Scott’s newsroom grads remember their mentor
Most of the young reporters who learned their trade from Sally Scott in the 1960s, 70s and 80s are now retired themselves.
But their memories of The Union Democrat newsroom, of the lessons they learned from Sally and of being journalists starting their careers remain vivid.
Yes, we all honed our craft all those decades ago, but we also began friendships that — as attested to by our regular Sonora reunions — have stayed strong over the years.
Below are the recollections of a few of Sally’s alums. The list incomplete: There are many more of her protégés I could have reached out to who have equally poignant and revealing memories.
But, as the stories involved in her memoir already total over 4,000 words, both space and deadline have become issues.
“Chris,” I can hear Sally Scott ordering from the great beyond. “FILE THAT STORY!!”
But Sally likely would not have wanted this piece written at all. Journalists should never be part of the story, she would tell us. Our jobs were instead to objectively report what happened, keep our uninformed opinions to ourselves, and, of course, finish those stories on time.
But when it comes to Scott, we graduates of the school of journalism she taught at 84 South Washington St. now have informed opinions on our collective mentor, coach and occasional drill sergeant. It’s time to share a few of those:
Sharon Marovich, 1969-72, as well as submissions up to present day: Sally was the perfect fit as managing editor. She thrived on local news and expected stories to be accurate, timely, comprehensive and interesting. She could sense when a story lacked important details, even when she was unfamiliar with the subject.
Publisher Harvey Mcgee and Sally were 10 years into putting out the paper when I joined The Democrat’s staff in 1969. To describe me as a cub reporter was an exaggeration. I was a wannabe journalist with no experience.
Sally believed in learning on the job, so in my first week I went to meetings of the Sonora City Council, the Board of Supervisors and the Sonora High trustees. Being a city girl, I had no idea what was significant. Gently and patiently, Sally taught me that the Mother Lode Roundup was a huge local event, that the Brown Act was designed to keep the public’s business public and that school district budgets are complicated.
I sat at a desk directly in front of Sally’s, so handing in my stories was easy. Getting them back with her edits was a challenge.
Every community event, activity, public meeting and political issue merited space in the paper, as did the people who made them happen. Whether it was bowling league tallies or grand jury investigations, Sally wanted people to read about it in The Democrat before a very efficient local grapevine made it old news.
But a surprise special edition announcing my engagement to Tom Marovich, Tuolumne County’s district attorney, was my favorite takeaway from my career at the paper. After the regular press run on Oct. 21, 1971, 200 more copies rolled off with a totally different front page: Where crime, punishment, political intrigue and traffic congestion once reigned were photographs of Tom and me with a big, bold headline: “Romance links newsroom and courthouse.” And I know that the added cherubs, hearts and cupid himself were Sally’s touch.
(Sharon never returned to full-time journalism after leaving The Union Democrat, but she has an avid interest in Tuolumne County history and has regularly submitted interesting pieces on the area’s past to the paper. A staunch Democrat, she for 35 years served as chairman of the party’s county central committee. Marovich is also active in local politics and has served on the Sonora City Council.)
Diane Nelson, 1980-82:
My best break in journalism was having Sally as an editor. She taught me lessons I carried throughout my career and beyond.
Be accurate: Readers need a source they can trust, especially when the issues are hot, the stakes are high and no one is listening to each other. Pay attention and present the facts. Maybe this is naïve in today’s climate of disinformation, but I still find hope in Sally’s conviction.
Be yourself: In the early 1980s, we reporters were a quirky bunch. We were young, wide-eyed and convinced we could change the world. Some of us wrote reams of copy, others struggled with every word.
In the midst of one such struggle of my own, Sally laid down the law: “Diane, file that story now or I’m unplugging your computer!”
We were characters, and Sally Scott helped us find our unique voices. She taught me that stories matter, and that we build better communities by listening closely and illuminating people’s needs.
I’m still lousy at deadlines. But Sally encouraged me to shine a light.
(Diane went on to violate deadlines over 18 years as a reporter, columnist and editor at the Modesto Bee. She recently retired as a science writer at UC Davis.)
Russell Frank (198588): I came to The Union Democrat with zero experience — no journalism classes in college and no reporting for a student newspaper. It showed: When I returned to the newsroom after my first foray into the mind-numbing world of allday budget hearings, Sall waylaid me, eager to hear how much the Board of Supervisors planned to spend in the next fiscal year. I had no idea.
But I quickly got comfortable with life in the newsroom, maybe too comfortable. My desk was at the far end of the room, alongside those of fellow reporters Michaela Jarvis (who went on to report for the San Francisco Chronicle) and Patty Fuller (who later became The Democrat’s managing editor).
We were like the kids who sit in the back of the classroom, yucking it up when the teacher’s back was turned! Sally didn’t much like to reprimand a bunch of supposed grownups, but with the clock ticking toward deadline, she’d march over to our end of the room and order us to cool it with the “jocularity.” We’d fall silent, then resume talking quietly, then back at full volume — laughing and joking while banging on our keyboards — until Sally’s next visit.
I applied for a job at The Union Democrat the way a young person might apply for a job waiting tables or checking groceries — to tide myself over before embarking on a real career. But I enjoyed the experience so much that I wound up working for three newspapers as a reporter, editor and columnist, then went on to teach journalism at Penn State University, where I’m about to enter my 25th year.
I’ll always be grateful to Harvey Mcgee and Sally Scott for taking a chance on me.
