2023/A Look Back: Thomas Gase — Being a journalist in 2023 was tiring, but rewarding
Thomas Gase posted: "Since I am a huge sports fan, I recently watched the new documentary on former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders. As I was watching the documentary I was reminded of the No. 1 reason why I loved watching Sanders. He never talked trash or gloated" Times Herald Online
Since I am a huge sports fan, I recently watched the new documentary on former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders.
As I was watching the documentary I was reminded of the No. 1 reason why I loved watching Sanders. He never talked trash or gloated.
He didn't need to.
Every single time Sanders scored a touchdown he casually handed the ball to the official and turned back around. It was as if he was saying, "Here you go. I'll see you again in about eight minutes."
That's what my time at the Vallejo Times-Herald and Vacaville Reporter felt like in 2023. I'd finish a story, and before I could even think about celebrating, I was off to the next one.
In 2023 — as of this writing — I've written 755 next ones. On the year I've written 756 stories.
Not the staff. Not in my life. That's this year alone — 756 stories. I don't know how good of a journalist I am and, well, I let the readers decide that. My guess? Somewhere in the middle.
Oh I'm sure I could have celebrated at some point. After all, I know others do — to each their own. Some people's stories are even like a Reggie Jackson candy bar — when you open up to read it the article tells you how good it is.
However, in the end, I always keep thinking of the scene in the film, "Bull Durham" when Tim Robbins' character asks, "Can't you just let me enjoy the moment?" When hearing this, Kevin Costner's "Crash Davis" character replies, "The moment has passed."
I know this sounds a little like the old man yelling at the clouds, but trust me, I'm not complaining. I love this job, and well, I was warned of this 25 years ago.
It was 25 years ago I was doing an assignment in junior college for a basic, "Welcome to journalism class." I had to interview a journalist, so I picked Lee Barnathan, who was then writing sports for the Los Angeles Daily News.
As I interviewed Barnathan he could see that I was getting more thrilled as he continued to answer questions. I yelled out, "You mean you get to talk to Chuck Finley and Tim Salmon and Mike Piazza after games?!! That is so cool!"
Barnathan put his notepad down and I could almost see some of the life come out of him as he leaned across the table and said softly, "Look kid, this job — journalism? It's the least glamorous job of all the glamorous jobs."
I never forgot the advice.
Along the way, while studying at San Francisco State or working at the the Acorn Newspapers down in SoCal or the Times-Herald and Reporter up north, I've latched on to and learned many other journalism rules that I still fight for. Even if nobody else does.
I strive to get multiple sources — on the record. A source off the record could be anyone — a top official, a misinformed official or the guy at the end of the bar with six beers in him already. For all the reader knows, the writer themselves could be the off-the-record source. So get some people on the record. Make phone calls, drive to venues, do research. Be a journalist. You might actually learn something.
I also never take sides in a story — a journalist's job is to be the thin red line. Find out what happened, get information from both sides of the story (once again, on the record) and trust your readers to be smart enough to make their own final decisions.
I think these days I see too many reporters who are both advocates and journalists. It's OK to be both, but I will strongly argue that a journalist should avoid trying to be more of an advocate — it shows you've already made up your mind on an issue and won't attempt to get both sides of a story. Even when you think you know the entire story, try stepping in the shoes of someone on the other side and see if you can figure out what they were thinking in that situation. That might even be the more interesting part of the story.
There were a ton of interesting stories to cover in Vallejo and Vacaville this year. Vallejo asked for a state of emergency to help out with its lack of staffing with its police department. The city manager announced he was retiring in 2024. The Mare Island Naval Cemetery finally transferred ownership from the city to the U.S. Department of Public Affairs. State Attorney General Rob Bonta made a ruling on Vallejo Police Officer Jarrett Tonn concerning the 2020 shooting of Sean Monterrosa. Blue Oak Landing opened up, attempting to help out the large unsheltered population in Solano County.
I went to a number of vigils — including those for Willie McCoy and Ronell Foster — who were killed by Vallejo police officers. I also went to a vigil for Will C. Wood High School head football coach Jacob Wright, who died at the young age of 46 (my age) in the fall. I can still hear him saying, "Thank you for covering our student-athletes" while giving a firm handshake.
