{"id":722,"date":"2016-05-20T13:09:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T13:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=722"},"modified":"2016-05-20T13:09:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T13:09:03","slug":"column-confessions-of-a-jaded-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=722","title":{"rendered":"Column: Confessions of a jaded journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kidsingers\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The timing could not have been worse \u2014 or better \u2014 when Ellie Rees called at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

She was at a rehearsal for the 44th annual spring concert program of the Northumberland Christian School. We had spoken previously and the goal was to get a photo and short story in today\u2019s Applause section to let the Valley know about the production. And yet, the assigned freelancer had not stopped in for pictures and the rehearsal was soon over.<\/p>\n

Fresh off writing a quick preview for the Selinsgrove High School Art show, I hung up while trying to hold back a mini-panic attack. Yet another event needed added to a list of other time-sensitive and all-so-worthy local entertainment-based content already planned for this week. A once-roomy 8-page Applause section was drowning fast in local content.<\/p>\n

As I walked to my car for the short 2.5-mile trek to the Emmanuel Fellowship Bible Church, camera in hand, I realized the paradox of the situation.<\/p>\n

Every person who requests coverage for an event sees that activity through their own personal lens.<\/p>\n

It is important.<\/p>\n

It deserves coverage.<\/p>\n

For Ellie, the Northumberland Christian School concert fits that bill. In her mind, it is a worthy event that readers need to know about.<\/p>\n

To Sarah Kelley, an organizer of Lewisburg\u2019s Celebration of the Arts, the preview package of the annual two-week festival in today\u2019s Applause is critical.<\/p>\n

Music directors at Milton and Line Mountain schools are making final preparations for their respective musicals.<\/p>\n

Susquehanna University is gearing up for a special production of \u201cOrpheus Descending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristi Beeler Nobre da Veiga and Kaitlyn Burns are trying to inform the public of their school\u2019s annual art show.<\/p>\n

Van Wagner released his 20th CD. Eric Ian Farmer is prepping for a local gig.<\/p>\n

Countless other events will happen throughout the Valley this weekend. But how was I to get it all in? How was I to properly prioritize which events merited coverage? How was I going to explain to someone that their \u201cmost important thing\u201d was not important enough for a spot in our shrinking Applause section?<\/p>\n

Still lost in a cloud of self-pity, I stepped out of my car and was met with a surprise. Hundreds of young voices rose in harmony so distinct, it couldn\u2019t be contained in the large church\u2019s stone walls. It spilled out into the parking lot, offering a warm musical invitation inside.<\/p>\n

Standing in the large auditorium, the view was just as awe-inspiring as the singing. Two hundred thirty-six students representing a region of the Valley touched by 11 different school districts were on the stage \u2014 children from kindergarten through the senior year of high school. So many voices merged into a blissful serenading sound.<\/p>\n

My mental state went through a Grinch-like, Who-villian transformation. How could anyone listen to the \u201cHallelujah\u201d chorus filtered through 236 amazing young voices and not be affected?<\/p>\n

What a problem to have \u2014 needing to shoehorn in a few more worthy local events into one already-jammed Applause section. The Valley is blessed with amazing local talent and events, and it is our pleasure to share those with our readers each week.<\/p>\n

Your \u201cmost important\u201d event is definitely important to The Daily Item features team, and to our readers. Share your story at jzaktansky@dailyitem.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The timing could not have been worse \u2014 or better \u2014 when Ellie Rees called at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,215],"tags":[709,708,712,711,706,707,710],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-talents","tag-daily-item","tag-ellie-rees","tag-features-editor","tag-newspaper","tag-northumberland-christian-school","tag-spring-concert","tag-sunbury"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}