I received a lovely surprise today at work: A thank-you bouquet from a WWII veteran. This veteran is originally from the town where I work and at 90 years old must be one of a very small number of men left who had served in World War II. He had seen an article I wrote recently about the Roll of Honor, a local monument to the area's WWII veterans (both the living and those who've passed on). So he called me this week, hoping someone at the paper could send him a photo of the monument. He lives out of town and had never seen it since it was rebuilt in 2010, even though his name and those of several of his relatives are on it. I couldn't find him any from the paper but I snapped a few with my phone on my way to an assignment and emailed them to him. He replied with his thanks and I figured that was taken care of. Then about noon today, one of the front desk ladies brought these peach roses, saying they were delivered for me. For the life of me I couldn't guess wh...

Yes, I ended up becoming a reporter. Funny thing is, there are a number of movies and TV shows I enjoyed in my childhood that featured a reporter (or some other figure of journalism) as a main character. And I never realized until sometime last year just how many there were. A partial list for your perusal: Roman Holiday Early Edition (TV show) It Happened One Night (sidenote: the plot is practically identical to Roman Holiday!) Assassination Bureau (Diana Rigg is splendid as the investigative journalist, if completely unethical) Superman (comics/movies) Crocodile Dundee Godzilla (the U.S. one with Matthew Broderick) Twister (the lead guy was a weather reporter - and on an irrelevant note, Cary Elwes is a fantastic villain here) Hoodwinked More recently, a few other movies have featured reporters/editors in a lead role. 27 Dresses Hitch (well, she's a gossip columnist) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Fascinating (at least ...

Community Awareness Opportunity Explore Bring together Initiative Participating Networking ...of these, "community" takes the cake. What do you even mean when you say "providing the community with this opportunity"? Do you mean you're going to let the 5-year-olds that live in your town have their share of the grant funding? What about the owner of the old barbershop that could use the money, but isn't actually eligible because it's not really open to business entities? Where or who exactly is your "community"? It's such a broadly used word that it requires further definition - but that definition is rarely, if ever, spelled out. I see this all the time in print journalism, and I'm left wondering what common characteristic or interest is defining the "community" under consideration. Maybe everybody should just re-read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language .

The paper I work for recently switched to a "paywall" on its website, which, in case you haven't followed all the hype about media, means you have to pay to access the articles after you've read a certain number per month. It's like the New York Times has instituted. As you can imagine, there are plenty of people upset that the paper's now charging for something that it previously offered free. There's even one commenter who's like, "I pay for internet! Why should I pay to read what's on it?" And somebody else compared the newspaper website to Netflix and said Netflix charges less, so ergo the paper is charging way too much. Here, therefore, is my rant. To get this out of the way: When you get Internet, you're paying for the conveyance of the information. You're not paying for any of the information itself. Complaining that you already pay for Internet is like complaining that you have to pay for something out of a catalog...

A few weeks ago my work schedule changed a bit. I now work an early second-shift type schedule, much like my sister the nurse does, actually, but Tuesday through Saturday as always. The change came about because one position was cut from the newsroom. Now, there’s just the managing editor and me as editors for the six-day-a-week paper, so we’ve split the duties formerly assumed by the associate editor. As a consequence, I’m the one coming in late and staying late to edit copy (stories and stuff) and “put the paper to bed,” as we say. (That just means I read through everything that goes in the paper, tell the designers what to put on which pages, then read through it all again once they design the pages and make more corrections.) I still do reporting as much as I can, which feels like very little. It’s a rather solitary job, far more than reporting has been, anyway. Most of the newspaper staff leaves at 5 p.m. sharp and the reporters, who start a bit later because of the news cycle, ...

What would it have been like to write about the birth of Jesus in AP style? BETHLEHEM, Judea—Rumors about a baby’s birth in a stable have been confirmed. Jesus, son of Joseph son of Jacob and his betrothed Mary, was born early yesterday morning in a stable-turned-lodging in the city, according to the stable’s owner and census officials who stopped there mid-morning today. The couple journeyed here from Nazareth in Galilee to comply with Caesar Augustus’ census. Still unconfirmed are rumors that heavenly beings appeared to shepherds in a field outside Bethlehem. No other witnesses to the event have been found, but several sheep were discovered unattended late last night and their shepherds eventually located in the vicinity of the stable. They claim to have been sent there by the angels. The baby is destined to become the Jewish savior, according to his father Joseph. The royal priests and prophets were unavailable for comment. It is also unknown whether the bright star first notice...

