Breaking News...

When news breaks, my first instinct is immediately the 5 W's and H... Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Answering those questions, gives a reporter the very basic needs of the story. While it might not be the most eloquently written story, it gets the job done. It gets the nitty, gritty stuff accomplished.

When I was working on this shift, a fellow KOMU 8 reporter, Kathryn Lucchesi called and said we needed to get to Providence and Old Plank Road. She said there were police and ABC 17 on the scene. We had heard a shots fired over the scanner, but nothing really came about from it (aka Joint Comm playing dumb, and no more traffic on the scanner).

Once we got the call, we started to send a new reporter on the scene, so I offered to go with her. Thankfully I did because it was one of those neighborhoods that you wanted help. This wasn't my first time covering spot news, so I knew my way around the watering hole. We got to the scene, and the other reporter with me was more awestruck than anything, but she was able to help talk to witnesses as I got the video we needed.

I should mention all this happened around 9 p.m. so obviously our producers wanted this for the 10 p.m. newscast. As a producer, reporting is one the best ways for me to learn. And being in this situation of spot news I'm glad I answered those questions of the 5 W's and H, but it absolutely annoyed me when my producer was saying, "Is that all?" and getting upset when I couldn't answer his specific quesitons about things we didn't know yet. I knew he was trying to get the information for his newscast, but at the same time, the dynamic only works when the producer can trust the reporter to do their job. I know how to report -- that's why I went to Mizzou, to get the whole package on learning -- but it was so frustrating when I was being patronized for information I didn't have and was trying to find.

As a producer, it taught me to remember, the reporter isn't trying to screw over your entire newscast... they're just trying to get the story done right. Sometimes that doesn't mean keeping everyone updated, every minute they're there... but it means trusting the reporter that they know what they are doing so they can get their story on the air.

Strange Story Direction

In my reporting shift this week I had no idea of what my story truly entailed... I knew employees from the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center were going to Jefferson City, but until I called the lady with the tip, I didn't know what they were trying to accomplish. When I got there I basically followed them around as they went to different legislators trying to get answers. I thought they were going to be campaigning about their jobs, which I think they were but didn't want to talk about, and said they were advocating for their patients. When I interviewed them I kept asking them about their jobs, but they kept saying it was for the patients. And it wasn't until it was off camera that they would kind of talk about their job status. I think for the story I had, it turned out pretty well. I got a lot of really good sound and tried to really use that because the video wasn't as compelling.

On the flipside, I didn't had the hard numbers like I would of liked, but that's because I was going off a Tribune article and they couldn't even say where the one cut was coming from. None of the legislators had any idea either. My video wasn't the greatest because the lighting in the capitol stinks and the light just wouldn't get bright enough (I had fresh batteries in it too!) I would of improved on getting those hard facts and my video in this story.

To view the story, you can click here.

I'm Rusty

This week I realized I am rusty. My reporting isn't really, but I'm doing that on a weekly basis and actually continue to improve on it. I actually really liked my story this week. You can view a video and text version here.

But this week I produced for the first time since January, and it was stressful. I can't wait for the week of producing I'm doing with the Spring Break crew. Producing everyday for a week straight was really great for me because I just built on the things I did the day before. I constantly try and push myself to be better than the shift before, but if I haven't done anything since January it's a little hard to remember what I need to focus on. I think on this shift I saw I wasn't as aggressive in the booth. And that's an area I think I really excel at. I'm always confidant going into shows heavy because I know what it takes to make time so we finish perfectly. (My definition of perfect? No awkward anchor chat. They come out of the last story and say, "Thanks for watching, join us at ten." It's perfect and beautiful and what I always strive for.) I noticed I was lacking that confidence. I'm going to make pro-active measures for the next two semesters to see if I can have a shift that I call my own -- even if I don't get paid for it.

My second rusty revelation was on Monday when I realized the dotcom worker didn't know ANYTHING. She didn't even know where to find the information on what to do on a shift. I didn't realize Nick and I were doing everything for her. I know she is new and I appreciate her trying to learn, but it's stressful when your partner isn't there and everything is falling back on you. This week I'm going to go through everything with her so she actually does know, but I felt bad because I wasn't as strong as I used to be at dot com. Again I'm just going to have to be proactive in making sure I understand everything as we continue to move forward.

Lots of Projects... Not Enough Time

Well I find myself needing more hours in the day again. It's been a crazy week...



We met with Matt Thompson about the Columbia Tomorrow project. We've had some problems with the mapping and physically doing it. It turns out it's a lot more complicated than we really antcipated. Mapping is really difficult to do if you're not experienced at doing it. One of the problems I've realized with this project isn't necessarily the mapping aspect (I think it's going to be fun to learn a new program that I could use) but it's just not knowing Columbia. I'm a very visual and spacial person, but I have NO idea where some of these roads are in Colubmia. Maybe next weekend when I have time...



Began to really work on the structure of my e-portfoilo. My problem is I really don't have many things I would want to show an employer. I'm a prefectionist and really struggle with putting up work I don't think is quality. This is one of the biggest problems I have when I get critqued from my News Director or other mentors. I want to bring them my best work and I don't think it's good enough. I know these are the pieces I'm going to learn more from but it's still frustrating.

One thing I will say I'm proud of this week was my reporting shift. You can find a link to the story here. My story was about the potential transition at the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center from the state to MU. I was able to go in depth to this story and actively tried to get both sides from the offiicals. While the university was harder to get because of red tape and having to go through. The Department of Mental Health was very easy to get in touch with, plus they gave me so much more information on how this whole plan got started. Apparently the transition was something they were already considering before the budget cuts because it streamlines the work by the employees, improves patient care and costs less for the state. These are the days I don't hate reporting... as much anyway.