Be a reporter!

I love being a reporter! And that's what this blog is all about. It will be an opportunity for reporters - especially young reporters - to gather and share about the best profession in the world (as far as many of us are concerned.)
How did this blog come about?
I became a "reporter" in first grade. Mrs. Lagoni asked Kay and I to talk about our bicycles. As we did so, she drew on paper using crayons and I quickly learned I liked telling people about something.
When my parents and other adults played Pinochle I would become bored. I can remember going around the table one day and reading out loud the cards each adult was holding. I wasn't punished but I knew dad didn't like it very much.
At eight years old I wrote my first "article" using my brand new fountain pen.
I wrote about our new puppy, "Midget."
I found that 3 by 5 card a few years ago and that first report looked pretty good. It had heart, solid information -- and the words were spelled correctly!
In college, I was the model volunteer at our 10-watt radio station, WLCC. My first reporting job was what I learned was "rip and read" of United Press International wire headlines at halftime during the Lincoln Community High School football game.
A year later, in 1971, I submitted my first article that was published in "Christian Standard" magazine published by Standard Publishing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Over the subsequent years leading up to 1994, my free lance articles helped pay the way for our growing family.
One Saturday, our family kept a commitment to go to King's Island in Ohio with our church, even though we really didn't have the money to do so.
When I got home from that day, I found a check for $100 for a book review I had written for "Leadership" magazine.
My wife, Linda, once said we wouldn't have been able to buy groceries some weeks if it hadn't been for my writing.
In 1994, I became the news director of WCVL-WIMC radio and four years later, I landed a job with the Journal Review newspaper in Crawfordsville, Ind.
Since then I have been the editor of two daily newspapers and am currently a reporter for a daily.
Reporting has, without a doubt, been my favorite job over my 61 years. I love it.
If I were ever to retire I would take my Social Security check and other savings and use my free time to be a free lance writer.
I have worked with many reporters over the years. Many of them have been young reporters. Some have been very good. One young lady, in particular, now works in Washington, D.C.
There have been a few things they all had in common. They all wanted to write, they all wanted to have their work read and appreciated and they all were short of money.
I bought some of them books. I love to give reporters a copy of Stephen King's "On Writing" and a copy of Strunk and White's "Elements of Style."
I decided to start this blog because we all need advice, many reporters don't have the money to buy books (though we should) and there just isn't a lot of information out there.
I just did a search of the Internet for "reporter advice." There were a couple websites. One was filled with nearly 70 "tips" but it hasn't been updated since 2009.
So, I have become convinced we can do this together. I will share what I have learned over the years and I hope you will likewise share your advice with the rest of us. I truly want this to be an interactive publication.
Write me! My address is frank.phillips@gmail.com.