The Ferguson story finally aired… but the road towards finishing the Ferguson documentary just started. It was such a relief to finish the Ferguson package in such short notice, but now the deadline to our air date for the 30 minute piece is inching closer. So I expect another hectic week. I’m also working on another story that I came across while answering phone calls for KOMU. A concerned parent called in response to a sound bite we aired. This parent began to explain a lot about her daughter’s health. Long story short, it could become a good piece, but I can tell you the details once I know it will turn into an real story.
About seven weeks until the half-marathon. My goal was to run seven miles this week… but while I was running, I felt so good that I ran eight! I’m very proud of myself. I can’t remember the last time I ever ran eight miles, and I know I’ve never ran more than that. I hope I feel just as good when I run nine, which is my goal for this week. So, wish me luck!
This has been the most hectic week! I’ve never felt more exhausted! On Monday, KOMU reporter Alex Swoyer and I drove to Kansas City and picked up video and documentation of Charles Erickson’s new statement. Long story short, Erickson testified against his friend in 2005 for the murder of a local sports editor in 2001. On Monday, the Kansas City Western District of Appeals released video of Erickson recanting his story and saying he was the sole murderer of the editor. Of course… it was snowing the whole way to Kansas City.
Because of what happened Monday, our news director wanted a package for this Monday. That left Alex and I less than a week to put something together. Lets just say, I’ve spent many long nights at KOMU. When I think about how tired I am, I refer to this quote… and it makes everything slightly better:
“I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.” — Thomas Carlyle
It’s all well worth it. For the time we had, I’m happy with what we put together. The story still needs some touching up, but that will be done early tomorrow.
As for the running, I’m up to five miles! I think I need to run six this week. Once this story airs, I should have more time to focus on training. I feel bad because I have not been able to attend the training sessions! Hopefully, this week will be different.
Well, it’s going on midnight… and I need to work tomorrow morning. Then it’s back to KOMU. Goodnight!
I finally realized my first two weeks of the semester were a poor representation of what the rest of the semester will be like. Although I stayed fairly busy during those two weeks, it doesn’t compare to how busy I’ll be from here on out, and that realization is finally sinking in.
I’m working on an HFR (“Hold For Release”) piece for KOMU… except, it’s not moving along like I hoped it would. I’m at a stopping point… which usually happens when your potential “CCC” doesn’t call you back. So, I’m debating whether I continue to push for this story or find a new idea. Either way, I need to have something done within the next two weeks! While putting together HFRs, I’m also working on a documentary with another fellow KOMU reporter. We are in the phase of setting up interviews, gathering documents, etc. That means trying to coordinate convenient times between two different schedules… very stressful.
But, outside of all my journalism chaos, I’m trying to maintain a normal college life. Like I said in my previous post, I’m training for a half-marathon in April. I’m trying my best to keep up with the training, but sometimes it’s hard to find time to run. Our training group meets tomorrow… not sure how much we’re running then. We were suppose to run four miles this weekend. I got it done this morning, and I felt really good about it. The best part about it… I ran outside! The sun was out; that alone makes running so much better! Four miles was not a challenge today. In fact, after I finished the four, I knew I could have kept going. Since we are running again tomorrow, I thought it would be best to stop at four. One thing I’m really focusing on during all of this is stretching. I know it’s important to stretch, but I’ve always neglected it or would never stretch thoroughly. Since I’ll be running more within the next few months, I’m starting to recognize how important stretching is and how much I’ll appreciate doing it. I’ll let you know how tomorrow goes!
