Category: journalism

Last Night

It may seem strange that I call this post “Last Night” even though it’s two nights before I leave, and probably four nights before I reach Baghdad. But it’s my last night in my house, my last night to get my things together. I am fully outfitted, I think, except I need to grab a bar of soap. That’s it. Other than that I’ve checked off every piece of equipment on my list. Some pieces I’ve checked off twice.

Redundancy seems to make sense when your going to be half a world away. Baghdad has an eight hour time difference, so maybe my posting will be a little close to when people expect it. I’ll be putting photos, videos, all sorts of material up. Hopefully it piques some interest.

I have two cameras, two microphones and two audio recorders. I’ve got extra socks, a sleeping bag, two puffy jackets (my friend Bryan who served during the war warned me it’s cold there this time of year) and a hat. I’ve got ballistic goggles and ballistic sunglasses, and a spoon and a fork.

I hope I’m ready. I’m as ready as I’m going to get. I’ve got to get a picture of myself tomorrow for NHPR, so they’ll have something to post to the mini-website. And then I’ve got to go to work for the day. It’ll likely be a long day, since it’s basically the day before the most intense vacation of my life.

I’ll keep things flowing to LPJ, as well as NHPR. If I haven’t posted here in 24 hours, look for it at NHPR. I’ll be shooting video, posting photos, making journal entries and uploading audio. It’s going to be multimedia, for certain, as it should be.

The news director at NHPR was looking at photos of FOB Kalsu, and he said it didn’t look like there’s a lot to do there. I said that means I’ll have plenty of time to work. His response: “With all that time on your hands, it better be good.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Bulletproof

As you can see, I’ve got a bulletproof vest and helmet. The vest covers less of me than I would like it to, and the helmet is too big, but they should work. I have armor-piercing plates in the front and back of the vest, which make it weigh about 15 lbs. It certainly isn’t fast or light.

So I’ve been looking around at who I’ll be with when I first get there. I fly out to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Kalsu a few days after I get there, and that’s where I’ll spend the majority of my time. I’ll be with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has at least 13 New Hampshire soldiers. They are active duty, which means it isn’t quite the same as the units I had requested (one reserve, one national guard), but I certainly have no complaints.

I can’t say I look dashing in my outfit, but I’m glad it got here on time. I’m still waiting for a few more pieces of the puzzle, but I think overall I’m set. I’ve still got two days of work to get done at the Sun before I leave, but overall I’m pulling it all together.

NHPR is working to set up a little mini-website off their normal site so I can fully document my trip, with photos, stories and one-on-one interviews. It’s great to have their support, as well as the support of my coworkers in Conway.

Speaking of support, I received calls from a friend I haven’t heard from in six months today. He heard I was getting ready to ship out and he had to call. It’s funny what these sorts of events inspire in people.

And I have to say, I have the utmost respect for the people who do this for real. I’m going for a couple weeks to tell soldiers’ stories, but what do you say about the soldiers themselves, on a year long tour, with real concerns about getting shot or killed? My wife is going to be sad to see me leave until February. I can’t imagine what her reaction would be if it was until NEXT February.

So I’m preparing to leave with conflicting feelings of excitement and reverence. I hope to be able to connect people back home with those sacrifices, to help them better understand what soldiers and their families go through. I don’t even understand it yet, but I hope to be able to get it across.

Three Days…

I have my bulletproof vest and helmet, my ballistic goggles and my sleeping bag. I’m still waiting on a new microphone for the road, but I’m pretty much set to go.

So here’s the plan — I’ve been talking to NHPR about what we’re going to do, and they’ll be linking here to LPJ. I’m sending them a number of regular length feature stories, on topics from what the day to day is like to how soldiers relax in their time off. I’m also going to sit down for four one on one interviews with soldiers. Those will get sent back and posted to NHPR’s website. And I’ll send back a couple batches of photos. They’re going to put a place on their website for people to ask questions if they want to, in order to make it interactive.

I’m hoping to create an audio slideshow or two by combining the photos with the soldier interviews. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ve also got the Sun. I’m hoping I can make connections with Mount Washington Valley soldiers or North Country soldiers, to run in the Conway or Berlin Daily Sun. I may also send back dispatches, but the specifics of that have not been discussed.

And I’ll be doing some other statewide stuff for the Union Leader. I haven’t hashed out the details with them yet, but I’ll be looking for stories that don’t fit into the Sun’s purview for that.

Granted, with the vest rental, airplane ticket and equipment I’ve bought I don’t see this being a money-maker, but the business of journalism seldom is these days. I’m going to be telling a story people haven’t heard lately. That’s the value in the trip.

I’ve still got one more package to get, and then I’m good to go. I also cleared up the last questions about a visa, so I should be good there as well. And I might get to meet up with a friend in Kuwait before I fly into Baghdad, so that’s even more good news.

