Respecting the Family

I went out yesterday on a story and the family had just lost a loved one.  She was sobbing and it was really hard for me to stay focused on my job.  As far as being the reporter I don’t know if I could finish the questions.  It’s a tough position because you are there trying to do your job, but on the other hand the woman is sobbing and who knows if she wants to be interviewed right now.  I know if it was me I couldn’t finish and I would stop.  But the reporter wasn’t wrong to keep going either.  She agreed to do the interview and it’s not like we were holding a gun to her head.  We were there to do our job and we needed to get it done.  The reporter, after we left, was telling me that it was important to always respect the family.  She would have stopped if they would have asked.  But since she didn’t ask, we kept going.  It was probably the hardest thing I’ve done all summer, but it was good experience to see how I would deal with that issue.

Writing

The last couple of weeks have been strictly for writing.  The more and more I write, the more and more I love it.  Every day since late July I have been writing VO’s, VO/SOT’s, teases, and plain anchor reads.  I am loving it.  The first month I spent my time writing for the website and going out with reporters.  I have kind of gone away from that and really hammered down on my news writing.  I can really see the difference in my writing.  I have had to become more creative with the teases and anchor lead-in’s they have given me.  I like the challenges of writing a story three or four different ways and choosing which one flows best.  Again, I’m not saying that I am perfect and my writing needs no more improvement.  That’s the farthest thing from the truth.  I know that writing is a never-ending learning curve.  I have gotten better, however, and it’s because I have put the time in, but the producers have also invested time in me.  I really do appreciate that.  I know I will never stop learning and hopefully I will continue to have this passion for news writing.