Personal Reflection: Final KOMU Reporting Shift

Last Wednesday, I reported nightside (1:30 pm-12:30 am) at KOMU. Last week marked the start of December, so I proposed a holiday-themed story for my shift. I came across a brief blurb in the Glasgow Missourian newspaper about this holiday season being the last for a local Christmas tree seller. This man is 78-year-old Clell Solomon, owner of Tannenbaum Farm in Howard County. After some research, I found Clell's contact information and made a call. He was happy to do the story, so I headed out about an hour from KOMU to meet with him.

I have to admit-it was not difficult to humanize this particular report. The story was based around this man, who has built a lifetime on his love for Christmas trees. However, I wanted viewers to be able to understand his love as well as get the opportunity to understand his effect on others. While his "claim to fame" is providing the Christmas tree for the Missouri Governor's mansion, Clell said this isn't his most memorable accomplishment. He mentioned the best part of his job was seeing families come back year after year to buy their tree, which allows him to see children grow up and bring their children and their children and so on. I wanted to include this angle of the story so I interviewed a long-time customer who started buying a tree when his 15 year-old was just a baby. 

In this report, I could have done a better job focusing the camera, as some images came out soft. I also could have made my script writing more succinct. However, I feel I attained my goal of personalizing the story and getting viewers to care about Clell Solomon and his trees. You can read and watch my story here.

It is hard to believe I started reporting and producing story packages just months ago. I feel I have improved beyond my personal expectations and look forward to learning even more in the new year!

Journalism Reflection: BBC

For my journalism reflection this week, I decided to cover the news outlet BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation. Today, the BBC (and other news outlets) had to cover the unfortunate news of the death of the 100th British soldier to die in Afghanistan in 2009. You can read the article here. The name of the killed soldier has yet to be released, which presents difficulty in humanizing the story. How can a journalist present this statistic as more than just a number? Well, the BBC reporter included an on-camera interview of a woman whose fiancee was killed in Afghanistan (scroll down to the middle of the article to view). Although she is not a family member of the soldier killed today, she can relate to them through her personal experience with a similar tragedy. 

The reporter did an excellent job of framing the interview subject and as a viewer, I am immediately drawn into her eyes, which seem to have a look of hopefulness and hopelessness at the same time. The interviewee talks about her struggle to stay positive for the sake of her children and how to explain to them that their father is not coming back. In the coming days, the identity of the 100th killed British soldier will most likely be released. It is unknown whether he or she has children of their own. This person is a daughter or a son, could be a sister or a brother, and could be leaving someone like the woman interviewed. 

Whether you agree or not with the current situation overseas, your heart goes out to the families who lose loved ones. It takes a journalist to report a statistic such as "100th UK Soldier Killed..." but it takes an excellent journalist to give that number a name and a greater sense of meaning. While this is not always possible, this report from the BBC proves one can still provide readers and viewers a "personal" connection to the story. 

I look forward to seeing the BBC's coverage of this "statistic" in the coming days ahead. Hopefully, the audience will get a "humanized" experience.

Personal Reflection: Reporting Shift #3

I learned a great lesson while reporting this week: even with planning ahead, sometimes nothing goes according to plan.

 Here is what happened-I arrived for my nightside reporting shift at KOMU 8 News yesterday. After pitching several ideas during the story meeting, I decided to cover an anonymous donation of 100 vouchers for turkeys to a food pantry in Hermann, MO. I was immediately interested in covering this story as it is in Gasconade County, which is relatively far from Columbia (about 1.5 hours) but is still in KOMU's viewing area. Also, this is a timely story as local food pantries are gearing up for Thanksgiving next week. Unfortunately, after making several calls, I discovered this food pantry is open on a volunteer basis and nobody would be in for the day. This would be perfect if I had a reporting shift next week!

After almost 2 hours of struggling to get contacts for my other story pitches, a producer suggested I do a story on "hunter safety." I made a call to the Department of Conservation but was told my contact, as well as anybody else knowledgable on the subject, was not in the office. I then hit the road and went to the nearest store which sold hunting equipment. There, I spoke with a gentleman who had been hunting for 50 years. Next, I went to Target Masters, an indoor facility where hunters and gun-owners practice shooting in a controlled environment. However, nobody was there practicing which left me with no visuals or opportunity for natural sound. While there, I spoke with the owner of the business, who also happened to be along-time gun owner. Next, I drove to a bar in Millersburg, MO, which tends to be a local hangout for hunters. Unfortunately, I stayed there for 30 minutes, with no luck-the establishment was empty as well. 

