Bus Failure

You figure when you step on a charter bus you're pretty safe. You think the company performs numerous inspections and is in the good graces of the Department of Transportation. But for some NCAA teams that use these charter services many times throughout the course of a season, that is not the case. Bob Holtzman explains in an Outside the Lines story that some athletic departments don't even know about the safety reports of some of the charter companies they are using.

The story starts out following the Tennessee women's basketball team as they make a trip to Arkansas using University Bus Lines, a company the government considers "high risk." Holtzman interviews the Director of Basketball Operations for Tennessee about the decision to use this company. She says she "didn't know" the University Bus Lines was considered high risk. I think this is a great way to highlight a main point of Holtzman's story, which is that many university officials simply don't check very deep into the safety records of the bus companies they hire.

Holtzman also interviews the CEO of University Bus Lines and asks him why he thinks the government considers his company "high risk." This is where I find the editing of the story somewhat questionable. They stay with his answer as he says "The government does a very.... I'm trying to think of the best way to answer this." Then they cut away as if he never came up with an answer, when on video it looked like he had more to say. I would like to hear how he does come around to answering it, but it appeared ESPN was manipulating opinion to be against the bus company. This same kind of edit happens again when Holtzman asks, "Doesn't it take just one bad day to have a disaster?" The CEO answers saying, "It does. Maybe I should rephrase that." Then the story cuts away from the interview again, never letting the viewer hear how he would rephrase it. It just seems to be like ESPN is trying to build a case against the bus companies by not letting some of those sources even complete their thoughts.

I do like the use of hard facts and graphics to expand the impact of this story. Holtzman says that at least 85 out of more than 300 universities have hired bus companies that the DOT considers "high risk." This was being said as a map was being shown of the locations of the different universities that used "high risk" companies. This lets viewers see if a university they go to or live near has been involved. I immediately looked to see if a point would be added at the University of Missouri, although one did not show up.

I also like how ESPN follows the University of Hartford basketball team on a trip with Dattco, a bus company that has also received poor scores from the DOT. They interview players and one said they've "hit cars before." This makes the problem a little more humanized to see a player who actually rides the buses tell of what the experience can be like. During this particular ride, they also catch the bus driver eating while he is driving and Holtzman says both of the driver's hands "weren't always on the wheel."

Overall I think it's a good story, but I think ESPN did try to stretch it a bit because there still have been relatively few accidents. I would have like to have heard the percentage of crashes compared to total bus rides by NCAA teams. Holtzman mentions there have been at least five serious charter bus crashes involving sports teams since 2002. But I would like to see some context added to this number by relating it to the total number of rides. Again, it just seems like ESPN is taking a adversary stance towards the bus companies.

This week, I will finally start my VO Patrol shifts and next week I will start my reporting shifts. I'm very excited to get going. I feel like I'm back in touch with the news here in Mid-Missouri after spring break and I am ready to cover some important stories. I look forward to getting out into the community and getting some work on KOMU. It has been a little tough being away for a week, but I think I am refreshed and reenergized to cover stories around the area.

Would You Pay?

At first it sounds like a crazy idea. Taking away government ownership of roadways. That's until you take a ride along some of America's worst roads with John Stossel in a 20/20 report. Stossel investigates the government's stimulus plan for the country's highways. There is supposed to be money going to fix roads that are in poor condition and build new ones. However, it may not be enough to give some American commuters the relief they are looking for, Stossel explains. The story starts off with an excellent look inside the car of one of the those commuters, Joseph Wu of Atlanta. We hear the frustration of Wu as he heads to work on a typical morning along his hour and fifteen minute drive. Then Stossel rides along with a driver in Los Angeles that is able to floss while he drives to work in the morning because his drive is so slow.

Stossel then shows us the solution. In France and in some parts of America, there are private roads that drivers pay extra for that have far less congestion and are in better condition. Some communities in America have embraced the concept, like in Indiana and parts of California. It seems like a good solution. But Stossel then shows us the conflict. Many Americans are just not prepared to let companies make a profit out of roads. Stossel shows us protesters and newspaper articles in communities where the concept has failed. This is why the idea hasn't advanced far beyond the few communities it already exists in.

Stossel includes a great stand-up from the driver's seat of a car to transition from his introduction of the private roads concept to the reaction of the idea from politicians and some protesters. There is also plenty of nats sound of traffic, which is essential for this piece. There are interviews with both politicians who are opposed and support the idea to get a juxtaposition of viewpoints. Near the end of the story, Stossel provides some helpful hard facts about government road construction problems. He points out that the "Big Dig" in Boston took 10 years to complete and was two times over budget. Part of the construction material in that project collapsed and killed a woman. It's an effective way to close in addition to another stand-up that Stossel includes while driving to wrap it up.

My reporting continues to be slow this week as I await my editing test out at KOMU. That will be Friday. After that, I will get to work on my VO patrols and reporting shifts. I am already thinking about ideas for stories to do for KOMU and feel like I am prepared to get started. I think I will come in with lots of great ideas and should have some pretty good stories.

