My first (pandemic) job: Journalist Chanel Stitt

March 18, 2022

In our series on the work lives of recent grads, 鈥19 alum Chanel Stitt talks about covering the news from home.

Chanel Stitt on graduation day in 2019.
Chanel Stitt on graduation day in 2019.

Chanel Stitt (鈥19 BA) had journalism on her career radar from an early age. As she remembers it, her top two dreams were newspaper and broadcast reporter. The truth-north goal was a gig as a reporter for CNN, and if all went well, eventually a talk show with her name on it. For sure, during her years in the UM-Dearborn journalism and screen studies program, she was racking up the kinds of experiences that could put her on that path. On campus, she worked as a copy editor and, later, editor-in-chief for the student newspaper, the Michigan Journal. And she did an internship tour through newsrooms at the Ann Arbor News, the Detroit Free Press, and Local 4 鈥 Detroit鈥檚 NBC affiliate. At least for the first part of that run, she got to live the journalist鈥 life she鈥檇 seen in the movies: chasing down stories, pitching ideas in lively team meetings, learning from veteran editors and writers. The times she got to tag along with former Detroit TV reporter Koco McAboy as she did breaking news from crime scenes, recorded voice overs and produced spots in time for the evening newscast were particularly memorable.

Then, in early March 2020, while she was in the middle of her Ann Arbor News internship, that busy rhythm came to a sudden end. 鈥淢arch 11, I鈥檒l never forget that day. I think I wrote eight stories about all the closings and cancellations,鈥 Stitt told us. 鈥淚 remember getting a tip about toilet paper being out at the stores, so I traveled out to Meijer and Sam鈥檚 Club and Walmart to cover all the panic buying that was going on. I even did a little bit of that myself 鈥 the necessities 鈥 nacho chips and Reese鈥檚 cups. And then they sent us home, and we watched the world shut down. Before, there was so much collaboration. It was a pretty small newsroom, but it was a big open coworking space, and we were constantly bouncing ideas off each other. Once we went home, everything became a big chat room.鈥

The pandemic has colored every part of her work life since. The remainder of that internship was remote, as was her subsequent one at the Detroit Free Press. When she landed her first post-graduation job at the Freep as a small business reporter, that was remote too. Her first boss on the breaking news team 鈥 she still hasn't met in person. The noisy newsroom vibe is gone, and taking its place is a combination of Microsoft Teams, Zoom, phone calls and group chats that at least keep the news flowing. But Stitt says it鈥檚 definitely been a struggle at times. During the pandemic, she experienced writer鈥檚 block for the first time. And the distractions of working from home scrambled her schedule, especially early on. Interviews and writing happened in between doing the dishes and cooking meals, leaving her with a feeling that you were 鈥渘ever really logged off.鈥 

She鈥檚 found some ways of coping. Change of venue has become a go-to strategy, and mixing in hours at libraries, favorite coffee shops, and occasionally, the office, provides a distraction-free work setting when she needs it. And she created a group chat for all the young people who started at the Freep around the same time she did, which was especially helpful for those coming in from out of state. Last summer, when COVID numbers were down and outdoor dining was up, people from the group occasionally got together at local bars to hang out. 鈥淭he people on the team who鈥檇 been there for years were a pretty tight-knit group, so I think it helped us new folks feel like we weren鈥檛 all alone.鈥

Not that it鈥檚 all been a struggle. Stitt says she and a lot of her colleagues love the flexibility of not always having to be in the office 鈥 and skipping the commute, which now feels like wasted time. And she likes that people seem to be more emotionally tuned into each other. 鈥淏efore the pandemic, how common was it for someone to ask you how you were doing and really mean it? Now we鈥檙e doing that all the time, and I like that people seem to be more empathetic about what might be going on in someone鈥檚 life beyond work.鈥 In addition, . She鈥檚 enjoyed covering all the creative ways business owners have found to keep their doors open, and how the community seems to have developed a new understanding of the importance of small business. When owners give her a ring to tell her how her stories have brought in new customers, it鈥檚 always pretty gratifying.

Having now glimpsed the traditional newsroom experience and logged two years of remote work, she鈥檚 curious to see what comes back from the old days and what new tricks will stick around. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot about working remotely that I like, but I can鈥檛 wait until I can walk into the office and see everyone there,鈥 Stitt says. 鈥淚 think the way that we can collaborate and be social can help us grow as a team. Over Zoom or Teams, we鈥檙e working with profile pictures and just typing to each other, and I鈥檓 a really hands-on person.鈥 The day that she and a co-worker can gather around the same piece of paper, with a red pen, marking up a draft together is going to be one to remember.

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Story by Lou Blouin. For more in our series, check out "My first (pandemic) job: Software engineer Farzana Fariha."