Finding La Mesa stories

At our members’ coffee last Friday, Bonnie Baranoff came prepared. The local volunteer leader had a list of ideas for future articles. It was impressive that every idea she had was such a relevant, timely, newsworthy idea, from CalFresh and MediCal eligibility changing April 1 to Produce Good’s struggles to comply with SB 1383 while the city is under fruit fly quarantine. 

I’ve met people with the misconception that as a reporter I know everything going on in the community (maybe if my coverage area was only five blocks wide) or that there is secret information I’m privy to through my millions of contacts in government (this is access journalism, and I’m not good enough at schmoozing to make it work). 

In truth, it feels like the opposite happens more often. I am more likely to learn from that person about their community. People have asked me questions, made false statements I want to correct or shared something I didn’t know that others might be interested in too. All these conversations have led to articles.

Some stories I do get from my own observations. I covered the Social Security office protest because I saw it, week after week, still going strong. I am working on an article about the lack of public bathrooms in San Diego inspired by my own experiences feeling like some public spaces are inaccessible to me without a gender-neutral bathroom. 

Increasingly, social media is used to find story ideas. You can at minimum find out what people are outraged about, like a new Planet Fitness taking over the Big Lots spot, info that made the rounds on Nextdoor. 

But getting story tips from people like Bonnie is still one of the best ways to find out what readers might want to know. Is there a topic you think needs more coverage? Any story tips I can follow up on? I turn the mic to you.