THE ANONYMOUS NEWS GATHERER
The Anonymous News Gatherer By Steve Douglass When people ask me what I do for a living, I reply: "My job is to find newsworthy information for people more attractive than me to front and take credit for." If this were a spy movie, I wouldn’t be the one stepping out of a black car in a tailored coat. I'd be the guy wearing headphones, staring at screens in the van. I work behind the scenes, where the lighting is bad, and the bylines are nonexistent. I dig, verify, cross-check, and connect dots that pretend not to know each other. I develop inside sources slowly—over coffee, cautious texts, and long pauses where trust is built by not filling the silence. I monitor radio airwaves for anything that might matter: fragments, static, half-sentences that don’t realize yet they’re about to become headlines. My name is never on the story, but sometimes a reporter will feel generous and put my name on the photos. Even still, my name is never on the awards certif...
