Feature Story: Missouri's Trucking Industry

Missouri has a large trucking industry and part of that has to do with its geographical location to major shipping and manufacturing sites. According to some, the trucking industry can be see as a leading indicator of the direction the economy is heading. There are some new trucking regulations hitting the industry tomorrow (Nov. 30th) so I did an in-depth story for KOMU looking into how the new rules (called the Comprehensive Safety Analysis or CSA) will affect Missouri's industry.

My television story is above and my webstory can be found here. It ran on Thanksgiving Day, a little less than a week before the new rules go into effect. I enjoyed getting to do this story because I spent some time with the material and found the best way to present it to the public. I also had time to establish a firm basis of knowledge and really come to understand what I was writing about (and I started with almost no knowledge of the trucking industry!). I learned that while I don't enjoy day-turn stories, I did like this long-form reporting and producing.

One Last Reporting Shift

I got cleared officially to switch to producing! More details about my last reporting shift coming later...

Boonville's Kemper Village Homes

I learned this week how public officials avoid reporters. I called Boonville's mayor and city administrator every hour, for six hours and every time they were "busy" or "out of the office." I even tried the mayor's home phone! I sat at City Hall for 30 minutes waiting for the city administrator to return from lunch to confirm information (I wrote my story while I waited) and he managed to still slip around me. I ended up finding a councilman's address in the phone book, calling him (no answer), and going to his house - that's how I got my comment! The city administrator ended up calling me back when I back at KOMU, so I got my information confirmed before it went on-air.

Reporting this story was bittersweet yet exciting at the same time. Bittersweet because it was my last reporting shift and exciting because it was my last reporting shift! Next week, I start learning to produce!

Bridge Repair Affecting Local Business Owner

This week I learned the true definition of being a persistent journalist. I was working on this story about bridges being replaced and was trying to find a way to humanize it. B&B Auto Body Inc. was located about one mile from the bridge so I headed over there after I talked with the engineer and construction crew working on the bridge. The owner, Paul Beeler, was not at the office but left his phone number. He answered when I called and said he'd be back in about 45 minutes. I maximized my time to go shoot a stand-up and headed back to the shop. He called saying he'd be later than he thought. I was bummed I couldn't interview him because his view would be the strongest about how the bridge closing is going to affect the people around it. I went to New Franklin, the nearest town, but everyone I talked to said they did not use the bridge. I called Paul back and told him I could meet him wherever he was and I only needed 10 minutes of his time. He agreed and said he'd be back at the shop in a half hour. I got there 15 minutes early and he was there so we did the interview. He had never been on camera before but he was a natural! He wasn't nervous, spoke in short, concise sentences that were easily used as soundbites and even provided me with a few nat pops. I couldn't have been happier that I was persistent with getting an interview with him.

Drug Bust

First Breaking News and Live Shot Experience

I was on my way to talk to people in Columbia's parks about how they celebrate Labor Day. I got a call from the station and was told to go to the scene of a shooting in Columbia. I had to quickly recall everything I'd learned about shooting breaking news. I got as many shots of the scene and police as possible. Then I started talking to the neighbors that were hanging around. Many of them refused to even let me ask them what they saw happen. The ones who would say something couldn't be convinced to go on camera. I waited about 2.5 hours for the Columbia Police Department's Crime Scene/Forensics Team to show up and then left. The body of the man who was killed was still in the apartment. The station said we would not use that video so I did not need to stay to get it.

There was a press conference at 3:30 p.m. and another reporter went to get the details on the shooting while I put together my live shot. I have never gone on during the newscast live so I was so nervous! When I got back to the scene of the crime, all the neighbors were still camped outside, but had brought out their lawn chairs. They watched as I did my live shot and were still hanging out as I was leaving after my live shot.

I had to tie back my hair because it was so windy it kept blowing into my face! It was exciting to do the live shot but so nerve-wracking! I knew I knew the information so I went with it and did my best!

**UPDATE: I was excited to learn today (9/10/10) that part of my live shot from this story was used in a KOMU-8 promotion that aired during the TODAY show!! The promotion used clips from the latest, important stories to entice viewers to watch our nightly newscasts.

Library To Go Program

Daniel Boone Regional Library launched their "Library To Go" pilot program near Hallsville on Monday, August 30th (link). Patrons in Northern Boone County can reserve library books and materials online or over the phone. The items will be placed in a system of lockers at Ed's Quik Stop. The locker opens with the patron's library card. The library is looking to expand to Holts Summit but needs a location.

My b-roll would have been better if more patrons with reserved library books had been present at the ribbon cutting ceremony. It would have given me more opportunities to take video of the lockers being used.

I learned the value of a light during this reporting shift. The gas station where I shot most of my video is a dark location. The light helped brighten up the general b-roll shots. But when the light was used in a close-up shot, it turned the shot a light blue-ish color. It is an LED light so it has a blue tinge already. When it hit the semi-reflective surface of a DVD case, the case glowed a little blue. The light made Kathy Casey's shot seem a little blue, too. If I had known this when I was shooting, I would have only turned on one ring of lights instead of the two rows.

This reporting shift was out of the ordinary too because a girl was shadowing me. I showed her the ropes of how to go about a reporting shift and gave her some tips that I learned the hard way. She seemed to absorb everything I was telling her and was generally excited about reporting. I am excited to see what she does during her shifts. There are so many short cuts and details that I now automatically do. Having to slow down and explain every little detail really made me realize how much I learned in Broadcast 2 this summer.