So long, Reporting

Wait... is it really over?

I have to be honest, I was dreading my 7-week stint at the Missourian. I'm magazine writing emphasis and I didn't think I could handle the fast-paced, stressful pace of a 24/7 newspaper. But I found that I can actually juggle quite well and I generally perform satisfactorily under stress.

My reporting experience was definitely shaped by the tornado. One of the first thoughts that went through my mind on the evening of May 22 was, "Crap... I have Reporting tomorrow." I was biting my nails when I hopped in the car, not only because I was terrified of what was ahead of me but also because I HATE getting in trouble and I felt like I was breaking a major rule by peacing out on the Missourian. So I was infinitely relieved when I spoke to John the next morning and learned I was going to get the chance to stay for awhile and write dispatches.

Not only were half of my stories about Joplin, but even when I was back in Columbia writing "normal" stories (if profiles over quilting lady truck drivers who hate my guts are considered normal), it was all I could think about it. The emotional stress I was under really weighed on me.

That being said, I also had a lot of fun. The people I met at the Missourian — fellow reporters, ACEs, editors, everyone — are some of my very favorite people that I've met at MU so far. I hope that this isn't the last I'll be seeing of them.

When I met with the second session reporters, most looking as dazed and confused as I was on our first day, I was (genuinely) all smiles. I did my best to convince them that I really did have an amazing experience at the Missourian and I'm all the better a reporter for it. (Keep an eye on Holly... I have a good feeling about her.)

The unveiling of our multimedia project

Finally, finally, our multimedia project is up on the web. I have very mixed feelings about this little piece of work. On one hand, you have visions in your head of how brilliant it's going to be, and it utterly fails meeting up to them... which is all the more frustrating when you put in as much time and frustration and sweat as Molly and I put into it. At the same time, it was a really great learning experience for me. I picked up some photography skills and feel much more comfortable with a camera in hand, and I can even do some projects using Audacity and Final Cut now. I'm happy I got to work with Molly on this project and even more so that we were able to do it over Joplin because my heart was definitely in it.

Multimedia Project: Joplin removes piles of debris

My last dispatch

I hope no one minded my cheesiness in this dispatch, but I guess that's what a little patriotism + fireworks + childhood memories will do for you ... especially after all of the devastation we've been dealing with down here. I was a little bit sad to be submitting my last dispatch (but infinitely happy that that headshot will never be used again).

Dispatch from Joplin: Reclaiming our unalienable rights

The catharsis of writing

This was probably my favorite dispatch. I wanted to explain to people who we were before the tornado, and I needed to chew on what our future will look like... so I just let myself go. It was incredibly cathartic for me. It was also nice to hear from a reader who was actually in the IHOP I mentioned when the tornado hit. This wasn't at all what I planned to write, but it just came out and I went with it, and I'm glad I did.

Dispatch from Joplin: We can be ourselves again

One month later in Joplin

Despite the circumstances under which I returned to Joplin, I was immensely grateful to wake up here the morning of the one month anniversary of the tornado. I feel connected to my friends and neighbors in a way that's difficult to explain. I could ramble quite a bit on how I felt upon my return, but I suppose it's all in the dispatch.

Dispatch from Joplin: One month later

My attempt at photojournalism

Molly and I spent several days wandering around Joplin snapping photos and collecting audio. It was really, really interesting to give photojournalism a try. You can see a definite improvement when you look at some of our first photos compared to our last photos. We put a really solid effort into it and I think we came out with some good shots. Here are a few of my favorites that I took:

My first day in the courtroom

What is this!? A little hard news!? Nothing like distracting yourself from horrible news at 8 a.m. Monday morning and the looming prospect of a funeral like trotting down to the county courthouse to see if some dude pleaded guilty or non-guilty for murder (okay, okay -- voluntary manslaughter). I never ever thought I would enjoy writing this sort of piece (and I'm not saying I want to be on the crime beat), but the whole courtroom scene was pretty...fascinating. I felt like a little kid pretending to be a journalist, especially when I audibly sucked in my breath as ten men in prison stripes were marched into the courtroom, hands handcuffed to their waist, feet shackled together. I won't lie, I teared up as a man in his forties who had a crack cocaine habit sniffled and choked up while being sentenced to seven years in prison for using a stolen credit card. (And for only buying $500 worth of stuff! I guess that's what prior offenses will get you.) I couldn't help wondering what his childhood had been like and what sorts of troubles he'd been through to wind up there. It had to be humiliating for him, sitting in front of strangers and admitting all of his mistakes out loud. Anyway. I'll get off my bleeding heart high horse. The moral of the story is it was an intense experience and I'm glad I took the assignment. (Birkhead, by the way, gave me the total creeps.)

I also took my Cross Cultural Journalism lessons to heart while trying to tell this story about two homeless men killing another homeless man without making it sound like this was a hobo brawl and no one should care. Ann and I mulled over it at the ACE desk for quite awhile before finally adding, "All three men were a part of Columbia's homeless community." It was important that we made that clear, but that definitely wasn't the first thing that needed to be said. (Even though the headline kind of takes care of that.)

Birkhead pleads guilty to involvement in homeless man's death