After leaving Millersburg, it was past 7 p.m. and I returned to KOMU. After speaking with producers and the script/video editor, we decided to "kill" the story. The reasoning behind this was the lack of "meat" in the story and little/no visuals. After this decision, I was extremely frustrated as I had spent the afternoon trying my very best to get a story completed. Not only did I let myself down, I also let my producers down. 

While this shift did not have the best outcome, it served as a learning experience. I had the opportunity to meet and interview people, traveled to a new town (Millersburg), and truly realized the difficulty of this profession. 

Let's hope I have better success in my shift-I'm determined to never let this happen again!

Journalism Reflection: The Boston Globe (Multimedia)

If you've ever been to Boston or know someone who has, sure enough you (or they) have heard of Brigham's. The ice cream and restaurant chain has been a staple in this city and its surrounding areas since the early 1900s. At one time, it seemed as though a Brigham's was on every corner. Brigham's ice cream is certainly part of the "local" flavor of Boston as is reflected in its ice cream flavors such as "Curse Reversed" (to reflect the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series) and the "Big Dig" (the name of the city's large construction project). So when news broke that the last Brigham's in the city of Boston was closing, the Boston Globe sent a reporter to the restaurant during lunchtime.

As technology continues to expand and is constantly changing, the newspaper industry is changing with it. Had this Brigham's closed 10 years ago, a newspaper reporter probably would have shown up at this event with a notepad. Now, newspaper---and broadcast---journalists serve as "multimedia" journalists, presenting their story on multiple platforms. In addition to writing an article about the restaurant closing, the Boston Globe made a slideshow and a video. Being a broadcast journalist, I decided to highlight the video. You can view it here.

As a broadcast journalist, I am always faced with the question "why should people care about this story ?" Obviously, those involved in the story care about it but how about the average viewer who has no prior knowledge of the topic or issue at hand? To make viewers care, a successful journalist should humanize the story-tell it through the eyes of a person (or people) who it affects. The Boston Globe did a phenomenal job in this story video. After watching members of the long-time waitstaff cry and faithful customers say "I've been coming here for 30 years...I don't know what we'll do now," I couldn't help but start tearing up.

While the video is shaky and does not utilize many broadcast techniques such as proper interview framing, sequencing shots, and shooting video from a variety of angles, the reporter does an excellent job of making the viewer care. It doesn't matter if you've been eating Brigham's ice cream for years or had never heard of the chain before this story. This video makes you realize how important a sandwich and ice cream shop has been to this community, and the many lives it has touched. That is great journalism.

Personal Reflection: Reporting Shift #1

This past Tuesday, I completed my first reporting shift at KOMU 8 News. I was reporting nightside, which meant my shift began at 1:30 pm to complete a package for the 10 p.m. newscast. Let's just say, it was quite the memorable first shift.

In the middle of our afternoon story meeting, the news director received a press release detailing a 3-year-old girl in Owensville, MO, had been shot in her backyard and was in critical condition at a hospital in St. Louis. I immediately volunteered to take this story. After making a call to the Gasconade County Sheriff's Department, the Sheriff agreed to do an on-camera interview with me to talk about what happened. With more than an hour to drive to get to the Sheriff, I grabbed my gear and hit the road.

Upon arriving at the Sheriff's office, I quickly unloaded my gear and began the interview. Sheriff Randy Esphorst would not release to me the name of the victim or who the shooter was, but was able to give me the facts of what led up to this horrible accident. While in the middle of our interview, the Sheriff received a call the little girl had died. I was the first journalist to be informed this young victim had not survived. After making a call to my producer and sharing this news on KOMU's twitter feed, I finished talking with the Sheriff. 

Back on the road, I headed another 35 miles to Owensville. The Sheriff informed me the shooting took place in the little girl's back yard, located at her home on Highway EE. Upon finding the location, I pulled to the side of the road, which happened to have a bit of tilt to it. This was a bad idea, as it was also muddy, and my station car got stuck. The sun was also starting to go down, so I went into panic mode. I still needed b-roll of where the shooting took place and a reaction from a member of the community. After standing on the side of the road, Jeff Mades pulled over to help. It turns out he lives in Owensville and has a 3-year-old himself. He waited with me for a tow truck to get my car out of the ditch. While we chatted, he went on camera to share with me his reaction.

