By MATT HARON
J Alumni News staff
Mark Mahoney
Mark Mahoney may be reporting on a high school sports event one day and the next day on a school bus accident. Each day brings something new in his job at the Voice News in Hickman, Neb.
Despite his previous ambition to write for a daily newspaper, Mahoney said he enjoys telling the stories of the residents of the Hickman and 21 other small communities in five southeast Nebraska counties. About 3,100 subscribers read the Voice.
Mahoney said community newspapers have little or no competition in covering stories.
“I like reporting on stories that no other newspaper or media outlet usually has,” he said.
Some of Mahoney’s stories, found on the Voice Web site, recently included reports about families in Firth collecting donations for African children, a Cortland boy recovering from kidney cancer, a Bennett cat recovering from a wound caused by an arrow and rural Adams man recalling World War II.
Recently, the Nebraska Press Association named Mahoney runner-up for the Outstanding Young Nebraska Journalist Award in the weekly category. One comment from the judges reflected the kind of reporting Mahoney does: “Mark Mahoney’s work proves that journalists in small towns can do big-time reporting.”
Laying the groundwork
Mahoney, a 2007 graduate, credits his success to his J school education.
“UNL’s journalism college helped me prepare for the real world by teaching me the skills to report news anywhere I live and work,” said Mahoney, an Omaha native. “I also learned enough about photography, layout and other topics so I could work at a small town newspaper and report and write about local subjects of interest.”
Mahoney, 24, and his wife, Nicole, live in Hickman, population 1,627. On Mondays and Tuesdays, Mahoney helps the newspaper’s staff of eight put together the paper in order to ship it by Wednesday so subscribers receive it by Thursday.
Mahoney has worked at the Voice since graduation. In college he worked for the Daily Nebraskan, interned at the Times-News in Missouri Valley and worked at the Lincoln Journal Star. As a Times-News intern, Mahoney became more open to the idea that community newspapers are an important part of journalism.
“I thought I’d like to be a reporter at a daily paper, but I prefer the relaxed pace,” Mahoney said, “I could also work at a bigger newspaper, like a daily, if I go down that path again, but for now, I’m satisfied working at a community newspaper.”
Focusing on the community
At the Voice News, Mahoney has written many stories that reflect life in rural, southeast Nebraska. For example, he wrote a feature about two lifelong hunting buddies and also covered the Aug. 24 bus accident that injured many Norris students on their way to school. Linda Bryant, Voice News publisher, said Mahoney has impressed her since he started working there two years ago.
“Mark is one of the most thorough, detail-oriented reporters I’ve ever had at the Voice. He is constantly on the lookout for news stories both on the Internet and in talking with people in the community,” Bryant said.
On his first day as an intern at Missouri Valley, Mahoney was called to report on a bank robbery. He also covered a large fire while at his internship. These experiences showed him that being a reporter for a weekly can be just as exciting as working for a daily paper or being strictly a sports journalist.
Times-News Editor Pete Graham said Mahoney’s dedication and willingness to do whatever was asked of him made him stand out as a reporter.
“Mark was always looking for something to cover,” Graham said. “He loved doing enterprise stories, and he went after them with enthusiasm. At the same time, he’d do whatever … we required of him and never complained. He once took over 350 photos of a fire.”
Learning by doing
Graham said Mahoney worked hard to get the most out of his internship.
“He asked questions, he made sure he had every experience we could provide, from photography to features, to hard news, to personal columns. He wanted to do it all, and mostly did so,” Graham said.
Mahoney’s college adviser, Mary Kay Quinlan, described him as hard-working and meticulous.
“One of the things that made Mark stand out was how diligent he was willing to be,” Quinlan said.
Quinlan, who was also Mahoney’s teacher in beat reporting, said that was obvious when he was a student and continues to stand out in his professional work.
“He’s willing to work hard at anything that’s thrown at him,” Quinlan said. “It’s a very rewarding feeling when you see a student grow into his profession.”
loading...
