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Today's Featured Biography

Dana MASSING

Erie Times-News article 11/14/2015
http://www.mynewsonthego.com/erie/EPaper/?pageid=5425a3c4-0e87-41f3-af84-54cfa6f438b7

3/7/22 Times-News article:

Meet Dana Massing
I am the environment/climate change reporter for the Erie Times-News and I cover Presque Isle State Park. I also write features and entertainment stories. I started with the former Erie Daily Times as an intern more than 25 years ago. In the past, I have written about religion and education.
Why I became a journalist
I like to tell stories.
When I was in elementary school, I wrote and illustrated a few editions of my own neighborhood newspaper. From there, I went on to serve as an editor of Roosevelt Middle School's Teddy Times, Strong Vincent High School's Colonel and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania's Spectator newspapers.
Being a reporter gives me access to an endless supply of story material, from the home economics teacher I wrote a profile about when I was in sixth grade to the 105-year-old Army veteran I interviewed in 2021.
What I like best about my job
I have met countless people doing a job on which no two days are the same. So many of those people have been gracious enough to let me into their lives, to share things about themselves and allow me to tell their stories. It has been my honor to introduce those people to our readers.
A bonus is that as the environment reporter covering Presque Isle, I get to go to the beach for work.
For subscribers:Trash a growing problem at Presque Isle State Park, where visitors leave litter behind
A story I worked on that has had a lasting impact on me
A couple of years after I started at the newspaper, there was a freak traffic accident at a corner near our building. A 4-year-old boy was crossing Myrtle Street with his father when two cars collided and one hit the pedestrians. The police reporter and I were sent outside to cover it. While she talked to the police officers, I gathered a description of the scene and eventually wrote about the boy's small green sneakers being left in the street amid the emergency vehicles and the wreckage of the cars.
The detail about the green sneakers was also included in our follow-up story about the boy's death. Several readers later told me that reading about his little shoes brought them to tears. I truly realized then the power of the details I recorded and the words I wrote.
Another time, I was contacted by a teacher. One of her former elementary school students had become a teen who was in the hospital with a serious illness and was feeling forgotten. I wrote a story about them that resulted in entire classrooms sending him get well cards. It opened my eyes to the difference my stories could make in people's lives, whether it was one teen or an entire community.
What is the biggest challenge I face?
It's always a challenge getting people to understand that just because I write about something doesn't mean I support it or oppose it. What I am doing is informing our readers about it.
I once wrote about a public hearing held by a school district that was considering building a new school. I attended the hearing and quoted people who spoke in support of constructing a new school and those who spoke against it being built. The day the story ran, I received phone calls from multiple people. Those who supported the school accused me of opposing it and those who opposed it accused me of supporting it because each only wanted me to present their side. Instead, I had explained to readers why some people felt there was a need for a new school and why others felt there wasn't.
What I like to do when I’m not working
I love to spend time with my nearly 7-year-old daughter, Rose. We go for walks, visit playgrounds and attend Erie-area sporting events and festivals. We play board games and video games and work in our garden and catch and release lightning bugs in the backyard. We watch the original version of "The Lion King" over and over and over and sing along to the soundtrack in the car. We swing on our front porch swing and read together in the big comfy recliner in the spare bedroom known as our library because of all the books on the shelves.
Favorite event or Erie-area tradition
Riding the Comet at Waldameer Park & Water World tops the list right now. Actually, it's Rose who loves the Comet. And because I love her and the joy she gets in being on the roller coaster, I ride and ride. I think our record is 13 times in one day.
As a lifelong Erie resident, there are so many other events and traditions I've enjoyed over the years. Rose and I eagerly anticipate the opening each year of the Erie Zoo as well as our first Erie SeaWolves game of the season and our trips to Beach 8 at Presque Isle.
Why journalism matters
You can find loads of "information" online or on social media but some of it isn't objective or factual and you have no idea about the source. Almost anyone can create a website or Facebook page or Twitter account and put just about anything on it but that doesn't mean it's true. Reporters are trained to gather and present information and we have editors who read what we write. Yes, we do sometimes make mistakes — we're human, after all — but when that happens, we acknowledge it with a correction. My colleagues and I at the Erie Times-News strive to bring you the most accurate, up-to-date information as possible to help you stay informed and make your own decisions. We tell you about upcoming concerts at Erie's music venues, beach conditions at Presque Isle and road closings due to bad weather. But we also dig deeper, telling you what's behind the debate about a school mascot or township supervisors' bonuses or the increase in illegal trash dumping in your neighborhood.

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