(Russell Frank lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Han Wingate
— who also happens to be a former Union Democrat reporter.)
Rick Laplante (197680, 1982-84):
I was a snotnosed 22-year-old knowit-all when I was hired as sports editor in 1976. I didn’t really listen to anyone, not even Harvey, when I started, and had very little interaction with Sally.
Two years later, when I came back as The Democrat’s city editor, I was in over my head. I had never line-edited anyone else’s copy nor had I been in any sort of leadership position. Sally covered for me, time and time again, and patiently helped me develop in new areas. She obviously had the same impact on many of us.
(Rick went on to cover the A’s, Giants, Stanford football and international soccer, as well as writing a column for the Peninsula Times Tribune in Palo Alto. He later was press officer for the 1994 World Cup and media relations director for San Jose’s MLS team. Rick concluded his career as city editor for the Fremont Argus and as public information director for the New Haven Unified School District in nearby Union City.)
Teresa Baggot (197883): Sally was a person of great integrity, with dedication to quality through community journalism. She worked hard and expected us reporters to do the same. She could be tough, because she was focused on upholding the paper’s reputation as reliable and comprehensive.
Many of us arrived in Sonora right out of college, and Sally whipped us into shape, setting us up for success in our careers. But she also had a heart for her staff: She encouraged story ideas and offered sage advice. She brought food and beer to our election-night vigils at the office.
We knew she cared. And we saw her immense joy at our periodic reunions as the years went by. Sally played an important part in encouraging a cherished, almost familial bond among the staff that has held almost 40 years now.
(A highlight of Teresa’s Democrat stint: First interviewing Mark Dubois, an activist who had famously chained himself to a rock in the Stanislaus River Canyon to protest its ongoing inundation behind New Melones Dam. And then — thanks to the paper’s timely deadline — having it be the very first such interview published. Baggot went on to marry fellow Democrat reporter Tim Roberts and settle in the San Diego area, where she recently retired after decades as a teacher.)
Dave Jones, (1975-79):
My first week on the job, Sally was on vacation and Harvey Mcgee filled in. My new colleagues shook their heads, knowing what I was in for with the hard-charging publisher at the desk.
But guess what? Sally was every bit as tough — and I was better for it. I learned from her that the work we did in our little corner of the world mattered, that no story was too small, and that we had to keep digging for the big ones. No one who ever worked for Sally forgot our duty to the community. Her love of all things Sonora was infectious.
I could not have asked for a better first job: I learned the skills that carried me through the rest of my career. I am forever grateful.
(Dave continued with small-town journalism in Lusk, Wyoming. He then joined Mcclatchy Newspapers, working in Lincoln and Hollister, California, and later for the Modesto Bee and the Anchorage Daily News. He now edits the UC Davis weekly e-newsletter for faculty and staff.)
Chris Bateman (19732011):
Yes, Sally could be a taskmaster — enforcing deadlines, correcting grammar, ruthlessly carving the fat from bloated stories and insisting that our desks be totally clean when we left work each day.
But she could also be compassionate in the face of what some bosses would never put up with.
Case in point: My Democrat colleague and housemate, Randy Seelye, both covered meetings each Wednesday night during the mid-1970s. I handled the Tuolumne County
Planning Commission and Randy the Sonora High School Board.
Once those meetings adjourned, we too would adjourn — to the Sonora Inn’s bar. There we’d down a few cold ones while rehashing our respective meetings and skewering commissioners and trustees whose debate had cut into our drinking time.
Meanwhile, we’d keep our eye out for single women who might be patronizing the bar after 10 p.m. on a weeknight. The pickings, needless to say, were slim.
On this particular Wednesday, we somehow drank our way to closing time. Then we straggled to Randy’s car, drunk-drove back to our Ponderosa Hills rental, and promptly passed out.
The next thing I remember was an air-raid siren — or something just as loud, jarring and headache-amplifying as an air-raid siren. It was our phone.
Battling nausea and throbbing temples, I picked up the receiver. “It’s Sally,” came the voice on the other end. “I was just wondering whether you boys were thinking about coming to work today.”
I rubbed my bloodshot eyes into focus and looked at the clock: It was 8:30 a.m. — 90 minutes beyond our start time at The Democrat.
Randy and I went into panic mode: No shave, no shower, last night’s clothes and a high-speed drive to Sonora. We didn’t say much beyond agreeing that we were in big trouble with the boss and fretting about the consequences.
Sally did not dress us down when we arrived. “It’s past deadline, but I’ll give you some time,” she said.
We wrote and filed stories, but I can’t vouch for their coherency. Then we waited for Sally to lower the boom. She never did: We weren’t fired, we weren’t put on probation and our lives at The Union Democrat somehow went on.
And, after a few months passed, we’d joke with her about that misspent Thursday night.
Sally knew about journalism, she knew about young reporters, and on occasion would enjoy a drink or two herself. So she cut us some very welcome slack.
And on future Wednesday nights? Well, we never again shut the Sonora Inn down. But, on occasion, we’d raise a toast to Sally Scott — our managing editor and our savior.
(Chris worked for The Union Democrat as reporter, editor and columnist for 38 years. In retirement, he continues to submit stories to the paper. Randy later became The Democrat’s city editor then, in 1983, moved to Santa Rosa to work for the Press Democrat. There he served as a copy editor, copy desk chief, electronic page-design director, assistant managing editor and senior editor before retiring in 2015.)