Category: Reporting

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.

U-Turns

I heard an illustrative measurement about what it takes to be a great photographer today. U-turns. How many U-turns someones makes will tell you how great a photographer they are. If you’ve ever seen a great shot as you’ve driven past, you’ll understand.

I’ve got a shot I’ve always wanted to take. I’ve seen it twice now, once today, with a camera in the car but not stopped. The first time I saw it was earlier this fall, on the side of Interstate 93. There was a dead moose laying on the side of the road. It was early, and late fall, so the light was pale blue, not warm. After I shot passed on my way south I realized the photo I wanted: from on the ground, laying next to the moose, with his (or her, I didn’t notice) body filling most the frame, but with cars zooming past in the background.

Yesterday, on my way to a meeting, on U.S. Route 3, I saw another moose. I had my Lumix next to me on the seat, but I was running late and in professional clothes that would have shown I had been laying in the dirt. This time I knew what I wanted, and I thought of it first, but again I didn’t stop to make it happen.

I didn’t make the U-turn. Shots don’t wait around for photographers to get them. They disappear. The moose gets cleaned up, the ball flies through the net, the soldier’s body hits the ground. And it is up to the photographer to be there, and to be ready.

The classic phrase is the decisive moment. Ever try to capture that? Ever try to be in the right place at the right time, just when the action happens? I’m not talking about landscapes, which are challenging enough by themselves. I mean action, when people are there and doing something. Those moments are hell to capture, but that’s what a great photographer does.

I’m not a great photographer, but I love the medium. I can produce good shots when I need to, but the real professionals blow me a way.

But that idea — U-turn, turn around, make the shot the priority — that has power. It is enough to turn a mediocre photographer into a good photographer, and maybe a good one into an excellent one. I’m not sure, but it’s something I’m going to try to carry with me as I embark on 14 days of exploration, where my camera should never leave my hand (except when I’ve got a microphone in it).

The photo up top, by the way, I did turn around for, and I can prove it: that’s my wife and her sister walking away on the left side of the frame. It’s not a great photo, but it illustrates my point. A few more U-turns are in order.

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…

Step One: New Boots

I finished with the paperwork side of things a few weeks ago, but I’ve got a long way to go before I leave for Iraq. Two weeks — that’s how long I’ve got before I leave. I stopped by a store today to get a pair of hiking boots, my first real provisioning for the trip.

It’s the 31st, and I leave on the 15th. I’ve got two weeks to get the following (from the USF–Iraq embed checklist):

As an embedded journalist, you must provide:
1. Hygiene items
• Soap/shampoo
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Shower shoes
• Towels
• Feminine hygiene products
• Toilet paper (optional for when you are away from the compound)
• Baby wipes (optional)
2. Sleeping Bag
3. Waterproof sunscreen
4. Flashlights (include red lenses)
5. Climate appropriate clothing – Mid Oct-Mid May nights are cooling down and it gets very cold in the desert. By the end of NOV temps can drop to below 30 degrees Fahrenheit and vary by 50 degrees during the day. Dress in layers and pack a rain- resistant shell or jacket during this time frame. In the summer months the heat is extreme. Bring light, loose clothing and a hat for protection from the sun when not wearing your protective gear.
6. Phone (optional)
7. Equipment needed for filing/transmitting media products
8. Hand carry all prescription medication and a full supply to last throughout your embed.
9. Bug repellent (with Deet)
10. Cash and/or Debit Card (PX accepts debit/credit cards but card system may not always be functioning)
11. Ballistic Equipment (protective vest* & helmet) (LEVEL IV recommended), ballistic eye protection, long sleeves required for transportation on military aircraft.

Most of it I’ve got or can get pretty quickly. The ballistic equipment I’m renting, except for the eye protection, which I ordered and should be arriving soon.

It’s still surreal, but it’s getting more real quickly. Two weeks isn’t long. I better get ready…

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.

Not Fun, But Still a Gift

Some stories aren’t that great to tell, but they are invaluable nonetheless.

My Christmas story this year, which hopefully won’t come out on Christmas, is about a 10 year old special needs child who was physically assaulted in a local residential treatment center. Her mother was going around desperately trying to find someone willing to listen to her story about her daughter, who was put in a choke-hold, pulled out of her chair and dragged down a hallway floor by her arm.

Those aren’t great stories to tell, and they aren’t great stories to tell two days before the holiday weekend. But they are stories that need to be out there. They suck, but they are also the reason I got into this. I will touch up the story tomorrow, and it will likely run next week, but what I did was give this woman a voice. Hopefully no other disabled kids suffer the same fate.

That’s not a bad present, is it?

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.

News Country

Lots going on up north. NHPR had my story alongside one from Chris Jensen about the Laidlaw project, and how the office of the consumer advocate at the PUC was not in favor of the deal. The North Country dominated the news cycle. Heck, the Androscoggin Valley dominated the news cycle. Berlin/Gorham dominated.

Well, in case you missed it, here is Chris’ story about the former pulp mill, and here is my story about the (former?) paper mill.

And if you just want to listen, click below.

Gorham mill sale

What Makes A Story

I had planned to go to Manchester today to interview some gentlemen about how Sudanese in the state are reacting to the referendum on the possible secession of southern Sudan. But my main point of contact canceled because he had to go to Boston.

Why? To register a bunch of Sudanese to vote in the referendum.

That would have been the best story of my career—a ride with a car full of Sudanese registering to voice their opinions on whether to form a new nation. But alas, my contact and I had only spoken over email, and I was unable to get him in time to tell him I wanted to go.

What makes a story? I’m learning more and more about what ingredients make something truly compelling. This sort of journey toward a new future is just the thing. It is exactly what makes for powerful storytelling, no matter the medium. There is uncertainty, a path, conflict and a moment of truth. It’s like it was built to be told.

And because I didn’t ask for a phone number, it won’t be.

Some days…