Card Carrying Member

The story I broke about illegal teen smoking got picked up by the New Mexican. I'm officially a member of the Associated Press. I mean, I work for a station that is a member.... It's cool to see a story I thought of get picked up by the newspaper.

Molly B. is in town. She's pretty cool.

Zach Hagen left me today, he doesn't know if he is coming back. Does this mean the end of the road trip? For Zach, maybe, but not for me. I can only live in the small town of Santa Fe for so long, before I go crazy and miss a metropolitan area. I need to stay so I can continue getting experience in reporting, but I can't stay for too long. Zach isn't sure what he is going to do with himself. Seattle, Santa Fe, San Francisco; he doesn't know. Zach Hagen is a good man. It will be hard to imagine my life without him, even if it's just for a little while. However, yesterday he tried to get me to rub aloe on his back; we were getting too close. As cliche as it is, I got to tell Zach something:

Follow your heart-then your head- and don't forget what Mr. Johnson has to say. I'm missing you already.

But, like I said, the road trip will continue. My buddy Tripp is talking about joining me for some. I'm thinking about Santa Fe to Atlanta with Tripp. A story like that writes itself.

I Lie

I picked up a hitchhiker yesterday. I was coming home from the radio station, and I saw an average looking guy on the side of the road with his thumb out. I pulled over and told him I was only going 10 miles up the road. The hitchhiker said that wouldn't help, but asked if I could drive him to the next on-ramp; the one he was at doesn't not have much traffic. I complied.

He wasn't very talkative, so I lied to him. I feel bad I lied, but it just came out so easy. I asked him about hitching, and tried to get some funny stories out of him, but he had nothing to say. That's when I lied.

"You know," I said, "I have better luck hitching when I have a sign...you might have a better chance catching a ride if you had a sign that said 'Denver'".

I've never hitchhiked. I've picked up people before, and I've had my thumb out-but I've never successfully hitchhiked. I just heard from people that you have better luck hitchhiking if you have a sign. I was surprised at the ease of my lie. I think I was trying to relate to the guy; or maybe impress him, I don't know. Am I a bad person because I lied?

I started another story today-it involves illegal teen smoking.

Here is the story I compiled for yesterday. It was a slow news day, so the clip played throughout the morning. Pretty professional, huh? The newscaster stumbled because she changed the wording, her mistake's are in no way related to the shottiness of my writing. Actually, it's pretty choppy, she did a much better job in later hours.

All Me Baby

TLC is Crazy

Have you ever seen this show? It's ridiculous. It's called 17 kids and Counting. Its about a family, 17 large, and they are ultra religious. I've only seen one show, and I'm hooked. On the episode last night, the eldest child got engaged. He had never been on a date with the girl he proposed to. The parents of the girl wanted her to wait until she was 20 to go on a date, allowing her to commit 20 years of devotion to God. The man proposed to her on her 20th birthday.

They aren't allowed to go out together without a chaperon, they can only hug from the side, and they can't kiss. I repeat-they are engaged and they can't kiss. They don't kiss, maintaining their purity with God, and they have that special moment of their first kiss during their wedding. All they do is hold hands, look at one another, and describe their love for each other. It's actually kinda heartwarming.

Today, I am officially a reporter. I 'broke' a story about Federal Medicaid actually helping the economy of New Mexico. Through a governmental match program, the federal government gives $2.50 to New Mexico for every $1 spent with Medicaid in this state. Thusly, Medicaid generates 3.4 billion dollars into the New Mexico economy. I don't really understand the fundamentals of this, but it's ultimately a governmental subsidies program.

KSFR received an email from an institution who funded this economic study, detailing the studies' results. I picked up the email, called the head of the institution for a phone interview, and got about 7 minutes of tape. I wrote about 10 lines of copy detailing the study, fancy introduction included, inserted 15 seconds of my phone interview and handed it over to my boss. My story, clip included, was read over the air for the 4-6 o'clock news. My boss says there is the potential that my story will be picked up by the local newspaper, The New Mexican.

It's funny that I actually created news. When I interviewed the guy, I had no idea what I was asking him, I was too nervous. But, it all worked out in the end.

Finally, I have a theory. McCain and Palin lose the election. 6 months go by, and Playboy offers Palin an insane amount of money to pose nude. She denies. Good theory?


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Degenerates

This is one of my first attempts at a short story.

It is bad-like really bad. I didn't write the story, an illiterate eighth grader did. So blame him, not me, for the sucktitude.

The story is about the encounter Zach and I had in a campsite near the Grand Canyon. Scary stuff.

There is some swearing, so brace yourself.

Degenerates and The Darkness

Download it to word. The preview function does not allow it to scan right.

Keep Hating

I love how ninety percent of the few comments I receive on this blog are directed at how bad my grammar is (way to end a sentence Brett). It's usually something small; like forgetting how to use a semicolon, or my misspelling the word bawled. These mistakes come from my lack of formal training. Although I am a history major and wrote countless papers; little of that time was spent perfecting my punctuation and grammar.

