s N&O, even though a more than a little discouraging. You’re certainly right: there is plenty of bridge-building work to be done in our community. Thanks for doing your part! — from a reader named Frank (who gets the Durham News inside his N&O)
Mark Shultz just emailed meMaking sure I gave my permission to have it printed as a letter to the editor (because I had addressed it to you.)
Age Divide?
You mentioned this in your article which seems like a very real concern, but I wonder too not having been present at the event (although I did send an e-mail to push the ward representative nearest me to support equality) if there was a bit of an age divide on who was standing and who was sitting as well. Taking a few screen shots of who was standing and who was sitting in your youtube video & putting them side by side makes appears to me to reveal an age divide as well. But since I wasn’t there I can’t attest to how much the youtube video captured of the overall audience.
As you noted in your article there were plenty of “City senior citizens who must regularly attend council meetings” and I’ve noticed that is true of town forums in neighboring Chapel Hill as well, seniors tend to be the regulars at these events because they know how they work, and they often are the ones with the free time to attend these events. If I attend a town event, I’m usually the youngest person there, and I’m 25.
Do you think that age played a significant role in level of support?
Very nice observation