But the real news is coming from Maria Sacchetti and now Stephen Smith, who are both in Haiti sending back, by far, the best reporting coming out of that country. Don’t miss the Globe’s coverage, whatever you do. Maria and Steve are giving everyone blunt reminder of what seasoned, professional journalists can accomplish.

And after five years, I’m so utterly proud to say that I’m on the staff of The Boston Globe.

Today I began a night cops beat job here. I’ll be working three nights a week and will still be writing the business and fun tech stories, which prove to be a great contrast to the cops beat.

Not a pen. Ballpoint pens and rollerballs are totally worthless in rain, snow or extreme cold. That makes them useless for more than half of the year here in Boston.

A pencil (I like mechanical pencils) and paper will get you by. A felt pen will work sometimes, but it gets messy.

Why then, is my trunk full of extra crap? And why are my coat pockets always full of various items?

Let’s take the example of covering the scene of a fire — which is my specialty. I never hope for anything to catch on fire, but when something does, I’m at my best as a spot reporter.

I carry the following things “on my person” when I’m at a scene:

• A camera: Either my Flip camera for video or my Canon Digital Elph for stills and the occasional video. They’re not professional cameras. The real news photos can jump in and take three shots that will be better than then 20-30 I’ll snap away, but most newspapers aren’t equipped to have photographers at every event. So I have on ready, and my photos have been published, which is pretty awesome.
• A Sony Digital voice recorder: No matter how cold it gets, or how much it rains, the recorder will be there … as long as the batteries are charged. I highly recommend a Sony. Mine plugs in directly to the computer, like a USB stick, and can send instant MP3s.
• My scanner: I own five police scanners (though I only use three). It is an incredibly versatile tool. I can monitor the police, fire and emergency goings-on everywhere in the region. I was the first reporter on scene at a plane crash last year, and I’ve gotten to the scenes of shootings before the ambulances. This was something I learned from news photographers like George Rizer. If you have the scanner going, you know what the news is. My Icom scanner is portable, but I plug a better antenna into it when I’m at my desk at the newspaper, and I have a stubby antenna that I use when I’m on the road. At a fire, you can keep track of who’s in charge, where the main body of the fire is, if there’s some kind of rescue, if anyone gets hurt, how many alarms the fire goes to, and if the fire gets out of control.

I also find its best to wear winter boots all the time when I’m at work in the cold months. That helped covering the ice storm in Lawrence last year. You also have to carry gloves and a wool hat. If you’re caught in the cold without proper protection, you absolutely will get sick. I once went out in a snow storm to cover a protest without a hat on, and I had to run inside a bank to defrost. I also keep a set of Hot Hands hand warmers with me. They’re great for extended periods outside. They work great inside your shoes too!

What about my car? Most of the things I keep in my car, I’ve learned to keep from regrettable experience.

Things like bug spray. You ever cover a story at a lake in North Andover in July? Yeah.

Sun screen works good in the summer too.

Back to winter for a second. I carry a few pairs of socks, a change of clothes, a spare hat, an entire case of Hot Hands, a pair of shoes, a complete first aid kid, a Mag-Lite, and several sizes of batteries. I also carry lots of spare writing implements, notebooks and I think there’s even an AP Stylebook in there.

Things I could use: Those fingerless gloves sound cool. A real hat. Who the hell decided that hats had to be super small all of a sudden? Also: some kind of outdoor fold-up chair for long stakeouts. I’ve also been meaning to get a cell-based laptop Internet card, but it’s a decent-sized expense, and WiFi is almost everywhere now.

Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who is also a psychiatrist, went on a shooting rampage in Ft. Hood, Texas. At the end, 13 people were dead, and 30 more were injured. Three other soldiers were detained, questioned, and released after it was determined they were not involved in the shooting. Hasan was wounded in the rampage and is in a coma, breathing on a respirator, but he is expected to live.

That’s the story. That’s what happened in Texas yesterday.

In an effort to produce nothing more than speed, every major media outlet from ABC, to CBS to CNN reported the story wrong several times before the dust settled yesterday. “Seven dead.” “Nine dead.” “Dozens dead.” “Eleven dead.” “The gunman, dead.” “Two guns used in the shooting.” “Another shooter is at large.” “Two other shooters are at large.” “A police officer who shot at the suspect was killed.”

All of these reported “facts” are wrong. Thirteen people are dead. The gunman is not dead. He only used one handgun in the shooting.

We should be ashamed, as a profession, after that display of speculation. These aren’t dominoes or poker chips falling. If we can’t get a firm number on the number of human beings killed, then we shouldn’t speculate, and we shouldn’t allow grandstanding politicians, like the Texas Senator and Congressman we heard yesterday, to go on the airwaves speculating either.

This was awful, awful reporting all around, and it’s nothing more than a product of over-excited news producers rushing to be the first with the scoop. Because God-forbid we err on the side of accuracy.

I have a voice, and I want to share that with you.

Whether you like it or not.

I’m going to talk about my exploits as a freelance journalist and the editor of the happy little online magazine, Blast. This isn’t going to be a Live Journal or a diary. I hope to make some interesting observations and analysis on my job and what’s going on around me.

-john

I’ve been looking over my progression and writing style lately. I’ve come a long way, but I still have a ton to learn about enterprise reporting and making the most out of long-term stories. Spot news — breaking news that’s usually dramatic and makes me work on a deadline of minutes instead of days — has come naturally to me, though.

Kudos! Blast Magazine is using it now!

It will be hard to top this.

You can’t buy ad space on page one of the Globe. But Legal found out a way to get it there.

The news stories focused on minor controversy that arose when a T conductor complained about an ad that said “This conductor has a face like a halibut.”

Now Legal Sea Foods and its family ownership can smile because this is the best ad campaign they’ve ever run and everyone in the region knows about it.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today joined city officials to ask Boston to celebrate responsibly this Sunday when the New England Patriots take on the New York Giants in pursuit of a Super Bowl championship and a perfect season.

“The City of Boston continues to work with area establishments and colleges and universities to ensure public safety,” Mayor Menino said. “We are all very excited that the New England Patriots are playing in Super Bowl XLII and battling for an unprecedented 19-0 season, but public safety remains our number one priority.”

The City of Boston has coordinated with the State Police, the DOC, university police and law enforcement agencies throughout the region to ensure a coordinated public safety plan. The City has had extensive communications with local universities regarding student behavior. Any student arrested will not only face criminal charges, but will also be subject to penalties imposed by their university.

The Boston Police Department (BPD) will have an increased presence in areas that are heavily populated with students. Boston Transportation will implement temporary parking restrictions on certain streets. BPD asks that revelers obey police instructions and if asked to leave an area, please do so peacefully.

Taxis and public transportation offer inexpensive and smart alternatives to drinking and driving. Please take advantage of them. Public drinking will not be tolerated and BPD will strictly enforce all alcohol compliance laws. The Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing has been in contact with area establishments to ensure adherence to duties as a license holder. Boston Police will be conducting walk-throughs of bars to monitor for alcohol and crowd control violations.