“Is there anything I didn’t ask that you were prepared for?” I asked of the state official. It is my standard way of wrapping up an interview, and as a side note is one of the best ways to get a good soundbite.
I honestly don’t remember what the interview was even about after all these years, but I do remember very clearly what happened next.
My photographer turned off his camera and I began tearing down the lights and putting them away when the state official I was interviewing stopped me and said, “Now that the camera is off, there’s something I need to say to you.”
This always makes me nervous. As an investigative reporter I have made my fair share of enemies and I never know walking into any interview where allegiances lie. Was I about to get a lecture? I braced myself for the worst.
This official walks towards me and says, “I’ve been waiting for years to say ‘Thank You’ to you.”
This was new; what had I done for this man? I had never interviewed him before and until today I honestly did not even know his department existed. What was the thanks for?
“You reported on an issue a few years ago,” he began. I remembered the story. It was a story on a secret report that detailed how a state employee had been sexually harassing women and, in general, making the workplace miserable for a lot of women in this agency. I still remember the details of the report, which I wasn’t supposed to have, and I remembered how when I was in the process of getting answers I almost got punched in the face, but that’s another story.
“Those women were my employees,” this official said. “They thought they had been forgotten. You’re report gave them hope.” He explained how horrible the harassment had been and how demoralizing it had been to so many in the workplace. I had never heard that side of the story. I did not think the story mattered that much in the grand scheme of things. The offending employee had kept his job, but I heard offices were moved and interactions had changed.
The boss of the women involved told me how much it mattered to all of them to have someone stand up for their rights of those who were mistreated.
I’ve never forgotten this interaction. It was a reminder that once, I made a difference. I didn’t even know it at the time. I thought it was just another story and never knew the impact it had; until years later when I learned that just doing the right thing brought hope to so many I had never met.
