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Confession, I’ve been a bad blogger.

In recent weeks, I’ve promised myself I’d find the time to get back to my blog and update you guys on what I’m doing now.  It’s been almost a month since I re-designed, and still no entries.  I’m sorry for that, but it’s been for a good reason.

I’ve been transitioning into my new job as a reporter for KCFreePress, and saying goodbye to the amazing folks at Missouri’s State Capitol.

At KCFreePress, I’m one of four full-time staffers dedicated to covering news in the core of the city.  I’ll specifically be focusing on politics, policy and education.  I’ve already covered the nationally-recognized decision to shut down half of Kansas City’s public schools, as well as the most recent State of the City address by Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser.

In the weeks to come, I’ll be starting our coverage of Kansas City’s mayoral race and reporting on the special session of the Missouri Legislature, which could bring thousands of new jobs to Kansas City and protect the automotive jobs already there.  I’ll also be getting my hands dirty with some SEO and hope to get a better understanding of what it means to work at a startup and the challenges of funding one.  KCFreePress is undergoing a lot of changes, and I’ll be interested to see where I stand in all of them.

Now that I’m back on the blogging map, I thought I’d share with you a few things I’ve learned in my first month working for a startup.

Lesson #1: You are always working.

When I told one of my professors that I was taking a job at a startup, she told me that I’d probably be doing everything – from scrubbing floors to reporting centerpiece stories.  While I haven’t had to clean the floors at KCFreePress, I now see her point.  Within my first week at KCFreePress, I realized that working at a startup means no convenient hours, no cushy accommodations and enough work to make college look easy.

KCFreePress is a small startup with only three full-time staffers.  As the only full time reporter, and the only person constantly focused on generating news content, that means I’m challenged to put out at least a story each day, if not more, so that the site is populated with a variety of fresh content. As of right now, my content is 75 percent of what’s up on the site.  On any given day I could be writing a story, shooting video of an appearance by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and shooting video in a neighborhood for our man on the street segment “Speak KC.”  I am also juggling a few projects, which means my days are long and I don’t have weekends off.  It’s something that’s caused some trouble with my friends and family out-of-state, but I never expected to work a traditional 9 to 5 schedule anyway.

Lesson #2: You will be doing PR constantly.

As a reporter, I’m used to asking questions. More frequently in this job, I’m answering them.

“What’s KCFreePress?”

“Who’s funding you?”

“Are you another liberal blogger?”

In a town with loads of established news outlets and even a pretty good number of well-respected bloggers, it’s tough being the new guy.  Every time I do an interview, I’m answering questions and shaping people’s perceptions of KCFreePress daily. It also means that every story I write means just a little bit more.  As a reporter, I consider myself incredibly passionate and empathetic to my sources, while also being a pretty discerning person.  But now, each story I write is a mark on the organization’s future credibility.  It means there’s very little room for error and no room (especially in politics) for any sort of bias.

Lesson #3: It will not be perfect.

Nothing ever goes according to plan, especially when you’re establishing a new media outlet.  That means things will go wrong frequently.  The best thing you can do – and this has been especially true for me as of late – is to keep your head up and take away from the experience as much as you can.  When I decided to take this job, I knew I was being risky. I could have just as easily taken a government job or a job at a newspaper or somewhere else already established.  But that’s not the kind of person I am.  I like risks, trying new things and being constantly in motion.  In this case, I certainly got what I asked for.

When I was hired, I realized that a lot of the burden of KCFreePress would fall on me.  Having only one reporter means that person has to be disciplined, a quick study and prepared to work hard, then work harder.  In the last week, I’ve joked that my job description should read “mover and shaker” instead of “reporter” because of how many different and unexpected roles I’m filling.

No matter what happens with KCFreePress in the long run, I’ll have a couple of amazing experiences to talk about.  Not many 21-year-olds can say they’ve helped build a news organization from the ground up and have gotten to see all of the daily operations of a media outlet.

I’m hoping this blog can become a place where I can write about the trials and rewards of working for a startup and take you guys along for the journey. Of course, it wouldn’t be me without a couple of well-placed political pieces thrown in.

Keep checking back here for more from me, and of course, follow me on Twitter.

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