Editor’s Note: Beat notes is a weekly feature from Dispatch journalists who share what’s been happening in their area of coverage and upcoming events. This week we hear from Belinda M. Paschal, who covers features, entertainment and things to do.
What I cover
As features, entertainment and things to do reporter for The Dispatch, my beat comprises multiple disciplines including music, dance, theater, film, and visual art. Each discipline spans a broad range of artistic expression. For example, music coverage could involve dressing up for the opera one night and dressing down for an alternative rock show the next.
In the course of reporting on events, I often encounter fascinating people with stories that should be shared. In one instance, I’d written a feature about a teen magazine and through the editor, I met a gentleman from Nigeria whose rise from poverty to prosperity is detailed in my feature about “new” Americans celebrating Thanksgiving.
It’s also my job to keep my eyes and ears open for entertainment news, including reaching out to the community for input. That’s where the “things to do” part comes in. Each week finds me swimming in a sea of submissions seeking coverage of events that don’t fall neatly into the other areas of my beat — for example, a Victorian ladies’ tea or an archaeological event for kids. Happenings like these might end up in the weekly “10 things to do” column.
This is my beat in a nutshell. The list of what I don’t do is much shorter than what I do because Columbus has such a rich arts and entertainment history to explore, as well as a vibrant, thriving community today and a new generation of emerging talent.
Working my beat
Other than obsessively checking my email, there isn’t really a routine day on my beat. As Robert Burns wrote, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” and my to-do list often gets put on hold so I can pivot and tackle a more pressing story.
This is especially true heading into the summer, when festival and concert season gets underway. Almost every day brings news of a big-name act coming to town, which can lead to one of my favorite parts of my beat: Interviewing other creatives.
Working with artists — or more specifically, their “people” — takes persistence, patience and persuasion. Often, it pays off in the form of a great interview. Other times, the door slams in your face, you take the loss and move on.
But it’s not all glitz, glamour and celebrity encounters. Sometimes it’s sorting through volumes of submissions for my weekly list of 10 things to do in central Ohio. I guess it’s a good thing I’m so compulsive about saving and organizing my email.
Favorite recent story
In August, I spent the day at The Wilds, a conservation center and safari park sprawling across 10,000 acres in Muskingum County. With Dispatch photographer Adam Cairns, I learned about the center’s efforts to protect threatened and endangered animals through captive breeding programs, ecological recovery and educating the public.
I’ve been to many zoos but seeing rhinos, zebras and myriad other critters up close and free of enclosures was a truly awe-inspiring experience.
Pitch your ideas
If you have entertainment-related story ideas, tips about upcoming events or thoughts about what you’d like to see me cover, I’m just a few keystrokes away, eagerly awaiting your email at [email protected].
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.dispatch.com ’
