Week 5: 9.5 Hours

I spent a full day as a reporter today, working for a full package on one story. From the morning phone meeting with the entire team, to pursuing the story, interviews, B-Roll, writing the script, editing, and sending it in.

The story today was about House Bill 1441 from Representative Justin Humphrey, of Lane, Oklahoma.

The bill had stirred up controversy due to the content of the bill itself, requiring a woman to have permission for an abortion from the father of the child, and due to Humphrey's use of the word "host" to describe the role of a surrogate mother. Many were confused about the terminology, thinking he was talking about all pregnant women due to misleading headlines.

Much like the package we pursued the week before about the decomposing body, this story was heavily dependent upon MOS interviews. The vast majority of the day outside the office was spent pursuing these interviews.

Many people were not willing to talk on camera about the controversial issue, some walking away from us without giving a response at all and others requesting to know our opinions on the issue. As a reporter, being as non-biased as possible and keeping your personal beliefs out of the story is of the utmost importance.

Because Senator Humphrey would be in Lane today we hoped to interview him and those from his hometown that he now represented. With that in mind, we sought out locals who wanted to give their opinions on the bill.

In Lane as well as Atoka those who would talk to us were very consistent in agreeing with the Representative and the bill he was proposing. We hoped to get interviews from people on both sides of the fence on the issue, but could not find anybody with a different opinion of the fifteen or more people we talked to.

We knew we needed an interview with Representative Humphrey for a good 2 o'clock story, but the entire day had proved unfruitful in contacting him We had been calling and e-mailing him as we were getting the MOS interviews.

At around 3 we finally heard back from him (he had been at a funeral in Texas) and scheduled a quick interview before he had his meeting. We waited for about 45 minutes, talking to more locals about the story for him to return, and then the interview took about an hour all together. After driving back to Ada, we had to write the script, get it checked and reviewed, then record the reporter's section. Once this is all done, we use Dropbox to send the edited video to the AP ENPS planning system to be aired.

This was the first day I spent with KXII that we only pursued one story the entire day. In the end, it was worth it as the package turned out great. It was also the longest day I've spent with them; reminding me of the rigorous work schedules of reporters, especially those who strive for quality, non-biased stories.

Cumulative Hours: 30 Hours