I’ve got two weeks to tell a story that’s been almost eight years in the making — I don’t see that happening to it’s full potential. But it’ll be a start, and if I like it it’ll be one among many. So here’s to Saturday morning flights…

Five days…

Ok, so things are getting crazy. I’ve got budget committee meetings, and selectman meetings, and Leadership North Country and everything else with five days left to go. I got my ballistic goggles today, and my vest and helmet should be here on Wednesday. I admit I feel I’ve fallen a bit behind on LPJ in the last day or so, but that’s because I’m trying to get my time in with my wife while still preparing for my trip.

I’ll be heading to FOB Kaslu, south of Baghdad, for the first week, to hook up with New Hampshire soldiers. I laid out plans with the news director at NHPR today for the type of stories I’ll be sending back. It’s a little crazy now, but once I’m on the bus to catch a plane to catch another plane to go to an embassy to catch another plane to get an ID badge and ride on a helicopter it will all be back to normal. Except I’ll be in Iraq.

What is a soldier’s day like? What is modern deployment like? Is it what they expected? What are they doing? I’m ready to just ask the most basic questions, because for so many people back home it’s just so unimaginable. Hopefully I can bring some of that back.

I’ll have more, lots more, as I get there and get into this. Right now, I’m still trying to keep up with the hill I started running down. So far so good.

Step Two: Ballistics

I spent almost $3,000 today.

Not really, but sort of. I picked up a few items for reporting, and I rented my bulletproof vest. All together it was about $2,600, but a big chunk of that was the security deposit that will hopefully be returned when I get back. And the equipment, while important for this trip, will be part of my tech repertoire for years to come.

I also got some good news today — the New Hampshire Union Leader wants to carry my stories. Now, in addition to the work for NHPR and the Conway Daily Sun, I’ve got a third media outlet on board.

That means I’ll almost make back my investment in this trip. Maybe I’ll even make a few dollars? Doubtful.

I’ve been jokingly telling people “it’s cheaper than grad school” whenever they ask why I’m going to Iraq. The truth is I’m both nervous and excited, and I know the experience will be worth the expense. And as I get closer I feel more and more like I’ve made the right decision. I want to make sure soldiers, whether they are from the Mount Washington Valley, the North Country, New Hampshire or elsewhere, are not forgotten. Iraq is in transition that the administration isn’t calling war, but those soldiers are serving nonetheless. They deserve recognition, and the public needs reminders every once in a while.

I’ll be posting a lot on my way there, I imagine — LPJ will serve as my war logs. When my equipment comes in I’ll make sure to toss up some photos, and I also plan to chronicle as things happen.

I’m all set, I think, other than I still need my visa, but otherwise I should be good to go. Vest, helmet and goggles are all in the mail, and I’ve got a shotgun (microphone) coming too. It’s now past midnight, so I have a week left. I’ll have to try not to hold my breath.

A Bit More…

A quick addendum to that last post: it was this image that got me thinking more about photography lately and really jazzed up about its storytelling power. Look at it for a moment. Click on it, and read the full caption. It comes from a photo essay titled Jim Comes Home, shot by Todd Heisler when he worked for The Rocky Mountain News.

(The Rocky Mountain News shut down in early 2009, when the newspaper industry seemed to be imploding alongside the banking sector. The industry has since revived a bit, but the News was never resurrected.)

This is just one in a series of photographs Heisler shot that took my breath away. Even now, as I write this post, I have to avoid processing the image to keep writing. It makes me cry. That’s what a photograph is supposed to do.

Heisler took second place in the Pictures of the Year International competition in 2006. It’s no wonder why. I look at these photos and I think about the profession I’ve chosen, the task I’ve been entrusted with, every time I try to tell someone’s story. That’s what he did so eloquently, and it shaped people’s views on events a world away. That’s what reporters, photographers, the media are entrusted to do. When they do it well, like Heisler did, it gives all the rest of us something to aspire to.

New Class

I took a couple classes over at Plymouth State this past semester to beef up my transcript in case I ever decide to go to graduate school. I have a minor in economics, but I needed to fulfill a few prerequisites to be eligible for some of the schools I am interested in.

I’ve got a ton going on, of course, so I don’t foresee myself going anywhere anytime soon, but I figured as long as I’m somewhat near a school and have the time and the money I should just get it done. I’d love to study journalism, to really dig into it, but going into debt for journalism and then coming out to a sour job market doesn’t sound like a great plan. Who knows where journalism is headed, but having $50,000 in baggage isn’t going to speed me on the journey.

But then I found this. It’s a graduate-level journalism class aimed at 21st century media, without the classroom. I follow the professor, Mindy McAdams, on Twitter, and I was psyched when she posted the course material. The questions about privacy, activism and the online world that she poses are just the sort of discussions I love to engage in, but they only come up once in a while in the day to day of the newsroom. It’s a chance to check back into those questions, which may not make up the forefront of a reporter’s day, but they are pervasive in the background.

