One of the more interesting things I’ve encountered over 30 years as a journalist is the emergence of patterns.
I was told by a mentor long ago to never forget that people are people, always and everywhere bound together by the same types of foibles and tendencies, the same types of genius and foolishness that mark us all as members of the same human family.
As someone who loves stories and the individuals who give them shape and context, I have always seen this reminder as a reassurance. As a group, I find people intimidating, vexing and endlessly challenging. As individuals, I find people interesting, fascinating and endlessly variable. This is why I love my job.
I get to talk to so many people doing so many interesting things that I never have to worry about story ideas. We live in the tiniest slice of America, which is a small but not insubstantial part of the world, but we often forget that we are all supporting characters in a much bigger story.
And this is where being a reporter for decades makes this job so rewarding.
Over the years I have seen a theme stretch through news of families and churches, companies and communities that is too persistent to ignore. It’s so blindingly simple yet so consistently illusive that it’s taken me years to put my finger on it.
The thread I run into over and over again is one of connection, of community and collaboration.
In a world riven by conflict, where opposing views are not just seen as wrong but as indicative of the other side’s inhumanity, finding points of agreement and connection seems miraculous.
But that’s what people in our community are doing every day. And those are the stories we try to bring you, week in and week out. Our purpose is right there in our name: Community Journals. It’s not complicated.
We’re not interested in following the herd in delivering a constant stream of murder and mayhem, of disaster and death. There’s plenty of that available if you want it, but we think folks are sick of drinking from the fire hose of information about all the ways the world has gone wrong.
We’re not a ra-ra section trying to convince you that everything is hunky-dory, but we do think it’s important to bring you stories of your friends and neighbors who are making a difference, who are solving problems and meeting needs.
I’ve been in the news business a long time, and I can tell you the one thing that binds all success stories together in a common fabric is people helping each other. Whether it’s a new business owner discovering the benefits of a SCORE mentor or a local family with Ukrainian roots asking the people of Greenville to step up, connections matter.
And for my part, those are the stories that keep me going.
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