It's a simple-enough sentence that some find stunningly obvious, and others totally meaningless.
In taking reporters under his wing, it was the bottom-line piece of advice offered by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Greene, now retired managing editor of Long Island Newsday, and a dear friend and mentor.
That was Bob's way of saying that a good reporter does not intrude on the subject at hand. You don't go into a story with a preconceived idea of what it's about. You let the story tell itself.
"Ah," I hear you saying. "But that's not what I read in the newspapers, or hear on radio and TV. I hear biased reports on everything - and a many of them are anti-Catholic."
You're correct. I've spent decades in the secular press, and there is indeed incredible bias.
The best and most recent example is the national bruhaha over a "silent lunch" policy instituted at St. Rose of Lima School in Warwick.
There was no story. If a reporter had gone into the lunchroom, had spoken with the principal and the teachers, he would have discovered that the kids weren't prevented from talking; they were simply not going to be allowed a cafeteria free-for-all.
That reporter would have gone to the editor and said, "There's no story here." But, hey. Why let the facts stand in the way of a good Catholic bashing?
The good news is, there really are good reporters -- ones like Bob Greene -- who know what their own opinions and ideas are. They don't pretend to be neutral; rather, they strive meticulously to keep their bias out of their writing, to allow the story to "tell itself."
Here in the Diocese of Providence, there are literally thousands of interesting, untold stories. It will be my goal, as editor of The Visitor, to get as many of them into print as possible. We want to establish a dialogue with parishes, priests, congregations, schools, parishioners, kids, that'll encourage you to call up with suggestions and ideas.
I can't count the number of times, during my various incarnations at community newspapers, that my phone has rung and someone has said, shyly, "I don't know if you'll think this is a story, but...." And what a story they've told!
Photographs tell stories too, and in the weeks to come we're going to work out a system that will allow you to share some of the fabulous shots taken at parish events or even in spot news situations.
I'm thrilled to be here, grateful beyond imagining to Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the Search Committee and the Diocese of Providence to be allowed this opportunity to bring us, the people of God in the Catholic community, closer to one another, and closer to Him.
I ask for your prayers, your input, your support. And, oh yeah -- your stories!
(This article originally published in The Providence Visitor)
