Jessica Repucci
Editor’s Note:
When Henry Gomez, the Plain Dealer’s political reporter, was an undergraduate journalism major at Youngstown State University, he made the mistake of telling a story about an event that had happened to him years earlier when he was a student in the Boardman Public schools.
For more than ten years, people who heard the story first-hand from Gomez and those who have heard it second-hand have shared it with others.
Now, we are happy to share it with you so that you have some true insight into the man who will be addressing you as the keynote speaker for Press Day 2011 at Youngstown State
University.
Henry Gomez was in grade school and he was having trouble in gym class. He had to pass a physical fitness test which included a run around a track. Gomez, who says his physical abilities have never quite measured up, was intimidated. The gym teacher knew it and she pushed him day after day. Some days, she would be kind and supportive.
Other days, she was not so kind.
Gomez was tortured.
He kept practicing on his own trying every day to make it around the track in the time frame that she wanted. Every day, he got a little better and finally, the big day had arrived. The gym teacher had her whistle in her mouth. Gomez had assumed the position and was ready to sprint when she pressed her lips together to blow the whistle.
The first 15 seconds were great. Gomez was doing it and he knew it. Another 15 seconds, his heart rate had quickened and he could feel himself getting winded. But he wasn’t going to quit. He started going faster and faster.
And then, all of a sudden, he heard something.
It was the teacher. She was jumping up and down and screaming, “Go. Go. Gomez. Go.”
Gomez looked back at her and the sight of her screaming and jumping struck him as funny and he started to laugh. Within a second and with only a few feet to go to the finish line, Gomez fell.
He never did pass that test and he never has taken up running. But the lessons from that early incident have stayed with him for his entire career as one of Ohio’s leading
reporters.

He doesn’t stop trying. He keeps at things. He recently became The Plain Dealer’s political reporter and he has covered some of the largest stories affecting the state. As one of YSU’s journalism majors, we are incredibly proud to have Henry as our keynote speaker for Press Day. We, too, say “Go, Go Gomez.”
Henry Gomez to stress benefits of studying journalism, offers career highlights
By Jessica Repucci
Henry Gomez plans to discuss the benefits of studying journalism and will describe some of the most important stories that he has covered during his career as a reporter as part of his keynote address to students at Press Day 2011 at Youngstown State University.
“The stories I’m most proud of involve the work I and others did in exposing and reporting on corruption in Cuyahoga County government. In 2008, a colleague and I began investigating a Cleveland city councilman. We had a hot tip that the FBI was investigating him and those close to him. It turned out the councilman’s campaign manager also worked for then-
County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, who was also chairman of the Cuyahoga County
Democratic Party,” said Gomez.
He described how at a public commissioner’s meeting, he and his co-worker were
“screamed at, berated, chastised” by Dimora and then removed by county security guards.
Months later, Dimora’s office and home were raided by the FBI and he is presently indicted on multiple corruption charges. These things, Gomez said, make his career the most fun.
“Our role in covering some of these stories was a blast- and a clear example of the good journalism that can be done when you are persistent with your questions and research.”
Gomez graduated with a journalism degree from YSU in May of 2003. After working with the Tribune Chronicle in Warren and Crain’s Cleveland Business, he moved to the Plain Dealer.
He discussed the qualities that make a great reporter: “You have to be nosy! You can’t take ‘no’ for an answer and you must be aggressive. A self-motivated reporter doesn’t wait for the story to come to him. You have to get out there and go look for it.”
He said specifically of newspaper journalism, “there’s a certain nobility to this profession that is overlooked because of the 24/7 news cycle. There’s an authenticity to newspapers.
People may think we’re hounds invading their privacy, bothering them, but that just isn’t the case.”

“We let you know which social service providers are putting citizens in danger, which politicians are screwing you over. We expose things that need to be exposed, make you laugh, introduce you to someone you never would have otherwise heard of. This profession is for the greater good. We give information that needs to see the light of day.”
To high school students considering the potential career of the journalist, Gomez said:
“It’s an exciting field. It’s always changing, advancing. I think getting people to trust you is the hardest part, but if you can do that, if you can tell yourself to think of the big picture and the greater good, you will impress the right people. The opportunities are really quite limitless.”
Gomez described his own high school career and how he accidentally found himself in journalism, despite ambitions of becoming a lawyer.
“Much as I love sports, I was NOT athletically gifted. I went out for the Boardman High
School speech team as a freshman and went on to a four-year career filled with trophies that would fall apart by the time I enrolled in college. I competed in extemporaneous speaking, which meant I had to talk off the cuff about current events. In other words: BS. I was good at it.”
He said, “Journalism was an afterthought at the time. I took the high school courses required to work on the student paper, the Bugle. But my heart was only half in it. I was good at writing and enjoyed the rush of seeing my name in print -- even the Bugle. But I figured my speaking skills would lead me to a career as a lawyer. Don't my parents wish.”
Gomez said that despite his intentions, he found his true calling during his second year at YSU. “I majored in poli sci, thinking it was the fast lane to law school and maybe even a local political career. But sophomore year I took a news writing course with Alyssa Lenhoff. She saw I was a talented writer and encouraged me. As much as I love politics -- it's one of my favorite things to cover now as a journalist -- I had found my calling as a writer.”
Gomez said that now is the best time to break into journalism, citing the social media sites like Twitter and Facebook as mediums he was initially reluctant to use, but now can’t imagine his day without.
“I’ve learned that in this profession you can’t be afraid of technology; you have to embrace it.” He spoke of the evolution of journalism, where he is the cameraman, photographer, interviewer, writer, and now, blogger.
“You used to have to wait for the paper to be delivered, the web post to go up. Now you have access to a more mass-circulated, minute-by-minute medium. With Twitter specifically, it’s beneficial to not only the public but to the reporter as well. People can follow you and read

your stories from California, even, and who knows what doors that can open as far as employment? Online is huge in term of promoting our stories.”
As far as rumors about print media being “dead or dying,” Gomez acknowledged that there is a segment of the population that will always want to hold the newspaper in their hands, but that social media is here to stay.
“Yes, some newspapers are struggling. Some are going to close. But I believe there will always be some printed version of what we do. It may not be exactly the same as we know it now, but journalism is always evolving, adapting.”
He said that radio, television, magazines and the Internet were historical and perceived
“threats” to the newspaper culture that only caused journalists to grow as professionals. “You definitely have to be willing to do your own videos, take your own pictures. So maybe anymore you can’t just be a writer. But there are so many tools and so many opportunities. I’ve even taken videos on my iPhone.”
Gomez said he plans to discuss the benefits of studying journalism—even to those who may think they want to be lawyers.
“First, you learn how to be a writer. And this is a lifelong skill you can use in any profession – finance, law, government – writing skills are invaluable.”