A Day in the Life   

Here's how Peter Hermann, a police reporter for Baltimore's Sun, spent one workday in May:

7:55 a.m. • Hermann is one of the first to arrive in the main newsroom. He logs onto his computer to check stories and tips filed by the overnight reporter, then scans the AP wire for story leads.

9:30 a.m. • Hermann, known affectionately as "the Hermannator," lopes out of the newsroom, heading for his car and police headquarters to make morning rounds. He learns that a suspect has been arrested for the murder of two brothers.

10:30 a.m. • Hermann interviews the chief of the city housing authority police for a weekend story.

11:30 a.m • Back in the newsroom, a city hall reporter asks Hermann to flesh out a brief she has written on money approved for new police cars. Hermann logs onto the computer link with the city court system to retrieve background on the murder suspect.

1:30 p.m. • The police scanner brings news of a shooting and Hermann takes off. As he pulls up, he spies two policemen talking. "I can tell you right now, this won't even make the paper," he says. The policemen tell Hermann a man was robbed a few blocks away. The victim followed the robber to a shopping center, where he crashed into him with his car, police say. "If the suspect had been killed, I could probably get something in the paper," Hermann says. "But it's not that much of a big deal."

2:20 p.m. • Back in the newsroom, Hermann puts out a round of calls on the city budget, the murder arrest and a drug bust scheduled for that night.

2:45 p.m. • A police spokesman calls to say a man's body was found that morning on the grounds of an elementary school. The man had been stabbed more than 50 times and was discovered by students. Hermann consults with an editor and decides to work the story by phone. The murder arrest and budget story will be briefs.

5:20 p.m. • Story and briefs written, Hermann is heading back to his car, but not to go home. "It's the middle of the day," he says. "Things are just getting going." He drives to a staging area for a drug bust.

6:55 p.m. • Police have secured the houses they have raided and reporters are given clearance to swoop in. When Hermann arrives, he finds police still searching several row houses.

9:15 p.m. • Police conclude a press conference on the evening's bust. Hermann heads for the Sun. He leaves for home, story written, by 11. – C.H.