So I’m going to try to tackle as much of it as I can over the coming weeks, although I’ll have to integrate it into an otherwise pretty busy schedule. Oh well, it’s not like I’m afraid of a little work. I am taking a vacation to Iraq, after all…

News Spot

Busy day of work today: finish up a story about a change in the law that affects who you can pull a gun on (it goes in effect Saturday), report a story about an “armed” robbery in Ossipee (the note said he had a gun, but no one saw it) and run over to Fryeburg to watch an old dowel mill burn down.

That’s news. I was at the fire alongside three vans from Portland-based television stations. And there weren’t even flames. That’s a long ride for smoke.

I have to admit, I like reporting about legislation and town government more than fires and robberies. The term prurient interests comes to mind. A fire is news, in the most basic sense of the word, but it is less than crucial information for a citizenry hoping to self-govern.

I know that may seem a little over the top, but the forth estate is protected by the U.S. Constitution because information is central to democracy. Factual and relevant information is what the founding fathers hoped would enable people (Ok, in there day it was only landholding Christian white males, but still) to join together to make the best decisions for the plurality. The free press was and is crucial for that.

But it also has a seedier side — one interested in crime, death and destruction. Why does a fatal accident matter? One doesn’t. If there are a string of them, tied to an unsafe vehicular design or a dangerous stretch of road, then maybe it does. A newspaper should point out the latter, I believe, and ignore the former.

But if it does that it’s ignoring news. There is a distinction, between relevant news and sensationalized news, and it can be difficult for a paper to walk. The smoke at today’s fire was clear from Center Conway. People are going to want to know what happened. And this was the third time the same Rite Aid pharmacy has been robbed. That’s a pattern, I would say.

These are important stories, but they aren’t (or shouldn’t be) a paper’s bread and butter. A story about legislation that changes how gun owners can brandish their weapons when threatened — that’s something every citizen should know. Abuse within a residential care facility — that’s worth noting. Legislation that changes taxation and fees for a group of people — that too is worthwhile.

As are the “boring” stories about town hall, city council and school board. At least on the local level, those can’t be undersold. If all politics are local, then all reporting should be too.

Real Quick

Just a quick note about an earlier post. I was very disappointed to see politics hold up a bill to support 9/11 first responders who are now dying because of their willingness to help when it was critical. Jon Stewart went after this issue on the Daily Show, and now it looks like it might turn around. That’s the role of the media—to bring attention to injustice. It’s sad there are three 24 hour news networks, but it took a comedian to address this specific case. But luckily someone in the media was there to speak up against this blatant miscarriage. Thank you Jon Stewart.

T-Minus…

…something like 25 days.

I got confirmation from USF–Iraq my paperwork is complete on their end. I still have one more thing to do, get my visa from the Iraqi government, but otherwise I’m good on that end. At least, that is, as far as paperwork is concerned.

My ballistic goggles are supposedly on their way, along with some ballistic sunglasses. I’ve made arrangements to rent a bulletproof vest for two weeks for something around $200. With that comes rifle plates and a kevlar helmet. The $200 figure may be wrong, but regardless its significantly less than the $2,000 buying that stuff would cost me.

I’m starting to realize I’m actually going. I am looking at dates for meetings I’m supposed to cover and realizing I won’t be here for them (tonight it was a public hearing about the transfer station). I am looking forward to having some time to dedicate to improving my radio reporting and how I tell stories with sound, which this period should allow me.

I was interviewing someone for a follow up piece about long-term pass holders at Wildcat today, and they mentioned they’d heard my piece on NHPR on the Cascade mill. And yesterday I got a comment on Facebook from a friend and former Memorial Hospital board member about how much they liked my article on health care in the Sun. I’ve been busy lately, and it’s had an impact. People are noticing stories.

But at the same time I’m trying to squeeze stories like that of the Cascade mill into a day of reporting, and then further squeeze it into four minutes. That’s tough. I colleague commented that they expected more from my mill story, because of the depth and severity of the situation. I can see that perspective. I talked with someone today who was instrumental in getting Fraser involved the last time the mills were in trouble, and he didn’t think this proposal has a chance. That’s a hard story to tell, though it may be true, and yet at this point it’s only one person’s opinion. I’ve said before I think the North Country needs a documentary, not a sound byte, because the interwoven future, past and present are so complex.

But that’s hard to do with a full time job. That’s hard to do with a daily deadline. That’s why I’m looking forward to a different kind of daily deadline—the kind connected to a radio deadline. The breadth of the stories waiting to be told both here and elsewhere are breathtaking. This trip will be a good “boot camp” for that work.