Question Everything

Aug. 10, 2009 will be the last day of my media career. It has been quite a memorable ride.

In March of 1994, I requested and accepted an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy after I helped decommission the USS Sterett, a guided missile cruiser on which I served as a supervisor in one of its two engineering plants. My 12 years in the military had come to an end. And despite having numerous awards and accolades after serving aboard two combat ships through four major deployments, as well as a successful four-year tour as a Navy Recruiter, when I look back on that career my fondest memories are of the incredible experiences I had with the sailors with whom I served.

My start in media

That same year, I walked into a small publishing company in Southern California and made the president of that company an offer he couldn't refuse. I simply volunteered to empty trash, sweep floors and keep the place tidy if he would allow me to hang around and learn. Six months later I was his editorial director. A few months into that job, I approached him with an idea to start a community newspaper. Meanwhile, I initiated a partnership with the local YMCA and a nearby sprawling apartment complex that housed many at-risk kids caught in the crossfire of two rival gangs (Bloods and Crips). I then also became the director of a unique after school program for at-risk youth, which garnered regional attention and a leadership award from the local ABC television affiliate.

That led to a number of talk radio guest appearances ... and ultimately a job as the host of my own talk radio program. The success of that program led to another when the station was bought by a Christian media corporation.

My start in newspapers

A few years later, while freelance writing for a national public policy organization and working as the special projects director for a national nonprofit that was focused on the uplifting of inner city families and lobbying political leaders in Washington, another opportunity came my way ... working at a newspaper. It was a weekly in Southern California that was sandwiched between the territories of two large dailies and just south of the territory of the LA Times. The job grew on me as I grew into it.

From the publisher to the front desk office manager, those folk became my adopted family. I loved them all. It was an incredible experience and I learned so much as we worked together to fend off encroachment upon our circulation area by two Goliaths. We won numerous SPJ awards and I received my very first journalism award for my weekly column. Our success led to a coop agreement with the LA Times — and my visionary publisher expanded north to start another weekly paper. Meanwhile, I was traveling with a popular author, making guest appearances with various media including CNN and Fox News to speak on hot topics, and even acted as a parttime political campaign manager for a California Assembly candidate.

Then, it all came to an end.

End of my media career

I left to go back to my hometown of Houston, Texas and help a member of my family through some tough times. My career was over.

In Texas, I began making calls after some settling of the family difficulties. The Houston Chronicle opened the door. I was back!

Well, not really. I was freelancing. But it was the opportunity I needed to get back in the saddle. Soon, I found a fulltime gig writing for a company that owned more than two dozen community newspapers. The publisher made me promise to stay at least one full year. I was happy to make that promise. I had been quite surprised at the level of difficulty I had getting back into the media business. The Chronicle had a probation period that didn't suit me nor my bill collectors. On the flip side I was finding the doors closed elsewhere because I was "over-qualified."

Humbling period

At one point, I was willing to do anything to get fulltime work. I even applied at fast food restaurants. I recall one particularly humbling moment when I was turned down by Wendy's for the job of manager trainee.

I had successfully managed propulsion engineering crews on combat ships sailing around the world. I was the first black man to ever receive Sailor of the Year aboard the USS Anchorage, a ship that carried Marines and SEALS to combat regions. I received nearly every award the Navy had to give in recruiting and I trained others as the manager of a recruiting station in east rural Texas. And yes, I was the first black recruiter to fill that position.

But I couldn't get a job as a manager trainee at a Wendy's restaurant! It was demoralizing.

I applied everywhere I could think of. I scoured the want ads and used online tools to search as well. I was a man on a mission. Looking for a job was my fulltime job. Meanwhile, I was staying with family ... taking up space and feeling bad about it.

Eventually, I recognized a pattern emerging. I could quickly and easily gain a callback for an interview when prospective employers received my resume via mail or e-mail. A phone conversation inevitably led to an invitation to interview for the position. Then nothing. No callback. No letter with the opening remarks, "We are sorry to inform you ..."

Just silence. Dead insulting silence.

Career revived

And that's why I was willing to work for much less than I knew I was worth. I was willing to guarantee a full year, though I knew I would keep trying to find an opportunity. I was willing to accept what I could get.

It turned out to be the very best opportunity available to me.

I didn't work as a reporter for a weekly newspaper on the west side of Houston ... I worked for two. I wrote stories and took photographs as a news reporter for one and did exactly the same thing as a sports reporter for a second paper published out of the same newsroom. I covered two different regional territories for both news and sports, including covering sports teams at four high schools.

Still, my editor and publisher were worth their weight in gold. I set my own schedule and sought out my own stories. I kept both papers filled with relevant content and created a stir at the Houston Chronicle when it was beat on several stories by a small weekly ... and one reporter. The number of Chronicle reporters covering my territory grew from one to three ... all within a year's time.

