‘Big shoes to fill’: Modesto Bee hires new business beat reporter focused on local news
Let me not bury the lead. I’m elated to announce that after a year as a breaking news intern at The Sacramento Bee, and nearly a year of service journalism here in Modesto, I am moving forward as The Modesto Bee’s newest restaurant and business reporter.
One reader saw it coming, apparently, as he unknowingly sent me an email the day I had applied for the job, welcoming me into the role. (Thanks for writing it into existence for me, Sam).
My mentor at The Modesto Bee, restaurant and business reporter Marijke Rowland, said in her farewell column, “It takes more courage to pin your dreams on a place like the Central Valley than those big renowned metropolises.”
She was talking about people she covered in her beat — small-business owners, local artists. They could’ve traveled to San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc., where people think dreams are made. Instead, they planted roots where they’ve also grown.
She was taking about those people, and she was also talking about me. Anyone who knows me knows that I have no desire to leave the Central Valley. Crazy, right?
From the time I went to college to be a reporter, I said, “I want to work for The Modesto Bee. I want to cover the community I grew up in.”
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The reason small communities are great is because of people who don’t give up on them. People who don’t think they’re bigger and better than where they’re from (and they may be) and leave it. I want to be bigger and better and make my community bigger and better with me.
For me, it’s not a matter of, “I deserve more, so I’m going somewhere I can seek that.” It’s, “My community deserves more, so I’m going to give it to them.”
I’m incredibly sad that my mentor left The Bee. The news is bittersweet, though, because what better way to honor her than do what she did. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. Right, Marijke?
For such a small person in stature, Marijke left big shoes to fill. Still, I’m excited to keep the Biz Beat column alive, covering (and testing) what’s opening and closing in Stanislaus County and other business news. I hope to earn the community’s trust in delivering this coverage, as Marijke did over her 26-year tenure at The Bee.
I’ll miss answering all of your Bee Curious questions, but don’t stop being curious about what’s going on in your community.
I look forward to working with those interesting and innovative people whom Marijke talked so highly about. I’ll officially start the role on Feb. 26 — though I’ll be delivering as much business news as possible as I transition. More soon, Stanislaus.
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