I covered a whole bunch of people trying to make a difference in Solano County, including Jameelah Hanif, who despite having her business broken into a number of times, did her best to serve the community with her organization, Watch Me Grow, Inc. I saw housing advocate Joey Carrizales constantly show up for the unsheltered to make sure they weren't taken advantage of. I witnessed and wrote about Ken Sarna and his flag football league helping kids just have fun and play football with their friends.
I did stories on Elizabeth Hoffman and Rebuilding Together, who constantly helped veterans. I wrote about Mary Ann and Benjamin Buggs, who helped to give food to those in need. I went to beautiful events Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, that were run by Solano AIDS Coalition Executive Director Mario Saucedo, as he did his best to educate the community on a number of issues.
I also never strayed away from my first love in journalism — sports. I saw the Solano College women's volleyball team pick up 58 straight conference wins. I watched great teams like the Vanden High girls and boys basketball team play at Sacramento's Golden 1 Center, where each competed for section championships.
I loved covering football in Vallejo, especially a thrilling 56-54 win by Vallejo High over St. Patrick-St. Vincent in a game that featured Jasier Smith throw a school-record eight touchdowns. I'm not saying that school is old, but when Vallejo High opened up, Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United States.
Speaking of Vallejo, I was able to see it win its first home playoff game in over two decades — a return to greatness that came despite having to deal with games that featured an on-the-field fight with players and fans, as well as a game that featured teams going into an active shooting shooter protocol due to an incident that took place just outside Corbus Field. The resilience of the players and coaches for the Vallejo High program eventually inspired me. If they could deal with this, then how could I complain about having to write four or five stories in a day and zig-zag driving on I-80 between Benicia, Vallejo, American Canyon, Fairfield and Vacaville?
Besides, in 2023 I had a lot of help. I had the paper's great photographer Chris Riley to help me every day. He's always had a great eye behind the lense and I'll argue their isn't a better photographer in Northern California, but he also stepped up even more as a leader in 2023 and helped guide me with putting two papers together. I knew he would be calling me each morning to ask, "What do we got today?" I knew if I wasn't on top of it he would let me know. He also knows the entire town of Vallejo and would constantly set me up to talk with the correct people for a story.
I also had Jack F.K. Bungart to edit stories, including mine. I always thought the stories I turned in were good. He helped make them great.
Finally in 2023, I started to get some help with larger staffs. After my college friend Sean McCourt passed away in 2022, I was the only writer in Vallejo as 2023 began. However, the paper would soon have the talents of Daniel Egitto, Chris Ramirez and Jordan Baker. I especially loved working with Egitto, who in my very humble opinion may have been the best Times-Herald writer in my 14 years on the job. He was fair, thorough, asked the tough questions, got sources to say things on the record and explained issues to the readers as if they were reading about them for the first time. He's taken a new job near his family on the East Coast and the Times-Herald and this reporter will miss him.
The Reporter also picked up some great new journalists. Richard Bammer helped guide me with a lot of wisdom from his three-plus decades in journalism and constantly turned out great copy with the courts as well as feature stories. Nick McConnell also showed up to the paper halfway through the year along with Rebecca Wasik — who has since left to take a job in Davis. I loved working with both of them. McConnell was constantly on the phone with me each morning this year, asking how we should attack a certain story. In my opinion he has covered the issue with California Forever in Solano County better than anyone and I urge you to read his stories.
The same goes for new reporters Lynzie Lowe and Karenna Meyer. Both have only been on the job in Vacaville for a few months, but I can already tell readers will enjoy hundreds of great stories from each of them.
I could go on and on talking about all these reporters, but then I'm breaking my own rule — never make yourself and your paper part of the story. Well, I guess this is a column.
Love me, hate me, kind of respect me, or hope I get run over by a train I say the same thing to all our readers — thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
And that message also goes to all the journalists — whoever you are — both locally and nationally. Keep up the great work. Keep up the fight. When you're down and sulking and wondering if anyone cares about your work and your writing, take a moment and realize that I appreciate it.
Look, I could talk about journalism for hours. After all it's a huge passion of mine. However, the moment has passed. I must flip the ball to the official and get on to the next story. See you in again in 2024.
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