Meanwhile, across the street from where my car got stuck was a house sharing the backyard with the victim's home. This neighbor had seen me in distress and had also called a tow truck. As I asked him about the shooting, he got emotional and shared with me what had happened. He did not want to be identified or go on camera, but was willing to let me stand on his property to get b-roll of exactly where the accident occurred. 

As I was shooting b-roll, two tow trucks arrived to pull out my car. While only one was needed, both drivers stuck around to make sure the car made it out okay. After the car was back on "flat" road and was ready to go, one tow truck driver shared with me he knew the bullets had been shot from a house around the bend. After thanking the gentlemen who called the first two truck, the neighbor, and both tow truck drivers, I headed down the street to get some b-roll of the shooter's home as well as a paper plate target on a nearby tree. This target was similar to the one the shooter had been aiming for, when his bullet missed and traveled 365 yards, striking the young girl in the head.

At this point, it was nearly dark, so I packed up the car and headed to the station. Just over 1.5 hours later, I was back at KOMU 8 writing and editing my package. I was quickly informed my package would be the lead story. Was I nervous? Petrified is more like it. However, my adrenaline quickly kicked in and I got into work mode. Less than 2 hours later, my package was ready to go-with 30 minutes until air. Not too bad for a first shift!

This is a reporting day I will always remember. While it would have been easy for me to give up or quit because of the car situation, I "pulled up my bootstraps" and did what my duty as a journalist is: getting the story straight to inform our viewers about this horrible accident. I will never forget how a minor "bump" in the road turned into getting the story.

Read my story about the Glasconade County shooting. 

Journalism Reflection: The New Yorker

For my news reflection this week, I decided to review and discuss the article "Chin Music" by Louis Menand of The New Yorker. The writer discusses the current "war" between President Barack Obama's administration and the Fox News Channel. Political coverage is a main component of most news organizations, whether it is on a local, national, or international level. Reading about a "battle" between the current presidential administration of one of the most powerful nations in the world and a highly successful right-wing cable news network ought to make for an interesting article, I thought. 

Menand's statement, "...cable news, in short, is a sandbox. People throw things at one another, not just for fun but for profit," got me thinking. Is the drama factor of two opposing (in this case political) viewpoints dishing it out at one another on national television overtaking the meaning of honest journalism? Is cable news too sensationalized? Have these journalists lost sight of what their role is? It could be argued cable news requires its news teams to cover issues and topics in a different way than in traditional news outlets. On the other hand, it can be argued cable news should still be sticking to the methods of traditional journalism. Despite what your opinion or mine is, one thing is clear: whatever the Fox News Channel is doing, it's working.

The author reports in 2008, half the people who watched the Fox News Channel were over sixty-three. This makes it the oldest demographic in the cable-news business. Since Barack Obama took office, the channel's ratings continue to do well as the news network has taken an anti-Administration stance. Menand writes the current administration's decision to "declare war" on Fox News should only help the channel's ratings. 

Menand raises the question, "are Presidential wars against the press always futile and self-defeating?" President Lyndon Johnson attempted to make friends with the press, which proved unsuccessful. President Richard Nixon took the opposite approach but still managed to get reelected. Obama's spokespersons have been giving Fox News a substantial amount of material to work with, which Menand feels has contributed to the network's success. 

Menand does not deny the Fox News Channel has a certain agenda; it is a politically biased organization. Roger Ailes (under supervision of Rupert Murdoch) launched the network in 1996. He had previously worked with President Nixon to shape his "newer" image. Since Nixon's time, though, Menand argues news professionals like Ailes no longer hold the power to completely sway public opinion based on a newscast. He writes, "although political reporting today is both softer and more critical, it has less effect on how the public regards the President than it did back in the days of balanced disinterestedness."

The writer adds some interesting statistics worth noting. In a recent Pew survey, he writes, public belief in the accuracy of news stories is at a twenty-year low. Twenty-nine percent of Americans think news outlets have correct facts; sixty-three percent think they do not; sixty percent believe that reporting is politically biased. These are some eye-opening statistics to take into consideration. Menand believes, "...in a climate which bias is increasingly taken for granted, cable channels have every incentive to enhance their appeal to their core constituencies." Translation: Fox News is doing everything it can to maintain and add to its large right-wing viewer base.

