Beat Reporting (JOU-4881-01)

The week before our Thanksgiving break, I completed my fourth story. I did a broadcast package for the grand opening of “A Special Blend” in High Point. A Special Blend is a non-profit coffee shop business that originated in Greensboro, North Carolina. It expanded to a new location in downtown High Point. What makes this place so special is that it only employs workers with disabilities. The goal is to not only provide these workers with a comforting and improved working environment, but also to broaden the public's perception of people with disabilities.  When going to film this package, I was a little more timid than normal because I knew I wanted to get an interview with one of the workers, but I wanted to make sure I approached the situation the right way to make sure he/she felt as comfortable as possible. To prepare for this, I planned extra ahead of time. I not only developed my interview questions with a different technique than normal, but I also created a relationship w...

     This past week, I submitted my story #3 beat broadcast package on Congdon Yards and the impact it is having on the entire High Point community. This week, on Wednesday, our story #4 drafts are due. I originally was planning on doing a story on the new homeless shelter, in association with Open Door Ministries, that is coming to High Point. After giving that more thought over the weekend, I decided to save that for my fifth story and do a multimedia version of it. Now, for my story #4, I will be doing it at the new coffee shop downtown, called “A Special Blend”. A Special Blend isn’t a typical coffee joint, it is a welcoming space that hires only special needs girls and boys to have a place to work. It just opened last week. Over the weekend, I reached out to the owner/creator of the cafe, and I am planning on going tomorrow to meet everyone and get some interviews and footage for a broadcast package.      My overall beat in general has a lot of new upd...

  This week and weekend, I have taken the time to develop deeper into my story 3 assignment. After my rough draft was due last week, I have taken my extra time to add and tweak my original plans. This weekend, I went back to Congdon Yards to get even more b-roll for my package. On Friday, I also followed up with my two interviews to get even better soundbites and information from them. Tomorrow, I am meeting with the CEO of Congdon Yards, Rachel Moss, to get her information and facts on the transformation of this downtown sight. On Tuesday, I will be finalizing all my edits then revising my script, as well. Within my lifestyle beat itself, I spent time today looking over what is going on in the triad area and gathering more ideas for my next story. For example, on Friday, a High POint resident won $100,000 from a $30 scratch off ticket. I thought this was a light-hearted story, but I don’t think it would be effective to cover. Another story that stuck out to me that I could possibl...