Not For Attribution

When I cam in this morning I had a voicemail and a few calls about my story. Both a lieutenant colonel of the Air Force and a retired sergeant of the Marine Corps called to comment on my story. They both said it was powerful and it brought them to tears. I had no idea what to say. It was an amazing experience. I always forget the power that we have as journalists, not just in telling people what is going on and holding leaders accountable, but also telling people about people and showing the humanity that exists in daily lives. Sgt Washington was no ordinary man, and the two callers are men who gave extraordinary service to the country. Bur telling stories like this are so important because they show the best of humanity that is coming out in the darkest of Sgt. Washington’s family’s lives.

On a semi-related note, I just finished an obit for tomorrow’s paper about an everyday woman who was killed in a freak accident on a ranch on Tuesday. Just in talking to her family, it is clear that this woman meant the world to them. She held the family together, they built a ranch together and were set to move in when the woman died. Stories like these are so compelling to ne.
It feels like I am being put on the death beat, but even though these stories are so difficult to report, it really shows the importance of the craft. I don’t know, maybe I am too obsessed with Jim Sheeler.
Wow, that was a ramble.

Ugh. Someone edited an error into my story. Of course it had to happen on my first story, which was on the front page. And I get an e-mail from the public affairs director at McChord.

Things change quickly. Today was slow until about two,then it went crazy. I am going to a public hearing on land use tomorrow. But now, I have a couple other assignments. One is rough,the other is probably the biggest story I will have ever written.
The first is an obit about a woman who was crushed by a horse. Her and her family bought a ranch about one year ago and had been working on it. They were set to move in within two weeks. I interviewed the woman’s mom and she was sobbing the entire time. It is tough yet fulfilling at the same time.
The other one, however, is kind of scaring me, but I am excited to write it. I am going to McChord AFB to watch a Marine honor guard present their fallen comrade,in a flag-draped coffin, to his parents. His dad is a Seattle fireman and so there will be a procession from McChord to the funeral home with Marine, police and fire vehicles. And the Marines with watch over the coffin at the funeral home. It’s not “Final Salute,” but I need to and am going to treat it as the most important story I will ever write. I owe it to this Marine and his family to honor him and his service with my words. But I am going to have to compete with Seattle TVs as well as the Times and thw P-I. So, I am going to have a bit of a day tomorrow.

After the craziness that was the first day ended, the realization that I was an intern began today. I was ready to write anything yesterday, so I wrote a reported and wrote a story quickly and turned it around by like 4 yesterday. It wasn’t edited until about 5 today. But at least the editor didn’t change a word. In the meantime I made calls to compile a listing that won’t print for a while and hoped for an assignment. I forgot how slow things can get working 9-10 hours a day. Tomorrow I will continue to work with the central team (city gov./education) and do some GA so it should work.
I also have been begging to get on a blog or start one, and it looks like I might contribute to GritCity (I would link but I am on my phone) so hopefully that works out. I just feel like I could and should be doing so much more.
And I don’t really know why people would care, but oh well.

I came in extra early today for my first day. I was in my suit, shirt nealy pressed. I had read the paper, head bursting with story ideas.
Before I even had a chance to go to human resources, there was a staff meeting to announce the cutbacks that I talked about.
That changed the dynamic of the day. I don’t know what people would have said under different circumstances, but today everyone walked by saying “Interesting day to start” and “Second-guessing what you want to do yet?”
Oddly enough, it didn’t affect me much. It was horrible to see these fantastic peope have to wonder about their future. But, I never wondered about mine. I am as set to be a newspaper reporter as I ever have been, but it is another issue whether I get a job.
But, enough about that. Other than the announcement that seemingly crushed the soul of the newsroom, my day was fantastic. (That sentence reminds me of that horrible parade lede) I wrote a story and set up some others. I met some amazing people – I sit next to a former Evergreener. Today reinforced my great respect for the TNT and I am honored to have a desk in that newsroom. I can’t wait to see what happens in the coming months. (Other than the buyouts, of course)

After a long drive, hours of moving in and a crazy night in Seattle, I am finally settled in my apartment in Tacoma. It is weird that I just took my last final on Friday and I start work tomorrow.
I won’t have Internet until Wednesday so I will be “mo-blogging” (I used that term just for Victor) until then. I will upload photos of everything when I get normal Internets.