Continue the Conversation

I wrote my first 5 Ideas column of the semester this week, and the concept behind the column drew upon a lot of why I've always seemed to find journalism so attractive. Ideally, every story that we put in print or on the Web is designed to foster conversation somewhere down the line. Of course, the stories we write are meant to inform, enlighten, be a voice for the voiceless, and so on and so forth. 

But the 5 Ideas column's primary purpose is to continue the news conversation. In a way, I feel like an old-fashioned journalist, being more of a gatekeeper to the week's most influential stories, both nationally and locally. You summarize the events, and then you ask a thought-provoking (or perhaps even slightly charged) question in relation to the information you've given. I'll confess, I don't know how many people read and respond to the column on a regular basis, but, nevertheless, I think the idea behind it is great and is a noble venture to help initiate further discussion on important or popular issues for mid-Missourians. Oh, and making tongue-in-cheek titles for the columns can be fun if you make it fun.

Progress: Well, I was sick the first part of the week, dragging myself to classes on Monday and Wednesday and trying to recuperate most of the day Tuesday. I spent Thursday afternoon writing the 5 Ideas column and a short story on  the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. The clip count is fine, so I'm not frustrated in that regard. I'm starting to get frustrated, though, that every time I come into the newsroom, some sort of spot news on my beat happens to break out. It's keeping me from working on my Study Abroad piece. I feel like a broken record, but I really hope I can take a big bite out of it next week, instead of finding little crumbs of information here and there. I've never actually hoped for the "no news is good news" adage while I've been reporting, but I wouldn't mind it next week to have time to do some digging.