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.