News
First day reporting
emmalee reed
Jan 22, 2020
I wrote my first story, a brief written from a press release sent from the Office of the U.S. Attorney Western District of Missouri: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/columbia-man-pleads-guilty-to-armed-robbery/article_8f80c67e-3d2c-11ea-ba9a-439332434647.html. The writing process for this was a bit difficult because I haven't written in a while, and it was tricky to write the story in a way that wasn't just copying the press release. I think that the story turned out nicely, though, and I am happy to have a story done so early in the semester.
I worked on another story throughout the day. I made phone calls, gathered data and sent emails, but had trouble getting responses from people that I needed to talk to for the story to come together. I gave the data that I worked on to my editor and I think we will revisit the story in the next few days.
Nearing the end of my shift, I received another news release, which I wrote up in this story: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/free-dental-services-offered-saturday-to-veterans/article_99bf3930-3d64-11ea-b08e-77044c1e4753.html. I had a better and speedier time writing this story after writing the other one earlier in the day.
At the end of the day, I was surprised with how good the day ended up. I was especially happy to write about the second news release, and I hope that people in the community see it, because people could really be helped by the event. I am thankful for my experiences today and for seeing how the newsroom works outside of the photo bubble. I hope that the rest of the semester goes well, too.
