Week 2 Forum

Biggest Challenge:

My biggest challenge was definitely conforming to the style journalistic writing.  I had a really hard time finding a way to make it interesting and engaging while still keeping it fact based and free of opinions and biased statements.  I would change my approach to the sources and look for more ways to get different aspects of the story and maybe interview more students.  My experience with interviewing was a shock.  I went in feeling maybe more confident than I should of which seems to be different than most others.  I usually have an easy time conversing with strangers but I almost forgot the goal at hand.  I have found that I need to write down my questions because during my two interviews, I ended up asking different questions which made it impossible for me to compare the answers in my story and I had find weird ways to include all the information.  Despite how confident you are preparing for the interview, you are in a completely different head space when you are in the moment and talking to them face to face.

Edna:

I found it incredible that Edna had not gone to college and has acquired her skill through her experiences and ambition for a story.  Her creative side doesn't seem to follow the basic rules of journalism and he does an excellent job of turning a daily report into a unique story every single day. Maybe only someone who didn't go to school could draw so far out of the box? I feel that she has a very real vision of the world in its truest form and she looks at the heart of the story with non judgmental eyes.  One of my favorite lines from the first 2 chapters of her book, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face, was "Miami's most dangerous profession is not police work or fire fighting, it is driving a cab."  I believe that insight comes from a mind that is very well connected to the inner workings of the Miami street life, not from a mind on the outside looking in.

One thing I've learned from Edna is to treat every story with the respect it deserves.  When she writes, she is gracious towards the victims and works hard to make sure that the story does them justice.  She says that sometimes, the crime report is the only time these names will every get mentioned in the news paper.  She takes her job very seriously and I can take that level of respect and professionalism and apply it to my own work as a journalist.