Head to the library to talk to a journalist about news and life in Macon

Bernice Eboh enjoys talking with folks at Shurling Library.

So when Sonya Green, engagement reporter for Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism, started doing News Break, Eboh encouraged people to talk with her.

“Her being here was something different, and most of them weren’t sure what she really was going to ask them,” said Eboh, a library assistant. “Everybody who seems to have engaged with her enjoyed it. They were smiling and happy that they had talked to her.”

News Break is a program that bridges the gap between news consumers and journalists. Green, as a journalist, sits down and listens to members of the community as they tell her what they like about the news, what they don’t like and any other thoughts or opinions they have.

“I think that’s actually one of the sacred parts of our job, is the ability to listen to people,” Green said. “News Break is an opportunity to listen, off the record, to people talk and share their ideas about not even just the news, but even about life in general and things that they’re passionate about.”

The program was started in May, and Green has already gone to the Washington Memorial Library in downtown Macon and the Shurling Branch in east Macon.

Usually, the conversations last about an hour. Green said one of her memorable chats was when she talked with a young mother who had been in a car accident with her child. The child wasn’t properly secured.

“She was just really passionate about wanting to get the message out around child seat safety and how to actually properly buckle a child into a car seat,” Green said. “I felt really honored to hear her story.”

At the end of the conversation, the mother showed Green her Facebook page about child safety. Green said she noticed the page was set to private so she suggested that she make it public.

“She was like, ‘Oh!’ It was literally something that simple that made her day and made my day to feel helpful and to be able to give her just a little bit of information on her journey to make people more aware of car seat safety,” Green said.

Eboh said the News Break program has increased activity in the library, and it was something to do other than just checking out books or getting on the computer.

For the next part of the program, Green will be at Langford Library, 6504 Houston Road, from 2-6 p.m. Aug. 6, 20 and 27, and she will be at Riverside Library, 110 Holiday Drive N., from 2-6 p.m. Aug. 8, 22 and 29.

Next, Green said she will add a session to talk about the project that the collaborative and its partners will launch in the fall.

“I hope people will take the opportunity to come and talk to me, whether they have perspectives on the news or whether they have perspectives on life in Macon or perspectives on issues in Macon that they think are not getting enough attention,” Green said. “I’m really just there to be a listening post.”