As a young journalist, this makes me wonder how far an individual or group, such as the Obama administration, and how far a news outlet, such as Fox News, should go before enough is enough. To this, Louis Menand says, "...the state may, and should, rebut opinions that it finds obnoxious, but it should not single out speakers for the purpose of intimidating them. At the end of the day, you do not want your opponents to be able to say they could not be heard. It may be exasperating, but that is what the First Amendment is all about." So, for now, it looks as though the "battle" between the two opposing political sides will continue...all in the name of journalism, of course. 

Personal Reflection: VO Patrol #1

Today, I completed my first VO Patrol shift at KOMU. I have to admit I was very nervous. 

From 2 to 6, I was responsible for producing a VOSOT for the 6 p.m. newscast. Upon arriving at the station, I started to panic (just on the inside of course!)...I started to think "what's the process of getting out a station car?" to "don't forget to check your equipment" to "what if I don't make it back in time!" After 2 minutes, I said to myself "breathe, Lindsey, breathe, you'll figure it out."

After pitching several story ideas, the news director recommended I cover an event at Columbia Regional Hospital. Representatives from several local Kohl's stores were to present a check to staff from the hospital's trauma unit.  Before leaving the station, I gave the hospital's Media Coordinator a call. I realized I had worked with him before at another hospital event this past spring for a radio story. He remembered me and served as a great resource for my story. This proves that you never know who you may cross paths with again in the future! 

When shooting at the event, I put my knowledge from my broadcast classes to the test. I tried to remember to white balance before each shot, get shots from different angles, and try to get shots with "movement" whenever possible. Some things I wish I did differently include framing my interview tighter and getting more cutaway shots. Hopefully, I will not make the same mistakes again at my next VO Patrol shift (in a week).

Was my first shift a disaster? No. Was it easy? No. However, I survived. My greatest lesson learned from today is to never be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. Eight people answered different questions to help me get through today. While I felt I was being "annoying," I swallowed my pride and explained I am "just getting my feet wet" at the station. Each person I asked was more than willing to help. It was a good feeling to see my finished product air--on schedule--and an even better feeling to know members of the newsroom are supportive of one another!

Journalism Reflection: France 24

For my journalism reflection this week, I decided to discuss a report from French media outlet France 24. After browsing through various stories, I came across the headline, "Sarkozy 'nepotism' row puts country's reputation in the dock." Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, has been a focus of attention in international media for more than a year for reasons ranging from his remarriage to a former supermodel to his support for the recently elected President Barack Obama. I was curious to read why Sarkozy is making headlines this time.

On Thursday, the story broke that Sarkozy will be appointing his 23 year-old son, Jean Sarkozy, to become chairman of the EPAD agency. This is one of the highest ranking positions in France's top business district, La Defense. In the written portion of this report, France 24 compares the responses to this story from different media outlets throughout the world. An Italian newspaper accused the President of trying to create a "succession to the throne." A publication in Paris calls it an "act of nepotism." In a newscast, CCTV, China's State Television Channel, presented the President's son as an exception to all rules. It is important to keep in mind France 24 included only a few examples. However, it is interesting to read similar statements from news sources in different countries, seeing as each country has differing cultural and political viewpoints.

France 24's broadcast of this recent controversy begins with "On Wednesday, Jean Sarkozy was supposed to attend a meeting in Paris, but in the end, two ministers came without him." I thought this lead was a good choice for an introduction as it caused me, the viewer, to ask "why isn't he there?" The reporter grabbed my attention and I wanted to continue watching to get an answer to my question. This story presents both sides of the story, including the viewpoint that this is an act of "nepotism" and the viewpoint that Jean is a qualified candidate for the position regardless of the fact he is the President's son. You can view this broadcast by clicking on the video located under the story headline.

So, what's a dad to do after reading these headlines about his son? President Sarkozy responded today by saying his son has been "thrown to the wolves" by the press and feels Jean has been unfairly targeted. As a journalist, I cannot help but wonder did the press go too far? Where does one draw the line? Did reporters from these media outlets stay true to their duty as objective journalists? From this report, I believe many people have strong opposing feelings to the President's speculated appointment. Yet, as journalists we must remember we are to present the facts of a story, including both sides, in an objective manner. 

