Serious Business

There are some major things happening right now.

I haven't yet had the chance to post about my wonderful learning experience at the Illinois Community College Journalism Association Fall 2009 Conference. But, let me just say, it could not have come at a better time.

Among a plethora of sessions from "Taking Better Pictures", to "Designing Better Pages", my staff and I sat in on some mind-blowing lectures.

One that came of particular use to me was a session entitled simply, "Ethics Primer", given by Professor Terri Johnson of the EIU Journalism Department. The session was small (only 6 students) and simple (a basic outline of what to do and where to look for help), but upon returning to school, has been some of the most pertinent information I've received to date.

Early Sunday morning, I was awoken by repeated phone calls and texts from a certain extra-enthused staff writer. He informed me there had been a shooting the night before at WoodView Commons, our student apartment complex adjacent to our main campus. The college had been giving their best attempt at keeping the story from getting out but after a call made to an advisor, or two, to make absolutely certain I wasn't breaking any laws, I posted an informative, well-organized piece on what had happened. And it was the 4th accessible story on the web. Did I happen to mention we were the only source (including professional media outlets in the area) to have a picture and resident quote?
:D

So...let's slow it down for anyone actually trying to learn from this experience.

The first thing I did was make sure I had one of my men on the scene talking to students and figuring out exactly what happened. My wonderful News Editor, whom I had called just before, called me back with numbers for our Campus Safety and Security and two different Police Departments who might have reported to the scene. After being nearly hung up on by the East Peoria Police Department, I took a chance and looked up the number to Tazewell County Sheriff's Department (the county our school is in). 15 minutes later I had a quote confirming that there was indeed an incident and that Tazewell County had received a call for assistance, and set their men to the scene. Shortly after, I got a call from my on-scene man with a quote from the student who had actually made the first call to Campus Safety and Security confirming the more intricate details of what had happened, including the fact that shots had been fired. Lastly, I received a photo (from a source who wishes to remain anonymous) showing a trail of blood on the sidewalk with a WoodView Commons sign in the background and the actual apartment complex in the distance.

This is where my ethics session comes into use....so pay attention.

In a rush to get any information up, I nearly published a story without a reliable source to confirm anything. Thankfully, I took the time to take a breath and realized I needed more. Once I had my credible source confirmation in the form of a Sergeant at Tazwood County and a quote from a resident confirming the shots, I thought I was within my legal rights. I made a quick call to two of my advisors to let them know what information I had and was about to post and after gaining their approval, decided to post the picture as well. Although I can't attribute it immediately, I can prove who I received it from and when and they are willing to take responsibility for it. Plus I knew since everything was cleaned before any other pictures were taken, I had a duty to release it to the public. And it doesn't hurt that it gives my story such hard hitting imagery to go along with the intensity of the situation.

Since we've had discussions in class about the appropriate length of a blog I feel I'm reaching my limit on this one. But check back soon for more info on the story as things progress and a more detailed look at my conference experiences.

P.S. Our next publication date is just two weeks away so there will be tons of info on new changes as well. I hope I don't over-blog you. :)