The most interesting part of it all was that the editor and publisher of those weekly papers became my friends.

Important Relationships

A pattern was established. My first editor and publisher in SoCal were as close to me as family. And as I look back on a grueling task I took on in Houston, the fondest memories are of the friendships established in the office and throughout the communities I served.

Huge Relationship

But life took yet another twist. I reunited with a long lost love while I was in Houston. Emily was in Southern Oregon. Our long distance romance blossomed and I invited her to visit me in Houston. She arrived on a hot, muggy day when the temperature soared around 180 degrees and the humidity was so high we lost five pounds in sweat just getting from the airport terminal to the car.

During her visit that's when it became apparent that if I were to marry this woman, I would have to do something that seemed to be part of the pattern of my life ... leave my career.

Emily wasn't enamored with the tropical weather of Houston — and even when I received an offer for a position as an editor at my paper, she could not be convinced. I had to move to Medford.

End of my media career

Easy come, easy go. Well, except this rebound had not come easy. I had found a doorway back into a journalism career I loved. I worked 12- to 16-hour days and produced good work consistently. I was on the verge of being rewarded and instead I was submitting my letter of resignation. After one full year, just past the date I was hired, I left.

My career was over.

I arrived in Medford wondering what the future would hold for me. I was unemployed, engaged to be married and living with my fiancee's grandparents in Grants Pass. This was not the best planned approach to reinventing myself.

Meanwhile, I landed a job as a reporter in Brookings at the Coastal Pilot. The editor wanted me to hit the ground running and cover the political climate that was heating up as elections neared. All I had to do was show up and get started. But before I left for Brookings, I had lunch with the editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. He asked if I would work together with him to make the Tidings the best small newspaper in the state. I would inaugurate a new position that required knowledge of both print and online operations — Content Editor.

I love that kind of challenge.

Change of plans

The trip to Brookings was to meet, greet and offer my sincere thanks and apologies. I thought to myself, 'Here I am again turning down a job.'

Incredible Adventure

The following four-and-a-half years at the Daily Tidings was an incredible ride. The doors that opened for me energized my spirit; and the Source from which all knowledge and wisdom springs, rained down upon me a flood of creativity and opportunity.

Working with a newsroom of eager minds and hearts filled with desire, the challenge issued on that fateful day by a competitive editor was both met, then surpassed by a newsroom that contained tons of hidden talent. The journey toward reaching such a lofty goal pulled together a group of people from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and beliefs and made us more than a winning team ... we became family. And I found yet another editor I would add to my growing list of friends.

Important Relationships

Now, after taking advantage of doors opened by that incredible editor, I find myself looking back on friendships formed across the country at the New York Times, Maynard Media Institute at Harvard, the Detroit Free Press, the newsroom of CNN.com and the list goes on.

As I finish out my last week in the news media industry — after tendering my resignation more than a week ago — I realize that I'm nowhere near as nervous or fearful as I have been on previous occasions when this time has come. I feel at peace. I know it is time for yet another transition in my life. I've also realized that I'm not married to a career, but rather to service to a God who governs my life.

Today, as I look back over my time at the Tidings, I am not as impressed by the 70+ awards we've received during my time here as I am by the people who achieved those accomplishments. Even the coveted Best Web site award, bestowed upon our newsroom just recently, pales in comparison to the reward I received working beside such an incredible array of marvelous and talented people. They constantly amaze me. 

Friends and Faces

When I look back on my career in media, the memories will be similar to those conjured when I think of my military career. I will think of the relationships. I will see the faces. I will hear the laughter that was a hallmark of working in this newsroom and the ones before it. The laughter is what made work feel like fun. And it is what turned co-workers and bosses into friends.

In similar fashion to serving alongside fellow sailors, the relationships forged while enduring the valleys and surviving together in a chaotic newsroom can create lasting memories. Equally memorable are the many times we experienced the joys of achievement and success … together. At the end of each journey, my memory is filled with the relationships established along the way — faces of people with whom I have shared life's experiences.

My media career is filled with those faces. The committed face of a serious partner in pursuing social justice through journalism. The numerous faces of innocent at-risk youth who hungered for attention and direction. The wacky wonderful personalities in talk radio. My dear "Denny's Crew" in Southern California. The eclectic, energetic Dynamic Duo in Texas. My Maynard family at Harvard. The venerable New York Times fellows. And the many changing faces of the Tidings' newsroom revolving around the ever-present city and sports editors. I will miss so many of those faces.

Leaving one's career can sometimes mean looking back upon the faces of so many people and wondering what will they think of me? How did I influence their minds and hearts? What lasting impression did I leave, if any?

My hope is each will testify that I worked every day as though I were working for the Lord — and that I cared about each of them as much as I care about myself.

Farewell media career ... until we meet again.