News Gathering
Over 2,000 students attend Millard West. That being said, it’s hard to get to know someone on a personal level, but I believe asking the right questions can help. Two of my stories stick out to me when newsgathering comes to mind. The first being from this year.
Click to enlarge
The first story of my senior year was a hard news story about the changes being made to AP classes. Being an AP student myself, I among many others were unsure what these changed meant. I wanted to do a story, not only to inform myself about what would be different but to inform my peers on what these changes would entail. I reached out to our principal Dr. Greg Tiemnn and to the assistant principal Dr. Jennifer Allen. I knew these sources would be knowledgable, especially Allen as she coordinated AP testing comes spring. Since I didn’t know much about the current or old policies, I knew I would need to ask the right questions to get the information I needed. To add in more voice, I wanted to interview my AP Language and Composition teacher Lloyd Hoshaw. Obviously, he would be a good interviewee as these AP modifications would affect him. I wanted to know how the curriculum and class time would look with these changes. Along with these in-person interviews, I was also constantly visiting the AP College Board Website. It is so important to know the facts when it comes to writing news. By reading through the website I was able to learn about what exactly would be changed. By interviewing the faculty at my school I was able to learn about how students and teachers would be affected.
The second story that comes to mind when thinking about news gathering is actually a feature story. My junior year, I collaborated with a fellow journalist, Gabriel Paredes Reyes, to do a broadcast about arguably the most inspiring students at our school. At the time, Camille O’Neill was a freshman. Neither Gabriel nor I knew much about her except that she had impaired eyesight. Starting our two-week journey documenting everything Camille does in her day-to-day life, we sat down with her to simply learn more about her and map out a game plan for footage. We learned a lot. She was involved in so much outside of school, from choir to horseback riding. We devoted our time to filming Camille doing her after-school activities alone with her in-school activities. We went over to her house to interview her and her mother. Without initially sitting down to talk to Camille, we would have never had the opportunity to learn from her. To this day, this is my favorite story I have ever done. Not only did it win a Superior in Feature Broadcasts at the 2019 JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention, but I was able to meet a schoolmate who inspires.
When asking questions, I try to stray away from the question response technique. I start with a few questions to begin the interview. From there, I pretend as if the interview is a casual conversation. I believe this helps the interviewee feel more comfortable. Before the interview is finished, my last question is always ‘Is there anything else you would like to add?’ to ensure that I am not missing out on any information they believe is necessary. This is usually where I find the best quotes for my stories.