Dylan Brogan
Chali Pittman.
Chali most recently worked at Civic Media and WORT-FM.
Like many others who live on Madison’s east side, Chali Pittman had some work to do after her car and house were pelted by hail on April 14. She learned a lot in the process.
When she took her car to the Geico hail clinic she noticed the adjustors were all from out of state. When someone came to repair her broken windshield, she learned he was from Indiana working for Safelite. When the roofer came to inspect her house, he explained how the payment process works and, also, how his cat likes to run free on a farm when given the chance. Also, how he and others involved in storm-repair work were overwhelmed by the demand.
“Talking with these folks made me appreciate the people laboring, somewhat invisibly, to respond to the storm,” says Chali. “We all read the day-two story about residents recovering from the storm. I thought it would be slightly less predictable to talk with workers who make that possible.”
And talk she did, over a two-day reporting blitz, which provided the material for her article on page 13 of this issue. Her approach for this story will give you some idea of what to expect in the future from Chali, who has joined Isthmus as our new staff writer. I think you will see why we’re so excited about the energy, curiosity and talent for storytelling that she brings to the table.
Chali says she started her research for the piece by walking a few neighborhoods hardest hit by the hail. She photographed contractor signs and called 11 between Monday and Tuesday. “WORT taught me that with an almost limitless supply of sources, it’s a numbers game. The two roofers in the story called me back within 24 hours,” says Chali, who spent six years as the news, talk and public affairs director at WORT-FM before going on to become the news director for Civic Media, a commercial radio network in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
She also made a Google map of auto shops located on the north and east side, deciding it would work better to just show up than call. Seeking gender diversity she stopped in at Dutch’s, a woman-owned shop, where they patiently explained they were an auto repair shop, not a body shop. D’oh!
Chali also emailed officials with the city of Madison and Dane County to see if there were official damage estimates (not yet), toured the Goodman Center, which sustained damage to both the Ironworks and the Brassworks buildings, and interviewed Tyler Leverty, a professor at UW-Madison.
In all, she contacted 28 people and had 13 conversations. Not all made it into her initial draft, and a few more were axed from the final copy due to print length restrictions.
Could Chali have done the story with fewer sources? Sure. And there will be times when other priorities and deadlines demand a more narrow approach. But she was technically not on staff and had some free time on her hands. Taking the time to meet the people in the trenches, in many cases at their place of work, made the story come alive.
“Meeting people where they are is a luxury I want to use when I can,” she says. “Trust is a two-way street that goes further when you can see face-to-face. You see things with your own eyes. You stumble on things you wouldn’t have otherwise. And sometimes it’s the only way: It’s easy to avoid a phone call or an email. It’s much harder to avoid someone standing in front of you.”
Reporting sometimes solely by phone and email, sometimes all you can do in strapped newsrooms, is part of what’s made local journalism thin over the years, adds Chali. I could not agree more on that point, or another one from Chali: “The story is always better when you show up.”
Chali is replacing Liam Beran, who is leaving Isthmus to move to the Netherlands. He has family there and plans to attend graduate school.
Liam, like Chali, had a tendency to beat the bushes and, as a result, amassed a number of great stories over the couple of years he wrote for the paper, including his enterprise piece on how Epic Systems has changed the dating scene in Madison. He is up for a Milwaukee Press Club award this year for that story. We will miss him and wish him the very best.
Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate Isthmus’ 50th anniversary last month, including our media friends at WORT-FM, WVMO, Channel 3000 and City Cast who helped spread the word, and the Rotary Club of Madison, where we gave a presentation. We kicked off a series of benefits with a party at the Atwood Music Hall that was pure joy. Deputy Mayor Katie Crawley read a proclamation commemorating the occasion before the New Breed Quintet took the stage, reuniting musicians who hadn’t performed together for years. Ben Sidran was a special guest. Mama Digdown’s Brass Band, a band that Isthmus has been writing about since they formed more than 30 years ago, also performed.
Next up was Smarter Than You Trivia with Paul Guse at High Noon Saloon; it was a special Madison edition, perfect for local news nerds. And we wrapped things up with a reception fundraiser hosted by board member Mary Lang Sollinger. Alexandra Petri, humorist and staff writer for The Atlantic, flew in for the occasion from Washington, D.C., where she lives with her family. Suffice to say she is as funny in person as she is on paper.
The event was held in an 11th-floor community room with sweeping views of downtown and the Capitol building. As supporter Joan Collins noted afterward, the location could not have been more perfect: “We could clearly see the isthmus with both Lake Monona and Mendota shining bright and blue.”