About halfway through November, I finished six months at my first job after college, and the first job in my field. Here’s what my first six months of news reporting taught me: 1. Sunshine laws. There are lots of things government entities can’t do in their meetings… for instance, they can’t hold impromptu meetings, except if a dire situation demands it and only then after notifying all the local media. And any quorum of a government body in the same place, discussing business, constitutes a meeting—so elected officials can’t get out of this by getting together for morning coffee and accidentally talking about what-have-you. There’s a whole book on the open meeting and public records laws—and the state will send it to you free, if you want to learn about them. 2. Local government operations. I had no idea before I took this job how many branches there were of just a small city government—how many subcommittees a city council has, for instance. I’d only been to a couple city council m...

…and all my projects are finally wrapping up. 1. The church photo directory. I’m getting all the photos from the photographer today, and it should be a snap placing them all into the document. Then, PDFing the document, and sending it on to the assistant pastor to get it to the printer… and voilá, I should be all done with this. 2. I actually got the neighboring town’s coroner’s office to fax an autopsy report to the newspaper! And all it took was a little specific information, a couple phone calls, some courtesy, and some patience. Well, the patience thing was easy, since I got so busy I forgot to call back until a week later… which worked out. (The lady I talked to had also gotten busy, so we both picked up where we left off at the same time!) 3. One more week left of work at the warehouse!!! I’m so glad it’s almost over. 4. Gearing up for the semester of editing the campus newspaper. Well, I got everybody to pick some assignments, and did my own; and the ads manager and I go...

As you may (or may not) be aware, I’m writing a few articles this summer for my local paper. My latest one was just published yesterday—in the Sunday paper, on July 4th , and just inside on page A3—and it was about a little old lady who’s recently decided to be an artist. The link will only work for a couple weeks, maybe a month, before it sinks into the pay-per-view archives, but until then you can check it out. A little tidbit that’s not in the article: She’s painted a rendition of the famous “Christ knocking on heart’s door,” and won a ribbon with her painting at her town’s festival. She gave her most recent painting, a waterfall scene, to her doctor, who plans to hang it in his lobby.

My mom sent this in a forward this morning. I couldn’t stop giggling. This is just a small taste of my kind of humor…. all the comments below the headlines are not my own; rather, they were part of the e-mail as sent to me. Proofreading is a dying art, wouldn’t you say? Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter This one I caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!! They put in a correction the next day. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says No crap, really? Ya think? Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers Now that's taking things a bit far! Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over What a guy! Miners Refuse to Work after Death No-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so's! Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant See if that works any better than a fair trial! War Dims Hope for Peace I can see whe...

One project that I had worked on quite a bit, but had to give up, was a story on a nonprofit organization that had just started providing job training for former prison inmates in New York . I didn’t want to give it up, though, so I didn’t really. I kept corresponding with my contact, and though I could not put together a convergence project (i.e., a story with video and slideshow and audio to accompany it), I ended up with a decent print story with a few photos. That story was just posted online today. And the best part about this story was working with my contact. She was amazingly cooperative—not a common experience for a journalist—and even went so far as to stay up late just to find me an official document stating New York’s recidivism rate. I have an e-mail from this lady date-stamped at 11:26 at night, after she was already worn out after a full day at various New York prisons and looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend. I would never have asked her to do that, but she we...

My most recent WJI news project is now up: New York libraries are facing a huge funding cut . For this project, the video was the key piece, and I’ll go ahead and embed it here. Take a look!

[tweetmeme style="compact" only_single="false"] My entire convergence news package about Fleet Week is up on the WJI Times Observer (the video was posted here yesterday). Be sure to check out the slide show for some nice photos (if I do say so myself). :) My previous projects have been about immigrants overcoming the language barrier and a new pedestrian-friendly design for 34th Street right here in front of the Empire State Building. (Those also have slideshows and an audio piece.) And tomorrow? Well, we’ll see when we get there, but another package will be completed Wednesday night. Then we’ll be working on a radio piece, 60-90 seconds, and I have something rather interesting in mind for that, I think. We’ll see how everything pans out. Tonight, though, I’m going to try to do something non-journalistic and quite touristy—I’m going to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Pictures will be forthcoming provided I get somebody to go with me! (I think I have two apart...

