Tuesday, November 18, 2008

By MARK S. VASCHE
mvasche@modbee.com

last updated: September 13, 2008 09:31:57 PM

For generations, the men and women who work at this newspaper have called their product "The Daily Miracle."

While it's not really a miracle in the true sense of the word, The Bee's daily journey from dozens of 1-ton rolls of blank paper to the information-packed finished product that's delivered to tens of thousands of homes and businesses is an amazing accomplishment.

After more than 70 years as The Modesto Bee, our record is perfect: We've never missed a scheduled day of publication.

Which, I think, makes the people who produce The Bee miracle workers.

Why do they do it each and every day? A week ago, I shared some of our reporters' and editors' passion and purpose for what they do. Today, it's my privilege to share more thoughts from The Bee's newsroom.

Dan Day, managing editor/online:

For me, working at The Modesto Bee is not a job. It's a calling. Working as reporters, editors and photographers, we tell the story of our communities. We tell the story of who we are as a people at this place in time: our triumphs, our failures, our faults, our innate human decency. I'm grateful that so many people count on us to deliver the news of the day, and that I'm a part of that effort.

Sue Nowicki, reporter:

Since I started at The Bee more than 25 years ago, I've worked for almost every department in the newsroom and enjoyed all of it. Whether editing or writing for Sports, Business, Local News, the Opinions pages or Features, it's been a privilege to write news, trends, humor and profiles, and even take a few photographs along the way.

For the past two years, I've been telling stories of faith, a subject that stirs passion and arguments and inspiration and, sometimes, tears. It has been exhilarating to write of a woman who lost several family members, yet still is firm in her belief in a loving God; of pastors who often served for years without ever seeing their name in print; of ordinary men and women transformed by God; of Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and Jews, and even the fascinating comments of atheists. I've barely scratched the surface, and plan to pursue more of your stories in the years to come. When the economy is bad, faith becomes even more important to people.

Deke Farrow, features editor:

I do what I do because I'm colorblind, which ended my pursuit of a career in geology. Seriously, though, it's cliché, but it boils down to doing what you love. I've always loved reading, and in particular reading about passionate people doing interesting, creative, artistic, noble and/or heroic things. Making a living reading about them, helping to improve the stories about them, presenting those stories attractively and occasionally even writing such stories myself -- it's a good deal.

Sharon Ghag, features copy editor and writer:

Newspapers are all I've ever known and all I've ever wanted to do. There's something special about putting out a daily paper and having the community respond the next day. That relationship and interaction between the public and the press is what keeps me going. I love everything about my job, but I especially love the readers who call asking me to resend a lost recipe or telling me how a story I wrote affected their lives. I hope readers know they can continue to count on me and The Modesto Bee to be a part of their lives for a very long time.

Lisa Millegan, arts reporter:

I have loved being a journalist for the last 16 years because I get to meet so many interesting people I would never meet otherwise and have experiences I would have never dreamed of. Because of my career, I've gotten to ride in an Army Reserve helicopter under the Golden Gate Bridge, cover Barry Bonds' divorce trial, observe Muslim prayer services, attend Hmong new year celebrations, interview Bernadette Peters and a whole lot more. Plus, I think we contribute a valuable service -- we tell the community what is going on and we don't have an agenda. Sure, anyone can now post a blog or a Web site, but usually they are only about that particular person's interests. At the newspaper, we report about everything. For example, I don't say I don't like country music so I won't report about country music concerts. We work hard to be as open to as many sources of information as possible.

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