I am curious to see if President Sarkozy follows through with the decision to appoint his son (and it is approved by a board) or if another individual is chosen due to the response from the press.

Journalism Reflection: MediaStorm

For my journalism reflection this week, I decided to view and read reporting from MediaStorm, a multimedia production studio founded by a Missouri J-School alum. I perused the website of this news outlet earlier today and came across a story "The Ninth Floor." Nearly 10 hours later and I am still thinking about this story since I first watched it. If that does not accomplish a journalist's goal of leaving the viewer with a lasting thought about a featured story, then I don't know what does.

Multimedia Reporter Jessica Dimmock followed a group of 20-30 young drug addicts from 2004-2007. This group had transformed an elegant apartment on the ninth floor of a Fifth Avenue building into an area of extreme chaos. The living situation was deplorable: the group did drugs whenever they could and did not take care of the space. Dimmock documented the process of this group getting evicted, their struggles to get off of drugs, and the many tribulations facing them during the process.

Dimmock's story is certainly not something one would see on a nightly newscast. It is more than 13 minutes long and features some pictures not suitable for air. It is a longer form story and goes into great depth. Though there is no video, Dimmock's sequence of still photographs tell the story. Her use of different music and short descriptions of each person work well together to humanize this story.

The aspect I enjoyed most about this piece is the inclusion of audio clips of personal reflections from the addicts. These can be compared to "nat pops" a reporter would include in a package. I was so moved by Dionn, a drug addict, talking about seeing his newborn baby for the first time. He told Dimmock how his daughter looks at him "like he is the best thing in the world" while he thinks "if she only knew." That segment brought me to tears. One of a journalist's main goals is to evoke emotion in the viewer. This journalist certainly accomplishes this goal.

I enjoyed viewing this piece and learned how important it is to humanize a story. It gave me, the viewer, a sense of being there with the subjects and empathizing for them throughout their struggles.

Personal Reflection: A whirlwind of a week!

For package #3, I decided to cover the "Memory Walk" event sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association's Mid-Missouri chapter last Sunday. Covering an event is like eating an Oreo cookie: take small bites and enjoy both the hard cookie and the frosting or open up the cookie and go straight for the frosting, then eat the hard part. I decided to take the small bite approach when covering this event. I arrived to the event an hour early to set up my equipment and get a feel for the lay of the land to determine where I should stand during my shots. When the event began, I shot b-roll of many different scenes from the event, including registration, face painting, and pre-walk stretching. I did collect some great natural sound but got caught up in collecting a bit of everything and lost track of time. With 10 minutes remaining until the walk began, I panicked and attempted to find my CCC. I did find a team leader who is head of the Alzheimer's wing at The Bluffs in Columbia and tried to work from there. I interviewed several of her team members as well as 2 event volunteers. However, if I could shoot this package again, I may have gone straight for the "frosting" by finding my CCC initially and then trying to get b-roll of the various happenings as well as other interviews.

When I returned to edit my package, I browsed through my shots and thought to myself "I should have framed this closer" and "why didn't I get that angle?" While it was easy to get frustrated, I realized the event was done which meant I had to work with what shots I had collected. I wrote, rewrote, and rewrote twice more for this package. An event is difficult to summarize in under two minutes because there was so much to tell. I could have made this story into a 5 minute spot easily!

When I received news I had been cleared following submission of this package, the feeling was indescribable. I am honored my teacher feels I am ready to move on to the next phase of Broadcast 2. I realize reporting at the station will not be easy. My stories will no longer be seen by my lab of 8 students but rather many viewers throughout Mid-Missouri. My goal for my time at KOMU is to cover my stories fairly and accurately and to establish credibility with viewers. I know I will make mistakes along the way and that is something I fear. However, I have to learn from them and I will become a better journalist because of them. Rich Ward, a longtime photographer at Fox 25 News in Boston gave me this advice last week in an email: "everyday will be different out there in the field and it will always be unpredictable. That is good, everyday will be a new experience, and bad, nothing is predictable and no one thing works all the time. It's okay to make mistakes. Just remember you are not a heart or brain surgeon in an operation. A mistake there could mean some serious results. You are doing TV. Do your best, be patient, and learn, learn, learn everyday." 

