Local Reporters visit Bemidji State Classroom

And Offer advice to Students

By Casey Dainsberg (STORY #3)

Last Tuesday, two local reporters from the community visited a Bemidji State classroom and talked to students. Anne Williams and Bethany Wesley, reporters for the Bemidji Pioneer, gave students a first-hand look into the field of journalism.

Both Wesley and Williams held a variety of positions in the field of journalism before getting their current jobs at the Bemidji Pioneer. Williams graduated in 2007from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with majors in wildlife ecology and journalism. She worked for the campus newspaper, and did two internships that applied to both her majors; first for an outdoors magazine, and then for a daily newspaper writing feature stories. She paid tribute to her experiences, remarking in an e-mail, “I am grateful I went ahead with the unpaid internship. I was still a college student but living the life as a real reporter. I learned more on the job than any class in college.”

Wesley took a different course. She graduated from Southwest State University (presently Southwest Minnesota State University) in the year 2002. Her degree was in creative writing and literature. During her sophomore year, Wesley joined the college newspaper. She did this to fulfill a class requirement; mostly focusing on writing sports and news stories. In her junior year, she got a job at a local daily newspaper where she worked covering sports. “By my senior year, I was working about 25 hours a week in the sports department and serving as the sports editor of the college paper,” stated Wesley in an e-mail.

Wesley and Williams both spent time at several newspapers after their schooling. Before joining the Bemidji Pioneer, Wesley worked at four other newspapers in the metro area as news reporter, sports reporter, editor, and managing editor. Eventually in June of 2007, Wesley joined the Bemidji Pioneer and has since covered city news and the crime reports. Williams started her career in northern Michigan working as a public use coordinator at Seney National Wildlife Refuge. From there she moved to Hackensack, Minn., where she worked as a teacher at Deep Portage Learning Center. After marrying in 2008, she came to Bemidji.  In July of 2009, she became a reporter for the Bemidji Pioneer, where she currently covers education and some outdoor news.

With all these experiences, Williams and Wesley have learned a lot about themselves and their professions. Williams discussed the challenges of her job: “Learning about a very large school district, three charter schools, a university and two colleges and writing about these different institutions continues to be a learning process.” She went on to describe challenges when it comes to keeping up with technology. “I deal with the computer program we type our stories in,” she said, “working with the Associated Press, updating our Web site, blogging and checking the Web sites of organizations like the Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota Colleges and Universities.”

In addition, Wesley said that one of her greatest challenges is “I get restless…sometimes, if you stay in the same position long enough, you get lazy. You know your contacts and you tend to rely on your favorites more than you should.”

When asked what they wanted their readers to get out the articles, Williams replied, “I would like readers to get an accurate and objective report of what has occurred or what is about to occur.” She does this by asking herself “How will this impact the community?” Wesley said she wants her readers to understand “The truth of what happened. That is your main goal of being a reporter: accurate coverage.”

“Expose yourself to as many different situations and experiences as you can.” Wesley said in her e-mail, giving advice to Journalism and Mass Communication students, “never underestimate experience…I got a much better reception [at job fairs] because I had written on deadline, knew how to do layout and could cover everything from sports to news. “ she continued, saying “Trust me, the grades are nice and all, but employees - especially now - are looking to hire people who can sit down and punch out copy on Day 1.” Williams had similar advice, saying “Get involved. Join the student newspaper,” and “Take a graphic design class. Today reporters are expected to know page layout and even web design.”

Word Count: 699

Bethany Wesley, Reporter for the Bemidji Pioneer
(Used with permission, photo from Bethany Wesley)