{ 06 August 2006 }
11:42 PM |  
(I said I was going to post this here because it might be a bit touchy to put on the station website, as I almost did originally. I know it plays a little off the last post.)

Owen says:

Most reporters will agree the hardest thing in our job is meeting the family of someone who just died. There's absolutely no cordial way to say "Hi, I'm a reporter, can I talk to you about your dead son?" I'm not being flippant -- just honest. And you can't honestly say you know the pain they're going through, because you can't.

I mean, there are ways to be apologetic, ways to be empathetic, ways to soften the question. But I still remember once, back in my last job, when I visited the family of a woman killed by a drunk driver. They were very accommodating, allowing us into their home and showing us some wonderful home video of this aunt/mother/sister laughing and joking at a family gathering.

When we got back to the station, I was looking through my photographer's footage when I saw me, standing there amidst these family members, some of whom were crying. I stood out like a sore... well, everything. Surely, it was not my place to be there in their time of grief.

But then I remember why they invited me to their home in the first place.

They wanted to show people what can happen to families when someone gets drunk and thinks he or she can get behind the wheel.

So if by showing some tragedy on TV we can prevent some people from drinking and driving, convince others to wear seat belts, or help parents realize they need to watch their kids more... then maybe it's worth it.

I'm fully aware this reeks of justification. Maybe part of it is. But these are things going on in the minds of many reporters I know. I just hope people know, few of us cover the aforementioned stories because we revel in the tragedy.



{ 05 August 2006 }
4:31 PM |  
Sorry it's been a while. I've been splitting my loyalty with the John Campbell Weather Blog. He asked me to guest post for him while he's out on his honeymoon.

But this I don't think I can post on the K E T V site. This guy got up in our grill today. Hmm. I've never used that phrase, but it fits.

To his credit, we were in fact covering a toddler drowning in his apartment complex, and his specific building was the same one the 3-year-old lived in.

But we weren't trying to be "leeches on society" as he so poetically put it. And it's the third drowning or near-drowning in a week here. That's just unbelievable.

I truly think most every journalist gets into the business because they feel they can make a difference. (Okay, some want to be on TV, but they usually don't last long) And any of my friends will tell you how much I hate covering tragedies like car crashes and drownings. And I try to look at it this way: If by covering this child drowning I can convince 10, five, or even one parent to pay closer attention to their toddler, maybe it's worth it.

Here's to the next generation of journalists never losing idealism in the midst of overwhelming cynicism. And here's hoping Mr. Mass (yes, we looked up his name from his license plate) understands we're not all leeches, and even fewer of us start out that way.

Oh, also. He was within his right to stand in front of our cameras. And we were within our right to shoot video.



{ 30 July 2006 }
4:13 PM |  
MahKuRoss: you found out my (and lance bass') secret


HUH?



{ 25 July 2006 }
10:35 AM |  
Found during a blogger search (yeah, was bored):

"It has great composition and its lyric is an ode to Hua Ze Lei, Owen Jing, Ji Qian, Yuan Ying, and alike. If you are a big fan of Taiwanese idol dramas, you’ll recognize those names as the guys who always end up NOT getting the girl. ..."


Okay, so the Lei and the Owen aren't really together... but the line that comes after more than makes up for it.

Speaking of getting the girl, check out my skydving wedding story:
http://www.ketv.com/video/9412534/index.html

Steve came back from shooting the wedding well after 9pm... and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to dub the home video to the station's tape format. As you can see, we failed, so we ended up shooting it off of a camcorder LCD.

All things considered, I think the product we got on the 10pm show wasn't half bad. Of course, with more time to work on it, we could have made it better, shown more skydiving video, fleshed out the story a bit. But such is the nature of the "beast."



{ 22 July 2006 }
5:06 PM |  
It is very hard to get motivated to work out in the morning. I don't know how my parents do so 3-5 times a week.

So here are the points of motivation, (not in order of importance):
- $XX/month lost to the YMCA if I don't work out
- NOT having a heart attack before age 35
- Winning the Battle of the Bulge-- that is, my ever outward creeping torso
- (Corollary to previous) My desire not to spend money letting out the waistline on my work pants...es.
- Sonya's wedding in October (though not nearly as motivating as AAJA Hawaii, huh)
- Seeing Jeff and his ripped... well, everything... well... not everything.
- Therapy for my ever-nagging shoulder injury
- Not feeling tired after climbing one flight of stairs
- Not wasting time watching TV or chatting online every morning.



{ 20 July 2006 }
7:52 PM |  
So Jeff visits Omaha for three days, and there's almost no evidence to show he was actually here.

I can only think of three things:

1) In my apartment now lies a 2005 Ultimate Chicago frisbee.

2) My copy of Dragon Quest VIII is gone.

3)



{ 19 July 2006 }
7:22 PM |  
It's not often I get to post while in the middle of a story, so this is a little different.

I'm sitting at the Council Bluffs Community School District boardroom. The board's discussing how to accommodate 100+ kids whose school was burned down a few weeks back. If I've talked to you since then, it's the one where I got to interview the guy police caught, the guy who told me exactly how he did it (to his credit, he did apologize profusely).

About 100 people are here, including media. The regular meeting starts in just a bit... and that's when the public gets to comment. I get the feeling that's when this will get interesting. :)

Yes, meetings can be a "boring" part of the job. But it's important that we sit through all this and try to boil it down for everyone who couldn't make it. You know?







 

 

 

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