Amanda Lamb: Back into the fire

Since May, I have basically been what we call in the news business “off the street.” I have been working on a special project for Capitol Broadcasting—writing, producing and helping to launch several true crime podcasts. More on that at a later date...

I’ve worked a day here and there in news over the summer, but just a handful.

For the first time in my 30-year career, I had flexibility. I still worked hard and worked long hours, but my deadlines were days and weeks away, not minutes. In a way, being off the street reset my brain. It allowed me to dive deeper into topics, research more, write more, and to really think about what I was doing, not just react to the raging fires that so often define television news, especially in today’s world.

Today, I am jumping back into the fire, hopefully renewed, recharged and reinvigorated with a need to seek the truth and to efficiently do the work necessary in the very small amount of time we have to turn stories. I do this with the understanding that never before have we had such volatile stories and such vitriolic attacks on the media. Can I handle it? We’ll see.

Something else happened while I was off the street. I reconnected with my family, especially my girls who grew up with a mother who basically worked all the time. Sure, they always knew they were my priority, but in the past few months I’ve been able to show it—in small ways—cooking meals, helping with college essays, listening, basically just being there.

So, whatever the future holds, the break has reinforced two things for me—I’m a mother first and foremost, and I’ve walked through a lot of hot coals in my lifetime. This time around, I’m not going to get close enough to the fire to get burned.

Amanda is the mom of two, a reporter for WRAL-TV and the author of several books including some on motherhood. Find her here on Mondays.