Covering Senseless Tragedies

Ray Carter

    Heading toward the end of the second month, getting used to newsroom pace and politics have gotten easier. The Tuesday routine of trying to shadow a reporter in the field or help assist sports producers is usually slow. Not expecting much, I headed to the lunchroom to put up my dinner. Breaking News screens in bold white letters flashed over the screen; I wondered what  happened. A one-year-old boy had disappeared in a St. Louis Suburb north of the city, causing some to make a Kansas City connection from the Lisa Irwin Case. The 20-y.o. mother did not know how it happened nor did the Grandmother. As the coverage continued, the newsroom found that a small body was located in a nearby park; the station’s worst fear came true.  Soon producers and editors paced around the assignment desk to find correct information for viewers.
As the coverage continued, many newsroom employees gave advice to the interns on these stories. Two of our head anchors Kay and Leisa, gave analysis while trying to balance their opinion. The reporters’ on-scene carefully rehashed the events of the day and expanded on knowledge from previous stories. Employees told me that it’s better to give viewers correct information over gossip.

    Glued to the television, many of us wondered how a baby could vanish in the middle of the night. ‘Could the mother not hear the Burglar?’ ‘Did she know any bad people?’ The next day the situation had gotten worse, the mother was the person charged with murder. It turns out she had been partying the night before and mishandled the child.  After the press conference, an impromptu memorial service invited community members to grieve where the child’s body was last scene. I was allowed to shadow Multi-Media Journalist Casey Nolan on this assignment.

   Casey cautioned that reporters have to be careful when going into this type of story. Tensions can run high from neighbors and family members. People banning us from shooting the memorial service would not be a surprise to Casey.  I was a little nervous to go on such hard news story, but I felt I needed the training.  When we arrived on the scene, hundreds of people gathered around a large oak tree where police discovered the body. People left birthday cards, candy, and even stuffed super heroes. As the evening passed, Casey respectfully interviewed several friends, asking only questions about the child’s young life.  When one of the crowd members started to cry, it sparked a chain reaction. Countless others joined in hugging each other.  It was depressing, but most of the reporters kept their composure while recounting the events to the studio.

     All of the reporters on scene had to be professional and not let their emotions get the best of them.  Toward the end of the night, the five or six stuffed toys soon turned into a mound of teddy bears and birthday cards. A Scottish Bagpipe player sang a Scottish Hymn with hundreds of lit candles in the shadows.  It was good to learn how to do a news report in this type of situation.  I trailed Casey interviewing the crowd members while trying to get different shots of the tree. It taught me how to handle an emotionally devastating story on the job.

    This is a depressing article, but that is what I’ve been working on! My internship only has one month left. I’ll write back in a few weeks!