Going Forward

This week was very interesting. On Monday, I got to the station at record time. Because of it being Memorial Day, it seemed like no one was on the road. A little over an hour trip only took me 40-50 minutes. Look at God! When I got into the newsroom, I immediately noticed that it was like a ghost town. The morning meeting was not as full, and Fred Blankenship was the only anchor on the noon newscast, so organizing scripts was a breeze. Also, I started to put together my package for my first stand-up with Nefertiti Jaquez. 

On Tuesday, I attended a reporters workshop held by reporter Darryn Moore and my supervisor. One thing that will stick with me forever, along with everything they said, is that reporters report but journalists change lives. That was a drop the mic/ praise break moment. It is always awesome learning from journalists who were once where I am. Before the workshop was over Moore gave us an assignment that consisted of us putting together the script for a mock package. Although it was challenging, I enjoyed it. 

This is where the "interesting week" comes in. I report to the station on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 9 a.m., and Tuesday and Thursday are the days that I have the opportunity to shadow a reporter. The conflict was that the reporters come in at 9 a.m. which was the same time as the reporters workshop. When the workshop was over, I went back to the newsroom and noticed that all of the reporters were gone. I could either find something to do until 2 p.m. and count it a loss for the day or stay until the 2:30 meeting and pray that a reporter would let me go with him/her. I did not mention that a majority of the reporters come in at 9 a.m., so if one says that I cannot go with them, there are a plethora of other reporters to ask. On the other hand, only three to four reporters come in at 2:30 p.m., so I was praying hard that one would  say "Yes." In that moment, I emailed reporter Matt Johnson to see if I could shadow him, and he said "Yes." I shadowed him as he covered a story about a lady who found out that her sister who had been missing since March was found dead. To make it worse, investigators only found her skull. When Johnson interviewed her, my heart broke. All I could do was pray for her and her family. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to have Subway with Johnson and his photographer before he had to leave for another assignment.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to shadow investigative reporter Erica Byfield as she conducted interviews for a special about how much tax payers pay everyday for people to be in jail. It was very interesting. In addition, she did an interview with the manager and friend of Vernon Forrest, a well-known boxer who was murdered in 2009 and whose alleged murderer has not been convicted. The special will be aired in July, so I cannot reveal much about it.

Overall, I am continuing to enjoy my experience and learning a lot. More than that, I am learning from the other interns. They have taught me a lot about branding myself and making sure that I display my work. Furthermore, one of my favorite parts of the internship are the people who I get the opportunity of meeting week-to-week. As a journalist and human being, it is vital to know that EVERYONE has a story. Although some relate, every story is different. The world is made up of so many beautiful and diverse people who come from different walks of life, and I pray to tell their stories in a way that helps others and myself. 

Investigative reporter Erica Byfield conducting an interview for her upcoming special. 

Me doing a stand-up.