From One Shore to Next, News Is News

Reporters, I learned a few days ago, are the same the world over. I am an editor for the Shanghai Liberation Daily, a paper comparable in circulation to The Times Orange County Edition. I have been traveling through America for a month visiting newspapers to learn how we are similar and how we are different.

My 12:30 p.m. luncheon appointment with Narda Zacchino, editor of The Times Orange County Edition, began late. Cocktails had just been served but we had not yet ordered our food, and Narda was explaining her duties. A jet-engine-like rumble stopped Narda in mid-sentence as tableware scattered and glasses toppled, spilling beer and cola over my pants.

Narda stood, announcing: “We have to get out of here and back to the office.” We left without a thought to the bill as bewildered waiters followed our exit.

The 4.6 magnitude earthquake was centered in Newport Beach, 3 close miles away. This was more than I had hoped for. I had come to America to observe and question editors and reporters. Now I was in on the ground floor of a breaking story.

Surprise was my initial reaction on entering the city room. Everyone was quietly busy, seemingly knowing exactly what was expected of them. Although the mood was urgent, no one ran around in a frenzied mood.

Staff writer Mark Pinsky sat me down at his desk and pulled up a story on his computer screen. To my amazement, it was the first take on the earthquake--this only 17 minutes after the jolt.

From Mark’s desk I wandered into the library, where a staffer was busily printing out from the computerized morgue every item that could be used as background for subsequent stories on the Newport quake.

“What a resource,” I thought. Here in Orange County one man and one machine generated information at a speed Liberation Daily could not hope to match . . . just yet.

But I am determined that soon Liberation Daily will have its own computer bank as well. Chinese and English may be written differently, but reporters are reporters no matter where. News is news. That is what I’ve learned here. This is what the earthquake crisis taught me.