Off Beat

Out with the boring titles for my blog entries. Time to spice it up a bit. The first reason I call this entry "Off Beat" is because of the story I listened to this week. It was a WGBH Morning Story by Tony Kahn. It's not hard news by any means, but it's a story of a relationship between two people, Tommy and Chuck. These two men first met when their mothers walked them together as kids and then reacquainted themselves during a high school basketball game on opposing teams. They ended up going to college together and stayed in close connection ever since.

The story is told almost entirely through the first-person perspective of Tommy. This immediately draws you in as you're listening to an actual person, not a journalist, tell the story. It doesn't feel like you're listening to media, it feels like you're talking with a person. I really like this extended use of first-person audio. It's not often you hear five or six straight minutes of one source telling a story. I think reporters should try to leave a source telling a story for as long as possible if it fits in your package. It leads to a far greater emotional reaction when Tommy tells that Chuck dies of a rare disease when the men are middle-aged. An acoustic music track is then brought up after Tommy reveals this, which adds even more emotion to the story.

Tommy says because Chuck knew a secret that he didn't tell anyone else, he felt like part of him died when Chuck died. Tony Kahn goes on to discuss this at the end of the story. He discusses the importance of holding someone else's secret and how much that can mean to a relationship. It's a simple element of life, but Kahn shows how meaningful it can be with the story of these two men.

The second reason I call this entry "Off Beat" is because this is the first time in four weeks that I haven't been on the beat for a story. I was cleared last week to KOMU and had a week off from searching out a story topic. It has been a little difficult trying to stay on top of the news while not reporting this week. I am now preparing to go out to KOMU and deliver even higher quality work than I did in lab. I feel like I got a great start in lab with ideas and editing tips that will help greatly at KOMU. I know what it takes to contact people for a story and make sure I get everything I need for a story. I also know how important it is to keep contacts at different places around town to help with interviews or finding story ideas. I am excited to head out to KOMU and do some on-air stories.

I'll be back on-beat soon.

Week 4

Could it happen here? That is a question that is commonly answered or attempted to be answered in many broadcast news stories. Anderson Cooper tackles the question with authority in this week's edition of 60 minutes. Cooper's story is on the drug cartels and violence they cause in Mexico. Simple enough. There is a problem in a neighboring country. But Cooper digs deeper to find out what this means for the United States and how threatening these cartels are to American cities. After an on-set intro, Cooper starts off with an effective bite to open his story from the new U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Nepolitano saying, "stakes are high for the United States." This sets the tone from the beginning that this story affects Americans. Cooper goes on to explain the background of what is happening in Mexico with some rather graphic images of the violence. Pictures of beheaded Mexicans with only blankets covering their bodies are shown. Cooper also develops a couple CCCs with the mother and sister of a Mexican man who was kidnapped and killed by members of the cartels. He uses a picture of the man sent to the family by the kidnappers after they killed him to help viewers connect to the family's pain. The story continues with an interview with the Mexican Attorney General. The AG says the problem is a shared responsiblity with the United States and Mexico because much of the money for drugs and guns comes from the U.S.

Cooper then really got his hands dirty by going to a Mexican prison to talk with a woman accused of of heading up a large drug ring. Although authoritites denied his request for interview, Cooper walks up to the prison anyway with a tripod on his shoulder and gets in during visiting hours. He is able to speak Spanish to the woman, showing the importance of knowing foreign languages for stories like this one. He was able to get a great sit-down interview with the woman who explained some of the history of the drug problem. Cooper closed the story with some effective hard facts that help remind Americans of the threat of the Mexican drug wars. He says there are 230 American cities where Mexican drug traffickers operate. This makes the viewer feel that the problem is closer to home than ever. Cooper proves in his story it's a problem that the U.S. does not want any part of.




For my reporting this week, I went to the Missouri Deer Classic on Sunday to find a story. I read about the show online and thought there may be many opportunites for great stories there. I ended up shooting an exhibition by a man who is a world record holder in archery. Randy Oitker holds the world record for hitting the most targets in one shot with five. His shots provided for some great video and nats sound. I was really curious about why a world record holder who shoots professionally and travels across the country would stop at a relatively small show in Columbia. I thought this was a pretty great opportunity for the people of Mid-Missouri to see a very talented archer. His answer helped humanize the piece because he said it's all about seeing friends close to home. Oitker is from just across the Missouri border near Quincy, Illinois, and this is one of the closest shows to his hometown. He said it was a weekend where he was able to relax a little more than a weekend at a show far away from home. I also thought a story like this would help connect with a lot of the KOMU viewers that spend much of their time hunting. There is a pretty large rural area in our viewing area that has an interest in this type of sport so I think it's good to have this kind of coverage. I also talked to a Columbia man who used to be a professional archer and first met Randy when he was 12 years old. I talked with him about what he thought about Randy's progress and what it was like to watch him in Columbia. The only thing that went wrong with that interview was the focus was a little soft. I tried manual focus for the first time this week because of what was mentioned in class, but you really have to check carefully to make sure every shot is focused perfectly. I think the story turned out well and viewers got a good sense of what it meant to have this talented man come to Mid-Missouri.