School closings and Christmas cheer

On Monday I finished my story on St. Thomas the Apostle School in Wilmington closing down. Actually, nothing is official yet (according to the diocese spokesman) but a lot of concerned parents have called in. The parents say their pastor has recommended it close down, but they're desperately trying to raise funds for it to stay alive. This is particularly disheartening to some families who have come from St. Hedwig Elementary in Wilmington, another Catholic school that just closed this year. It's also sad because it's the only Catholic school in the diocese that caters to special needs children.

I also wrote a story about a man who does a spectacular lights display at his house for Christmas. He's REALLY into the whole Santa deal--he dresses up as Santa and descends from the roof in a big pyrotechnic display. He also got the postmaster to recognize his address as 1 Santa Claus Lane, North Pole. Who knew the North Pole was in Delaware?
This story was really fun to write because the man was so charismatic. It was worth standing outside for an hour on a cold night.

November already

This week at The News Journal...

• I drove to a playground in New Castle where graffiti was spray painted with racial slurs. This story came from a tip from a man in the area who likes to take his granddaughter to the playground.
  
• I attended a 4:30 plea hearing at the federal courthouse Monday. A former school bus driver was the first of nine men in a child porn ring to enter a guilty plea.
• I wrote a story about ways Delaware war veterans are helping wounded soldiers. (Timely for the weekend because Veterans Days is Monday.)
  
• I started working on a story for the business section. I interviewed Michael Christopher, a high-end hair designer in Wilmington who is launching his new product Erase. (Basically, it's gunk to put in your hair to get rid of all the other crap you put in your hair.) He recently debuted the product on the home shopping channel QVC at 1 a.m. and sold out within 6 minutes.
  
• I also started to follow a lead on a school in Wilmington called St. Thomas the Apostle, which is rumored to be closing down. A lot of Catholic schools in the city have been having trouble staying open in recent years as more people move toward the 'burbs. The problem for me was that the diocese spokesman refused to confirm the rumors yet. So I'll have to do some more digging, talking to more parents and see what they've heard.
  

Saving up for the holidays

This week I worked on a story about store credit cards for the Business Monday section. Because so many people are strapped for cash around the holidays, a lot of them open store credit cards to get the instant discount. These cards are actually more trouble than they're worth because they accrue so much interest. A lot of people are still paying off holiday bills six months after the holidays. (Bah humbug.) I'm glad I'm learning about how to maintain good credit; I can definitely use some of the tips I learned in my own life. I'm actually going to finish this article up next week, so I'm still thinking about who else I can talk to for it.

I also worked on a story this week about two UD professors who are members of the International Panel on Climate Change, a group that reports findings about global warming to the U.N. The IPCC recently won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with former VP Al Gore. This story was frustrating to write because the professors were so hard to get in touch with.

Coaching session with John Sweeney

A couple of weeks ago, editorial writer John Sweeney gave me and another intern some coaching tips over a pizza lunch.
He gave us some great advice I'd thought I'd share:

Good reporting is the basis for all good writing.

Six questions you must ask of every story:
1) What is the news?
2) What is new about it?
3) Why is it news?
4) Who is it news to?
5) Will they know it is news?
6) What will it take to get them to read it?

Ask good questions
1) Get the basics right.
Spell the names right. Check. Then recheck.
Get the ages, the addresses. Check. Then recheck.
2) Don't be afraid to appear stupid. You're not trying to impress your source. You're trying to inform your readers.
3) Question assumptions. Question the seemingly obvious.
4) Go to the best source. Never let source A put words in the mouth of source B. In other words. don't let A say what B is going to do without checking with B. Don't let your source tell you the law calls for a specific action without seeing the law in black and white.
5) Go beyond the ordinary.
Go beyond the press release. Mrs. X is being honored for something. Find the people who knew her. Find the people who were affected by her. Find the stories about her. Get away from officials.

Check, recheck and recheck again
Make sure all names are spelled correctly, addresses are accurate, all numbers add up and all title are right. Call every phone number or visit every Web site you plan to publish.
Once you are sure you are accurate, do it again.

Stop and think about fairness
Did you give every stakeholder a chance to comment or respond?
What is your gut saying? Do you feel comfortable writing this information?
Is everything in context?
Check for libel.
Check for ethical fairness.
----------------------------
Mr. Sweeney also had tips for getting organized, including keeping a tickler file and calender and developing relationships with contacts, from the top dog to the secretary who answers calls. He was very helpful and inspired me to "get to the center of the story" in my news articles. I'm really glad he took the time to talk to us.

Khat

Last Wednesday I went to the sentencing hearing for a man who smuggled khat into the United States. Khat is a leafy, green substance that induces mild euphoria. The defendant was an Ethiopian man who had imported it illegally and was selling it. The thing is, after 48 hours khat loses its hallucinogenic qualities. So most of the man's drug charges were dropped and he was simply charged for smuggling, a much lesser offense. Apparently, khat is chewed or brewed as tea in East Africa and it's about as common as caffeine. The defendant had already served seven months in jail, so after a plea bargain in which the state seized his car and most of his money, the judge released him from jail without a fine. Reporting at the federal court was an interesting experience -- there were many more formalities than at the state court. I'd never heard of khat before, but apparently the United States is really strict about this substance compared to most countries. It made me think about how cultural norms dictate law and how this might be confusing or frustrating for immigrants.

Phillies Phanatics

Today I drove to City Hall in Philadelphia to cover a Phillies rally after they won the NL East. I'm not a Phillies fan, but the rally was still exciting -- the first time they've made the playoffs in 14 years. I'm not familiar with the city, but it was actually pretty simple to find my way around. There were thousands of people there, young and old, and they gave me some good quotes. When the Phillies players came onstage the crowd went nuts, waving their towels in the air and cheering. I was able to really set the scene in my story with specific details.

Strikes and murder trials

It was quite an eventful week at The News Journal.

On Monday, I was sent out with a photographer to help cover the United Auto Workers strike at the GM plant. We weren't sure if they were going to strike, but we knew if they did it would happen by 11 a.m. Sure enough, at 11, the workers started pouring out of the factory and driving away. Some were in a hurry, but others just meandered to their cars. No one seemed to know why they were striking. I tried to talk to the guys who were picketing, but they refused to give me their names. They didn't want to get in trouble with the union by talking to me. The photographer I was with said this was typical. Anyway, I was able to describe the scene and what I heard some people shout out, so that was added to the story I was helping a reporter with.

On Wednesday, I woke up early to get to the courthouse in Wilmington. I was sent to cover the murder trial of Ronald Hankins, who had shot and killed two people in broad daylight last March. In the morning the trial went really slow and the judge and the attorneys argued over technicalities of the charges. But when the jury finally came in, it started to get interesting. Each side presented their closing arguments. The State had some pretty graphic pictures of one of the victims splayed out on the pavement dead and it was obvious they had a strong case. The defense argued that the defendant suffered from extreme emotional distress. I left just as the judge was about to give his recommendations to the jury. I went downstairs to the press room to type out my story. It was difficult to organize so much information into a compact story. Sean O'Sullivan, the federal courts reporter at The News Journal, looked over my story once I was done. He was a great mentor, teaching me a lot about how to structure a trial story and showing me methods of checking to make sure I got all facts correct. I'm really glad I get to do courtroom reporting because I have a legal studies minor and I'm taking one of my law classes right now.