New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

At the 2006 National Association of Black Journalists convention, I had the unique opportunity to interview New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. I say it was a unique opportunity because not many student journalists can say they've been able to question the man on what went wrong, plans for the city and the current state of New Orleans. It was a previlege to have been chosen from among about 15 other reporters to take part in this student press conference.

This story was published on Aug. 19, 2006.

What I learned: It's very important to be willing to work with other journalists. In a situation such as this, I had to work closely with another print reporter, but I also worked alongside one of the convention's radio reporters and a TV reporter. We coordinated how the TV reporter would conduct his interview, then the rest of us had our turn. It was an excellent learning experience for me.

Dealing with Hurricane Katrina

I wrote this story for the 2006 National Association of Black Journalists convention as a student reporter on The NABJ Monitor. I worked with L.A. Times reporter John Mitchell on all my articles at the convention, which was held in Indianapolis, IN.


This article was published on Aug. 16, 2006.

What I learned: It's important to tell a story from various angles. For instance, there were hundreds of stories written about Hurricane Katrina - from the standpoint of government action, the state of the city, and the people impacted. This was just another way to tell the story.

Since The Monitor is basically student-produced, with the advisement of mentors in the biz, it was important for us to tell the story of student journalists who were touched by Katrina. It was even more fitting because we ran other stories about black journalists covering the storm, and there was a convention forum on the coverage of Katrina with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

FedEx National

This story was accompanied by my first published art. I had the opportunity to actually shoot my own photos for this story. It was a great experience. I'd like to polish my photography skills and do more shooting in the future.

This article was published in The Middletown Journal on July 16, 2007.

What I learned: Always be prepared. Keep a digital camera with you, and
keep the battery charged. I usually have my camera on me, and this time I was able to use it. During the first snow storm last winter I was able to post my wintery weather photos to daytondailynews.com because I happened to have my camera with me. It pays to be prepared. You never know where your stuff will end up.

Image Problem

This was one of my first assignments this summer at The Journal. It was a big job. I went to Cincinnati and Dayton for two days, getting folks' ideas on Middletown. What did they know about Middletown? Had they ever been to Middletown? Did they even know where Middletown was?

This article was published in The Middletown Journal on July 1, 2007.

What I learned: We need more stories like this that attempt to show local government where they are going a good job, and where they aren't doing so well. How does government know where it needs to pull up, if no one investigates to see the way things really are?

Appraisals

Last summer at the Dayton Daily News, I was assigned this story about the importance of getting home appraisals before selling or purchasing a home. It was interesting for me to see how important home appraisals really are. This article was published in the Dayton Daily News on July 13, 2006.

What I learned: It's important to write things that matter to people. You never know how someone may be helped. I don't know how many folks were helped by this article, but even if only one person benefited, that's one more than if the article had never run.

When you write a story, folks can determine whether or not to read it. If you never write the story, they don't get a choice at all.

Habitat for Humanity

I wrote this story in my first few weeks as a Journal intern. The story was about two women who worked to get homes through Habitat for Humanity. This article was published in The Middletown Journal on July 9, 2007.

What I learned: Nowadays people tend to have more than one job, which can help when you want stories. It turned out that the Middletown Habitat for Humanity president also worked for the municipal court! While signing in our crime reporter to observe a hearing, he informed her that the families had just moved into the homes, and the rest is history.