But Brett, aren't you trying to write well; and potentially for a living? Yes I am, and I thoroughly need all the help I can get when it comes to writing. Keep the critique coming.

I just want you, the reader, to know how my reaction usually works when someone constructively throws critique at me.

1) Madness
My initial reaction is to give a big F you to whoever pointed out my mistake. Like, my dear friend Eric, who critiqued my use (or lack there of) of a semicolon. I thought, well Eric aren't you just a smart piece, who is sooooo smart you can correct my impeccable, error-free writing. Why don't you go back to sucking on Obama's big c....

2) Remorse in my stupidity
I'm not a writer. I try, but I have a long way to go. I think, "well, Eric is a smart kid". "Isn't he a writing major"? "I didn't use a semicolon?" "Man, my writing sucks, a first grader can write this dribble". "It's only a matter of time before they kick me out of the radio station and I throw myself headfirst into heavy drugs; I'm such a bad writer". "Should I hire Eric to proofread my blog?"

3) Acceptance.
I eventually come to the conclusion that I NEED all the critique; nay, I like the critique. Maybe, like 70%percent of my writing is readable. That's not bad. My friends are smart people. And hell, my friends are the only people that read this blog anyway; they could tell me I smell like a Bolivian urinal, as long as they keep reading.

So keep critiquing and keep reading.

Who needs to know what the term 'independent clause' means anyway?


P.S.- I'm about to post some lackluster short stories, so get your red pen ready.

News Worthy?

Good?

Click this link to hear my voice. I'm not sure if this works, so give me time to figure it out.

It's called a podcast-I'm very in the know.

And From KSFR News, I'm....

As I mentioned before, Zach and I have arrived in Santa Fe. The drive from Lake Powell to Santa Fe was long, but it allowed time for Zach and I to have a heart-to-heart. He's a good kid, that Zach Hagen.

A day later, after my arrival, I went down to Santa Fe Community College and talked with Bill Dupuy, the head news director of KSFR News Santa Fe. KSFR is news radio, much like your typical NPR station. Bill Dupuy is a tall, thin man from Louisiana with a voice that is so elegant and calculated, it would be a shame if he were NOT on the radio. Bill sat me down in his office, and asked me why I am interested in the news. I responded that I had left college with no real career path. I told him the things I like; to write, chat with people, and stay updated with the news (skateboarding and snowboarding aside). I just wanted a career that I liked, and since working 30 years at a skateboard shop doesn't seem like an intellectually stimulating option, I somehow arrived at journalism.

Bill calmly pondered my response to his question. I sat in his office, awkwardly shifting back in forth, looking at the walls, wondering what he would say. Bill finally stood up and said, "well, lets get you started then". I told him I was a apprehensive because I have no training in journalism of any kind, and he laughed and told me, "good, then you won't have to unlearn anything". From then on it was go time.

KSFR News is an extremely reputable news station. Its won the National Associated Press award for Best News Radio the past four years in a row. If I to want end up working in journalism, KSFR News is a great starting spot. The news team consists of 10 volunteer workers, and the payed News Director Bill Dupuy. Myself and two other college aged girls are the youngest workers, and everyone else is a retired professional. They say they like having young guns like us in there, and the wise, older workers are extremely helpful.

Bill threw me right into the mix. The first thing I learned- The News is FAST. There are eleven news reports a day, one every hour, ranging from 2 to 4 minutes each. There is a hour long newscast at noon, which is planned ahead of time and consists of investigative journalism and 'timeless pieces'. KSFR reports local news. The hourly news casts are deciphered, written, spoken, and engineered by only one person. That reporter must decipher the news that comes from all of our sources; email, phone-ins, the internet, and most importantly-the AP wire. Then choose which of these stories they deem as important, and write a short blurb about each. The reporter must then speak the stories onto a computer program, and correct their newscast so it is consistent with a typical newscast. Finally, the reporter must engineer the newscast, allowing it to flow smoothly over the air. In order for the newscast to go over the air, there are ALOT of steps to finish.

It is volunteer work, but I have worked there about 18 hours in the past three days. I need to train first, but they said I should be coming on the air soon.

I'm also privy to a lot of sensitive information. All news stems from local news. I won't go into more boring description, but local news is essentially filtered up the Associated Press ladder, until it becomes National News. I know NOTHING about Santa Fe politics and news, but I'm learning fast. The reporters all harp on me for my horrible Spanish, saying, "If you say that over the air, we will get 500 calls."

Bottom Line-I love working at the radio station. HOWEVER, this does not mean this trip is over. I have to talk with Zach, Molly, the News Station, and My Aunt. I could never stay in Santa Fe for a long period of time. But, I may need to stay long enough to gain some experience in journalism, and receive a good recommendation from KSFR. Whether this means 2 weeks or 6 months, that I will have to figure out. We will continue this roadtrip, but when?

Sorry about the boring post, but I really like the news.

My station

An interesting reporter from The New Mexican