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“Behind the Byline” introduces you to those who write stories, take photos, design pages and edit the content we deliver in our print editions and on pressdemocrat.com. We are more than journalists. As you will see, we are also your neighbors with unique backgrounds and experiences that proudly live in Sonoma County.
Today we introduce you to business journalist Bill Swindell, who covers agriculture and the beer and wine industry.
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Twenty years ago, I was at the yellow line stop at the Pentagon subway station in Arlington, Virginia, as I walked to my congressional cover job for the Congressional Quarterly.
It was the era before smartphones, where we were all less tied to the latest news and a commute on public transport meant reading the print edition of The Washington Post.
The rest of the day quickly unfolded like a fast-forwarding movie. It was difficult to immediately deal with the developments once I saw the subway manager sprinting from his station cabin and a woman rushing onto the train panting and calling on God to save her.
As the train emerged above the ground to cross the Potomac River, the sight of the large plume of black smoke rising from the Pentagon was shocking.
The man next to me said planes had crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and our country was under attack.
The train was heading for the United States Capitol, which some analysts would have been the destination of United Flight 93 if its passengers hadn’t fought the hijackers and instead crashed it in a rural Pennsylvania pasture.
After arriving at the Capitol, I could see that Hill employees were going through various stages of nervousness, fear and panic.
Fear permeated the air as people wandered aimlessly in search of information. Others were trying to figure out where to go as the concept of remote working was years away.
All everyone knew was that they had to get away from the Capitol buildings.
Cell phones did not work after repeated testing. I couldn’t reach my parents to tell them I was fine.
The only information relayed was on the beep attached to my belt which counted all the press conferences that were canceled.
Amidst the confusion I found a coworker and we both decided to do what reporters do once the big news hits: head for the newsroom even if that meant a brisk 3+ mile walk in dress shoes.
I don’t remember much of our conversation as we walked the streets.
But I remember the snipers on the rooftops, the crowd of workers avoiding the subway since it could be a potential target, and I remember a group of young Hill employees walking out of a convenience store. with a pack of 24 beers to probably watch the events unfold on a TV in someone’s house.
Years later, as a seasoned journalist, I do the same as an editor for The Press Democrat when the big news breaks. This has been especially the case when deadly wildfires have hit our region in recent years – even though our newsroom is more remote in practice now due to COVID-19.
The early morning shutdowns during the Tubbs and Kincade fires allowed me to connect with the editors and start reporting to make sense of the disasters, although like others I was under order to evacuate my home and didn’t know where I would sleep the next night.
The Glass fire last September didn’t allow it as I rushed to the Silverado Trail in Napa County to leave the scene of the massive fire.
But, I checked in via SMS, emails and phone calls and deposit stories in my car parked outside the Calistoga Library using its reliable public Wi-Fi.
Although I have aged, my job remains the same: to report accurately and on time major events in times of crisis.
It is also a matter of providing context afterwards, such as the lack of consumer protection for home insurance coverage for victims of forest fires, which resulted in legislative measures. changes.
However, the job over the past 20 years has become much more difficult for two main reasons: the advent of social media and the cutbacks in most newsrooms across the country.
There are benefits to social media as many of you can read or share this article from a link through Facebook or Twitter. It also has major drawbacks, as misinformation and misinformation can spread quickly.
The press is the main bulwark in this fight.
This was certainly the case with our local fires where cellars were said to have been destroyed, but were in fact spared.
I acted as clearinghouse in 2017 to provide accurate information on the wine sector from reliable sources. It was a role on a team that earned our Pulitzer Prize winning coverage for breaking news.
Every day, media organizations play a crucial role in our democracy by uncovering the truth and exposing false claims, which have been magnified during the pandemic for the past 18 months.
But this work comes as local newspapers across the country have been gutted by a combination of declining print media subscribers and fewer big box advertisers.
Yet I also realize that I am fortunate enough to have local ownership at The Press Democrat, which is committed to making investments to produce top quality journalism and increase the newsroom budget under the direction of our new editor.
The stakes are high because democracy cannot function without precise information placed in its context and reported without fear or favoritism, whether it is about who is finance a recall campaign or understand ramifications of water shortage in our region.
In the future, I look forward to seeing these promises come true given the vast benefits of such investments for readers like you; the strength of our local communities; and my colleagues and I, who will be leaving the next time a big story comes out with or without a central newsroom.
You can reach editor Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or [email protected]. On Twitter @BillSwindell.
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