Miracle for alternative transit on 34th Street I couldn't resist the allusion. EDIT: The website was slightly reworked, so the old link no longer works. Please follow the new one.

1. Tell the story. Find the story. Make it a story. Personalize the story. It's a story that needs to be told, and it needs to be coherent and compelling. 2. Show the story. Use a little color. Don't say that "she was happy." Say that "she smiled widely when I told her the news." 3. Work together. ("Work, work together...") It's a lot easier to do your job if someone's helping you, and then you can help out your partner. You play off each other's strengths. 4. Windows Live Movie Maker is the least capable video maker possible. 5. New York streets make sense, and it takes half an hour to walk to the Hudson River from the Empire State building. 6. Don't talk while you're trying to take video. That's your natural sound you're obliterating! 7. Get some variety in your photos and videos, both in composition and in content. Don't take all your pictures of the same two things. 8. Waking up at 5:40 A.M. can be ...

I hardly have time to write anything--I'm spending a solid 12 hours a day solely on class and homework. (As in, I have to be in the classroom before 8:30 in the morning and I don't get back to my room until after 8:30 at night.) But I don't care. The WJI program is amazing. It's the biggest challenge I've had in journalism--definitely on the level with my challenge in my Spanish major of being plopped into a Spanish-speaking household when barely able to string two sentences together in Spanish.... if not even more challenging. I'm learning from Russ Pulliam today, who's a senior editor at the Indianapolis Star (woohoo Indiana!) and whose family has been in newspapers for a few generations. From reading a collection of his editorials and features in preparation for this course, I thought he'd be in-your-face and blunt. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. He's very Midwestern, as he said himself, where people are polite and nice--at ...

How many times have I used that as a post title, I wonder? But anyways--I really am here, just, I've not been posting in the last several days. (Or the last couple weeks, it appears.) I've been busily working on several final projects/papers, plus I went home for Mother's Day this past weekend (and conspired with my sister to royally surprise my mom), and I'm leaving for New York in... five short days. That said, I'll soon have a music video of a Tom Lehrer song up on YouTube. (It's one of those final projects I've been burying myself in.) I finished editing over half of it today, so if all goes well, I'll have it uploaded on Thursday morning. In the meantime, I'll be working on a porfolio that I've had to put off until tonight/tomorrow.... it shouldn't be that big of a deal. And then.... New York! That's for the World Journalism Institute's New York course in backpack journalism , for which I'll spend three weeks in Manh...

Tonight at church my brother asked me if I knew what day it was. March 14th, I told him, a Sunday. He asked me again, did I know what day it was? I thought at first he was being silly, but when I began to reiterate the date, I realized.... 3-14. As in 3.1415926........... And I was happy. I also looked up Google today, to see their logo: It was also amusing. Especially since I understand pretty much everything on there, including the wavy thing there in the middle. (Yes, I know it's been a week and a day since my last post. But I'm on spring break and trying to get some homework done...) P.S. Wonderful news! I've been admitted to this program in New York that's all about journalism. :)

Well, to simplify everything, life has been relatively busy these past couple weeks. It's not the sort of thing I would write about here, on my blog, though. It's academics and filling out forms and having miscellaneous meetings. It's talking to my friends most evenings and to my roomie late at night about everything and nothing. It's wondering what doors would think of being opened and shut all the time... if they could think. It's e-mailing a lot of people, hoping to get answers, and conducting a short interview to write a (long) article summarizing the work my campus has done to send financial aid to Haiti. And e-mailing more people about an article describing the plans for this semester's series of honors-program seminars. And taking lots of pictures for both articles. Which all culminated in getting one article on the front page and one on page 3 of this Friday's edition of the campus newspaper. It's also translating from Spanish to English ...

One week on campus (mostly), and things have been crazy. If you've been reading my other blog (the link to which is by request), you know I've tried out and gotten a part in a one-act comedy to be performed the first weekend in February. That's in addition to a class on Spanish conversation, and on top of preparation to write the prospectus and annotated bibliography for my senior honors project (this beginning stuff needs to be done by the end of the month). Plus, I've helped tutor a young ESL student who's struggling in math, and watched a million episodes of Touched by an Angel a couple nights ago, and have also been getting caught up with the yearbook (I'll be assistant editor). Oh and I've been working, but that's a given. I absolutely love the honors project preparation. I'll be helping to plan and launch my college's new website for the college newspaper & broadcasting programs! I also love Spanish class, except that today we tal...