Getting smart about art!

Today I visited Columbia's Access Art to do my feature story for package #2. I had never heard of this art center until a guest lecturer spoke about it in my Context & Culture (an art class for Journalism majors) class last week.

Artist Norleen Nosri and her husband Chris took over Access Art in 2003. This art center has a staff of 15 volunteers and works with more than 2000 students each year. The organization receives its funding from class fees, grants, and donations. It was founded in the 1960s and has been inspiring artists of all ages ever since. Access Art is open to everyone and part of the program includes working with special needs students.

I have to say, this was by far the most enjoyable shooting experience I have had thus far in any of my broadcast assignments. The students were excited and passionate about what they are doing, Norleen and Chris were more than accommodating, and everyone was delighted to have a student featuring the center. One volunteer even told me, "It's the best kept secret in Columbia!"

Shooting is the part of the package process that I usually find to be most challenging. I was pleasantly surprised to have had a good experience while shooting. While at Access Art, I tried to keep in mind the tips I've learned in Broadcast I and Broadcast 2 and I find myself thinking "oh, wow, that's a great nat pop!" and "don't forget to get sequence shots from different angles." As I drove away, I quickly realized I had truly been thinking as a journalist the entire time I was there.

The next challenge for me will be to decide how to go about writing this piece. Norleen is my CCC so I plan to use that as a start. My goal is to make this story as visual as I can, considering that it is about art which is a visual medium. It's also important that I incorporate nat sound pops which is something that I did not do very well in package 1.

Following the stress lecture today, I have a new perspective on my way of going about getting things done. I arrived in the Broadcast I lab 10 minutes early of my equipment pickup so that I could check all of the pieces and it's a very good thing I did considering one camera battery had only 9 minutes left on it! After my video is done capturing, I'm going to the Rec for a run and then I will come back to writing. What I learned from Greeley today is balance is key.

Journalism Reflection: Globalpost

As a young journalist, I've found one of the best ways to learn what makes great journalism is by reading, watching, and observing other journalists.

Today, I came across an article, "The coming war for water" on GlobalPost.Jason Overdorf is GlobalPost's India correspondent. In this story, he discusses the conflict between India and Pakistan over the rivers which flow between both of these countries. Both of these countries have inhabitants who are dependent on these water sources to survive. India and Pakistan both have links to the region of Kashmir, where these rivers are located. Pakistan controls the northwest portion and India controls the central and southwest portions (China controls the rest). For years, there has been continuous arguing between people from both countries about who controls what.

Overdorf's report does not have any accompanying video. In fact, the article includes only a file photo from April. It is this journalist's writing which caught my attention. My journalism professors continuously stress the importance of good writing. Whether it's print, where a journalist is confined by space, or in broadcast, where a journalist is confined by time, a good journalist needs to be able to have compelling writing, something that makes the viewer or reader want to continue listening or reading. In my opinion, Overdorf's opening sets the scene for the story and causes me to create a picture in my head. He writes:

" Atop the disputed Baglihar Dam in the mountains of Kashmir, the Chenab River roars like a 747 as its silvery waters churn the dam's massive turbines and boil out over the ravine in a tremendous, spiraling white waterfall. The air is moist, and a massive cloud of mist floats downstream toward the roadway, where moments ago a dozen busloads of soldiers headed for posts along India's border with Pakistan have rumbled across a narrow bridge."

Although I have never traveled to Kashmir during my 21 years of life, I was able to instantly picture this scene in my head. If I had produced this story for television, I would include a nat sound opening of water from the Chenab River flowing. Maybe, if I was lucky, I could even get some nat sound from local animal species (such as birds).

I believe Overdorf is a great journalist. Throughout this piece, he mixes words from locals, a brief history of this conflict, and how politics comes into play in this matter. However, if Overdorf was in Broadcast 2, he probably would have approached this story differently (he has an opportunity for amazing "web extras." A picture slideshow of the disputed water and local people would add tremendously to the story).

A quote from this report also caught my attention. Overdorf met with Kashmiri journalist Parvaiz Bukhari of the Mail Today who told him, "in an abnormal situation, the normal becomes news." Sometimes, something that you have always thought to be perfectly normal suddenly becomes news. This goes to show that a great story could be staring you right in the face.

Here is the link to the story: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/india/090731/the-coming-war-water?page=0,0