I recently listened in on a rather interesting Press Club of Long Island panel discussion, highlighting the process which went into investigating a cold case that had gone unsolved for over 50 years on the east end of Long Island. The teamwork between reporters and the police department eventually resulted in the case being “cracked,” so to speak, and the unsolved murder put to rest.

I bring this up not because of my fascination with true crime stories; but rather, it brought to light the importance of a component often missing in many lines of work, in life as a whole … that of collaboration. Often, the focus is on independence, on doing things one’s own way, with little room for input from others. Cooperation is key – this a concept taught to us from the first day of kindergarten on up, earlier even, as we begin to learn the process of sharing our resources (even if those happen to be building blocks or Barbie dolls).

I don’t often have the opportunity to cover events; but recently, I was privileged to take my journalistic tools into the field and exercise some of those reporting and photography skills honed in the lecture halls of college, even as far back as the grade school classroom. 

As I stood on the tarmac at Republic Airport last week, borrowed camera in hand, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, I scanned the crowd assembled. Veteran reporters mixed with fresh-faced interns, all waiting for a glimpse of the majestic planes. Some carried smart phones; others set up elaborate tripods and fiddled with expensive lenses, all determined to capture that “perfect” shot upon landing.

Suddenly, there was a roar overhead. All attention was instantly focused on the sky, as cameras zoomed, record buttons were pushed and people jostled for a better angle. And then, just like that, they were gone, gliding to a landing on a distant runway before slowly taxiing toward us, where they would eventually park for follow-up pilot interviews. All around, you heard the murmurings of Did you get the shot? and I thought they would be approaching from the other way… Can we get a do-over?

And in that mix of elation and disappointment as many realized they had not, in fact, captured much of anything in their respective frames, there emerged that collaboration I speak of – that natural instinct to cooperate for a common goal. Phone numbers were exchanged, business cards swapped and contacts were instantly made, with promises to share footage and photos. After all, we were here for the same reason. No benefit to withholding information that, ultimately, we all desired to share with the masses. 

We may not have cracked a case that morning, but we demonstrated on a much smaller scale the beauty of cooperation, of teamwork. The stunning fighter jets aside, that may have been the most beautiful sight of all.

Published: May 30, 2018