Reporters always looking for a story

A few weeks ago, it was a seasonally above warm weekend, so a friend of mine decided to host a backyard fire.
I got a ride over to his house, in a south Minneapolis neighborhood, and shortly after, a Minneapolis police officer approached us.
The cop asked us if we were planning on having a get together, and when we told him yes, he suggested we postpone it.
Myself and my friend are journalists, and our friends who were there are naturally nosy people, so we started to figure out what was going on.
Soon we realized, there would be some type of police activity taking place that night, so, of course, we contacted people in the news media we know.
We spent the remainder of the night, listening to police scanners, and my friend, who has a much larger social media following in the Twin Cities than I do, tweeted about what was going on from a first-hand account.
The streets surrounding the home in question were roped off, we gave people a first-hand view of it. When armored trucks came up and down my friend’s alley we were able to get video of that as well.
While I much would rather enjoy sitting by a warm fire with a beverage in my hand enjoying the last of nice weather for a while, the night proved to turn out nice.
It reminded me that a lot of what we do as journalists is to help the community; to keep them informed. To let them know the facts of what is going on when there are large police vehicles roaming their neighborhood, and a police negotiator is on the airhorn.
I was also reminded that a lot of news tips come from readers, and community members.
Oftentimes, when I speak to people, and ask why they didn’t let me know about something, they tell me, something to the effect of “I didn’t think it was that newsworthy.”
The reality is, more often than not, what you may not think is newsworthy is, and reporters generally aren’t going to be upset about getting a news pitch.
Whether it’s a major police activity, a charity event, or anything in between, please reach out with any stories you may have. You can reach us at DCI@kmtel.com