Yes, I left the newsroom but I kept the journalism

Chuck Maulden, former boss on his exit day

Thirty-three years working inside a newsroom is enough. It just is. I started at KOLR10, a CBS affiliate in Springfield, MO in 1987 after graduating with a BS in Communications with a broadcast emphasis. I was 25 and still had so much to learn about reporting the news.

My mentors are too many to mention but the standouts shaped everything I knew about fairness, professionalism and holding the powerful accountable. In journalism, we strive to seek the truth, act independently while doing it and minimize harm to those impacted by our reporting. I learned the craft by producing upwards of 10,000 newscasts over three decades. I would never have been a News Director without the wisdom of Mike Peters, Polly Van Doren-Orr, Steve Snyder, and Chuck Maulden, to name a few. If I sought the most ethical course of action in my decisions it was because of them.

But in 2021, after steering the room through Covid, I knew it was enough. Leaving a building that I knew as well as my own home wasn't easy but it was necessary. There's a world out there and I wanted the last section of my life to contain its mysteries and blessings. Newsrooms take all your energy and it was time to devote some to new adventures.

I've always wanted to be an author. Retirement gave me the hours to push forward with this dream and in my Visions of Murder series, I was able to send a love letter to the career that had been so rewarding. Bekka Douglas is a fictional character but her grind as a reporter is shaped by my own experiences. In three decades, I collected a good amount of newsroom wisdom and you'll see it between the pages.

Are you at a crossroads in your career? Maybe you also have a dream you'd like to realize. Quitting the paycheck wasn't an easy decision but I've never looked back, never regretted the choice. Each day is open to new possibilities like writing, soap making, crafting, volunteering, the ideas are endless.