Update on my internship at LG Regional News

I've been working on my stories for the local paper for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I'd write you all a quick update. 

My first profile was published on the 3rd. It was exciting to see my work in a real publication, not just online or in a student newspaper (not dissing the Trib at all, but this is just different). I received a couple of texts from friends whose parents read the paper on a regular basis and noticed my byline. That was pretty cool.


I was pleased with how my first story turned out. My interviewee was very cooperative with both responses and photos. 


I'm finishing up my first draft on my second profile and am headed into the office for a read through tomorrow. The body of this one has been much easier to write, but I'm struggling with determining what information to exclude. It all seems so vital to explaining his character.

My last profile has been much more of a struggle compared to the first two. I called her at least five times and left multiple messages. I finally got a hold of her and she tells me, "I really don't want to this." She explains how the state sort of forced her into retirement and she still doesn't know how she feels about it, but she doesn't want to turn it into a political thing. "I just want to go away quietly."

Isn't that horrible? That's the way she wants to be remembered. Some people say we only need hard news and none of that feature-y fluff. But I think this is the perfect example of why we need this type of journalism. To remember and honor someone's contributions. 

I'm looking forward to hearing what my editor has to say about how I should proceed with this.