Richmond Times-Dispatch on LinkedIn: The Monday Richmond Times-Dispatch will be available in digital format… (2024)

"I’m Scott Bass, the opinions editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I’ve worked for the RTD for the last two years, but I’ve been covering the Richmond region in some capacity for the past 30 years – state politics, local politics, business, city and county government, cops, schools, business, real estate development and sports. I jumped around a lot after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1995, starting out as a business reporter for Inside Business, moving on to The Progress-Index, back to Inside Business, then to Style Weekly, the Chesterfield Observer, Richmond magazine and now The Times-Dispatch. I also worked at the Hanover Herald-Progress (for one glorious summer as an intern under the late Jay Pace) where I got to help out covering Friday night football games.I was never much interested in breaking news or event coverage. I’d rather show up afterward and figure out why something occurred, or what comes next. Over time, I discovered that my best work involved diving deeper, talking with people who weren’t selling a policy or spinning a narrative. Some years ago, I wrote about a group of older men who gathered in a grassy area at the foot of Powhatan Hill in Richmond’s East End, near Rockett’s Landing, playing dominoes and having a few beers under the trees. The men, it turns out, had been meeting there almost every afternoon for years. That undeveloped swath of land used to be Fulton Bottom, their home in 1930s and ’40s, before the city razed the neighborhood in the name of urban renewal. They harbored no ill will toward the city. They just wanted to remember.We can get so busy with our daily lives that we don’t notice the men under the trees. I think that’s what motivates me most as a journalist. I still don’t quite understand how anyone could revisit the place where one’s home was taken from them, bulldozed and banished to public housing. But I want to understand; I think we all should. Theirs is the story of Richmond, the one that matters."— Scott Bass, Richmond Times-Dispatch opinions editor Support local journalism by becoming a Times-Dispatch subscriber. For a limited time, pay $1 to get access to all of our digital content and the e-edition for 26 weeks. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/eeRBkxqJ

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“My name is Chelsea Jackson, and I grew up in Hanover County. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My grandfather read the paper cover to cover every morning faithfully, using scissors to clip out articles he wanted to save. Small stacks of newspapers and clippings were always around the house, on tables or in filing cabinets — a hobby of his that my grandmother loathed. Sometimes he would read the headlines out loud to me.Today, I am a features reporter at The Times-Dispatch, and although I'm not your source of the latest breaking news or crime or politics coverage, I do hope that my writing reaches those looking for a bright moment in their day — something that can maybe make you smile or look forward to leaving the house this weekend.My job has allowed me to explore some of my favorite things — museum exhibits, art, music, food and culture. I have been able to speak with some of the most talented creators, entertainers and community organizers in the city and beyond.Most importantly, my job has given me a sense of purpose. I am able to craft and share stories that highlight these amazing people, their skills and all they are doing to make Richmond the lively melting pot that it is.At the very least, I hope that my position allows for some little girl to have something to do while bored at her grandparents’ house — and make the Richmond Times-Dispatch part of her life as well.”— Chelsea Jackson, features reporter, Richmond Times-DispatchSupport local journalism by becoming a Times-Dispatch subscriber. For a limited time, pay $1 to get access to all of our digital content and the e-edition for 26 weeks. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/eeRBkxqJ

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