My Latest Pride and Joy :)

Well, it's not perfect, but my first HFR (Hold For Release) story aired last night on KOMU. I worked for about a month on it, so to see it finally air felt fabulous. I did my story on bullying, an issue that is often hard to cover as a broadcast journalist because, unless you have a willing character to tell their story on camera, how do you visualize it? Well I lucked out because this story actually found me. I was at a gas station in the station vehicle and had gone inside to grab a soda. That's when Shamon found me and told me all about the problems her son was having in school with bullying and how the school wasn't doing anything about it. After meeting up with her again another time, I decided that this was a story I wanted to cover. She allowed me to interview her son and follow him around for a bit at his new school (that was an adventure...ever tried getting video at an elementary school? NOT.EASY). Anywho, I put a lot of thought into how I wrote the story and I edited it to make it the best that I could. Some problems that I ran into while working on the story were that the principal of the school the boy was bullied at didn't want to talk to me. I also only had a day to grab school video in a very constricted setting (indoor recess to be precise) so my shots aren't super diverse. AND, my interview shots are just ok, I wish I would've thought to not put them on a couch... live and learn.

Here's the story: "Bullying a Growing Concern in Elementary Schools"

The Things You Can Learn From Other Peoples' Mistakes

It never ceases to amaze me the things that public figures do. You might think they would be a little more careful about the things they say and do, but in my Newsy.com story (below), we see another example of negligence from people in authority. Three congressional figures all said they saw a picture of Osama bin Laden's dead body- and all three were fooled by a fake. No matter what your political background is, what the three did was simply inexcusable. Check. Your. Facts. As a journalist, I learn whether through mistake (oh yes, this is unfortunately usually how it goes)or through instruction to always check your facts, sources and any information that could be questioned. Clearly, none of the three congressmen/congress woman checked their facts because if they had, they perhaps wouldn't have fallen for a fake picture and then announced to the public that they saw the real thing. Not only does reporting the wrong facts make you look ridiculous, but how can someone trust you? This goes for anyone really, but especially those who are thrust into the public spectrum such as a senator or a journalist. Mistakes certainly do happen- we're all human- but a lot of problems can be eliminated via a quick fact-check.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

To Breach or Not to Breach?- What are your thoughts?

I recently did a story for newsy.com on the breach of a Mississippi River levee near Cairo, Illinois. This was actually quite a challenging story for me because I am a Missourian, and on top of it, I'm from a farming community (not all that different from the Missourians in Mississippi County, MO). But in the end after learning the facts, I am certain that I would not want to be the one to order the decision either way. A couple of interesting side notes though- There were about 90 homes on the Missouri side that would most definitely be destroyed from the breach, as well as their livelihoods (their farms) so when the Cairo Mayor said it was a debate about "lives over land" it really came down to lives over lives. Also, I read a St. Louis Riverfront Times article that said the population in Cairo deteriorated 12.6 percent each decade for the past 60- totaling over 70 percent population loss. But I also see that the area that was flooded because of the breach had been deemed flood plains, so honestly, what did people expect? I used to live along the Missouri River and each time the river would rise, it would flood the town across the river from mine, making it a chore for people to get into my town (since the only other bridge was either in Hermann, MO or St. Charles, MO) but they, like those in Mississippi County, know that they live in a flood plain, and therefore, they must accept the challenges floods can bring, or move some place else. Either way, I really enjoyed writing this story and Christina did a great job anchoring it.


http://www.newsy.com/videos/missouri-dealt-blow-with-levee-breach

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Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com