New reporter leaves big lights, big city behind

By FINN HARTNETT

Staff writer

I came to Marion for the first time earlier this summer. It was good timing, really. I was at a point where my hometown of New York City was driving me up the wall.

New York’s the greatest if you get someone to pay the rent, as James Murphy of the band LCD Soundsystem once quipped, but since returning there after graduating from college, I began to feel as if the influx of influencers, the homogenization of Brooklyn, and the obsession with existence that looms over so many new New Yorkers had me gasping for air in the busy streets.

Finn Hartnett

I knew I wanted a job, primarily someplace completely different from New York. I also knew I wanted to work in journalism.

I served as an editor of the University of Chicago’s student paper, the Chicago Maroon, during my time at the university. I love the craft of writing and revising a good news article.

More than that, the pure energy that comes from going out to write — meeting new people, seeing new places — is a special feeling. Journalism is an excellent way to increase the amount of wonder in one’s life.

It has certainly served that purpose for me so far.

The feeling of potential wonder is what led me to apply to a reporter position at the Marion County Record in late June.

I found the opening not on any of the usual job boards but through a reporter advocacy group that my college had connected me with.

It was a roundabout way to get a job, but it worked. The paper contacted me and told me they were interested in hiring me.

A few dozen emails and one brief visit to Marion later, I accepted the position.

Now, I am here, living in a town far from anywhere I have been before. And I am excited.

I am excited to embrace a new kind of living, excited to pet some cows and see the stars, excited (at least for now) to have left my beloved home city of 8.3 million for a town of less than 2,000.

I am excited because there is plenty of wonder here. And I am excited to write journalism that serves the people of Marion County.