Covering the coronavirus near and far has been the most solitary work of my four-decade career in journalism.
Other reporters have mentioned in this space that we journalists run toward the fires and crises. We aren’t hard-wired for social distancing.
But this is a different time. We’ve all had to find new ways to ask the same burning questions: Who? When? Where? What? How? And most importantly, Why?
For editorial writers like me, the liberal at our paper, that also means asking more opinionated questions. How did we get in this mess? Why didn’t we prepare better? Or at times we unabashedly offer praise for the unsung hero who stepped up to lead us out of whatever conundrum confronted our community.
Yes, I’m opinionated. It’s my job. I trade in opinion. Reporters and other editors trade in objectivity.