THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607260199
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG BURT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 68 lines
It was nearing 6 o'clock on a hot and heavy summer night and I already was using my headlights on the way to the beachfront. The weather didn't look too promising.
A thunderstorm wasn't going to make covering the Virginia Beach Lifeguard Association annual competition the fun experience I had planned when I invited my girlfriend to come along to watch. It was my third week as an intern for The Virginian-Pilot and this was one story I was really looking forward to covering. A week earlier, the contest was canceled because of another storm, Bertha.
By the time we got down to 24th Street, the rain had already started. I found a sign attached to the back of a lifeguard stand announcing the contest, but the beach was empty. The flashes of white light with the almost immediate crack of thunder drove Stephanie and me to the nearby overhang of the Coast Guard museum for protection. That's when the storm really kicked up.
There was no way 80 lifeguards were going to run along the beach and dive into that water under these conditions. Another one of Virginia Beach's weather wonders gave me a lesson in flexibility and reminded me that bad weather can make news as well as break it.
Although I was disappointed that the competition was canceled, in a way I was glad. Trying to collect quotes with a notebook, pen and an umbrella would have been messy.
Ever since the first week of my internship, I have been trying to perfect my quote-taking ability. Weaning myself off the tape recorder has been my biggest challenge. Over the past year, I have written a variety of feature stories for The Beacon, but never under strict time constraints like that of my first assigned story as an intern.
Although I have had little practice weaving together a breaking news story in a couple of hours, my editor was of the opinion that the heat of the frying pan is the best teacher. And learn I did, but not without getting a little burned.
It was about 10 in the morning when editor Kevin Armstrong pulled me into the office and told me about an informational protest that was happening at the post office that day.
``So you want this story done today?'' I sheepishly asked.
``Think you can handle it?'' he responded. ``Sure,'' I said a little stunned that my reporting skills would be put to the test so soon, but willing to give it my best shot.
By the time I drove down to the post office about 1:30 that afternoon, I had already interviewed the post office spokesperson.
Now all I needed was some quotes from the protesters. That sounds easy enough, right?
Once I arrived at the post office, I approached the uniformed postal picketing leader with my note pad and my trusty microrecorder ready with all my questions.
As the interview began, I struggled to take down a few notes. I wasn't too worried though, thinking I would have time to review the tape back at the office. That was a mistake.
With the story due to the editor at 5 p.m., I ended up with no extra time to listen to the recording, consequently the story didn't have a single quote.
The experience clearly revealed my reporting skill deficiencies, but I'm happy to report I've improved since then. I've been able to cover a variety of stories including the return of the Soap Box Derby, a story about an abandoned dog, and a story on the crop damage after the passing of Bertha, all with quotes included.
Every day is different, with some stories, of course, being more exciting than others. Besides learning to expect the unexpected storm, this internship has taught me that journalism is never perfected. A journalist can never know enough nor write a story so well that it can't be improved in some way. That could be discouraging for some, but I see it as a challenge and I'm glad for the opportunity to improve my skills. by CNB