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Meet Sharon Coolidge
Position at The Enquirer: City Hall reporter since 2014. I came to The Enquirer in 2002 and have covered courts, police and Hamilton County government. Co-host of The Enquirer's That’s So Cincinnati podcast.
Why I became a journalist
My parents say one day I came home from elementary school and declared I wanted to be a reporter. I don’t remember what spurred me to say that, but it stuck with me. I’m curious and there’s no better underlying trait for a journalist to have.
What I like best about my job
Knowing that work I do can spur change that makes our city better. Plus, it’s never boring.
I’m most proud of this story
In 2006, while covering courts, I wrote an investigative story called Lead’s Dangerous Legacy. After winning a court case to review Cincinnati records about lead-tainted properties I revealed landlords had been allowing new families to move into lead-tainted properties where children had been poisoned and moved out. There was no oversight or punishment for doing so. After the story appeared, Cincinnati City Council enacted a series of tough rules to protect children from lead poisoning and pursued action against these landlords.
This story had a lasting impact on me
In 2015 photojournalist Liz Dufour and I chronicled life at Ethel M. Taylor Elementary Academy, one of the poorest schools in the city. I learned how difficult it is to solve the issue of poverty. It’s not as easy as job training programs or a budget line-item aimed at helping. We saw children who lived in homes with no furniture, who came to school dirty because their parents didn’t have laundry detergent, who didn’t have proper shoes or coats in the winter. Children told us they were hungry. There were endless needs thrust upon a school that was charged with teaching, but was really required to do so much more. The outpouring of care from the community who donated money and food and clothes showed me people want to help. It changed how I view poverty and has informed my writing ever since.
What is the biggest challenge I face
Covering Cincinnati City Council is the kind of job that doesn’t end at 5 p.m., so it can make for long days and my 12-year-old son would say I’m always on a work call. And choosing any of the many stories that flow out of City Hall on a given day is never easy. My to-do list is VERY long.
[ FROM THE EDITOR | Keeping us connected: It's one reason journalism matters ]
Wait, are you related to the business reporter Alex Coolidge?
Yep. He’s my husband. I met Alex while working at The News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida. (He tells that story better than me.) I’m from Northeast Ohio and he kindly – even though he wanted to move to a bigger city like New York or Chicago – agreed to move to Ohio so I could be in driving distance of my family. I said we could move to one of those cities later, but we both love it here.
What I like to do when I’m not working
You can find me biking on any of the area’s several bike trails or kayaking.
Favorite event or Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky tradition
Paddlefest. There is no better way to see the city than while paddling down the Ohio River.
Why journalism matters
If there were not journalists watching what was happening at City Hall there would be decisions made contrary to what citizens might want. The journalists who cover City Hall tell people how their tax dollars are being spent and what’s happening in their neighborhood. I hope my reporting helps people make decisions about their own life.
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