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PCLI's chapter award is a very nice honor, for which people other than myself worked very hard. It was nice to be in Indy to see Pres. John O'Connell accept the recognition.
It was a good convention, I was glad to be able to support my old friend Dave Aeikens, the outgoing president, and hear from new president Kevin Smith.
Kevin hopes to be a leader for SPJ members and the entire industry. I found his comments encouraging, motivating, and empowering. I also attended a energetic meeting of the national ethics comittee, and I look forward to contributing to their work.
Another highlight was meeting some of the nation's best local investigative journalists, and getting inspired by what they are accomplishing.
Finally, I was able to spend some time with my role model, KARE-11 reporter extraordinaire Boyd Huppert who was in town to pick up an award.
Just seeing him reminded me about the things I love about tv news, and the type of work still possible.
I know the link about is a little sloppy, I will work on cleaning it up after I get some rest!

say hello to my little friend

Here at SPJ twitter is all the rage...you can check out everything with #SPJ100.
Kinda makes me a little sad, are blogs so 2008? I don't quite get it, here at newsysuzy online I try to give posts the same sort of thought I would give to a broadcast story, even if the audience is a lot smaller.
The tweets seem so...superficial.
Not to mention, instead of interacting, networking, and socializing, we are all fixated on our handhelds.
Still, it's what all the cool, and not so cool kids are doing so I will give it a try.
So my tweet handle is...newsysuzy. Feel free to check it out, or follow me.
But I can't promise anything profound.

the story behind the story

Interesting article in Minnpost about how the Favre story was broken by WCCO.
I really like Minnpost, and I hope it represents a new trend in journalism. It is a member supported news website. Kind of like PBS but on the internet.
Minnesota has been fertile ground for cutting edge journalism, where you can find some of the best video photojournalists and reporters in the nation, a giant in public broadcasting, and home of (in my humble opinion) one of the country's best community tv news departments, where this little blogger got her start.
As we sit and wonder how we will continue to make a living in the media, Minnpost has an interesting business model.
Let's see if it's copied in other markets.

the four factor

Over the past 10 years I have lived in New York City, Green Bay, and the Twin Cities. It appears soon Brett Favre will be able to make the same claim.
While my stint as a news anchor in Northeast Wisconsin has probably been long forgotten, #4's legacy is a different story.
In Green Bay, Brett was a god, and nearly everyone who lived on the frozen tundra was his follower. I personally never met the man, but his wife was a memorably gracious guest on my NBC 26 morning show, gamely modeling fashions for charity at 5:30 A.M.
My time in Titletown came as Brett's golden touch was beginning to fade, but he was still a king. I remember sharing a meal with a lovely couple who regarded him as the son they never had.
It was bittersweet for me when he came here to NY to play for the Jets, a little bit of my beloved Wisconsin, just in a different shade of green.
While many fans were sad to see him go, few seemed truly embittered. I think many Wisconsinites could not begrudge him the chance to enjoy big city stardom while he still could.
For a time he appeared poised to be the new Joe Namath, a gift to New Yorkers from the heartland. Even though Brett was a Jet you could still see hundreds of #4 jerseys on little boys at Lambeau field.
This Vikings thing... is another story.
I lived in Minnesota for six years, and had a good life there, but the Land of 10,000 Lakes and the Dairy State have a bitter sibling rivalry.
In Minneapolis, sports radio hosts regard Packer fans as paint-thinner sniffing rubes.
But no one knows how to love a team like a cheesehead.
Through freezing winters and boiling summers Packer backers love their team like a parent loves a child. They may get mad or disappointed, but the bond is always there.
Now the cherished golden boy has left again, not for big city lights, but for the fancier folks just around the corner. It's a bitter pill to swallow.
But I suspect while many Packer fans may stomp and shout, in their hearts they wish Brett and his family well.
Favre may be wearing purple this fall but he'll always be Green Bay's favorite son.

Journalist or Blogger?

Interesting article about a blogger breaking a big story in the NY Times today. Made me wonder, when a journalist writes for a blog does a different set of rules apply? Even the Times writer points to a difference.
It seems as if blogging is closer to writing a column than a news article, but it's a murky area.
Unlike writing in a newsroom, most independent bloggers don't have an editor. It's both a curse and a blessing. Editors and reporters have a relationship that resembles parents and children, a push and pull that can be frustrating but also provides a safety net.
The internet hands us freedom and responsibility all wrapped up in a puzzling package.
For now my philosophy is to try to be more personal while staying objective.
What do you think?
Oh and a shoutout to LaTonya, author of my first real comment!
Thanks for stopping by my little corner of cyberspace.

Omar's legacy

There is something about the death of Officer Omar Edwards that I find haunting.
Last week, a grand jury cleared the fellow officer who shot him to death in East Harlem, to the understandable consternation of the Edwards family.
I don't know the case well enough to comment on the grand jury's decision, but of all the stories I covered the past few years, this is the one I think about a lot. I remember his funeral so well, the graciousness of his friends with the media, and the underlying sense of anger in the crowd. We reporters toss around the word community a lot, but his loss truly was a blow to his Brooklyn neighborhood.
Edwards was a guy who did everything right. He loved police work with a single hearted devotion from the time he was a child. He had a lovely family and adorable kids. And he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. East Harlem, not so far from where I live.
Maybe time will show that the policeman who shot him was reckless, or maybe the grand jury got it right. But Officer Edwards was a treasure, and it is heartbreaking it took his tragic death for the world to get to know him.

the more things change....the more they stay the same

check out this vintage gem from the NY times about reporting on Long Island

Defending Diane

We like answers.
Quincy,Law and Order, CSI, they all offer the soothing formula of a mystery solved.
When we can't figure out why something happened, it chews at us. We would rather assume an answer than live with an uncomfortable question.
I understand why conspiracy theorists conspire. It feels good to explain the inexplicable. The impulse has been there since man first watched the sun come up.

While the evidence in the Taconic crash seems to indicate a pretty clear cause, drugs and alcohol, when you look at a photo of Diane Schuler, it is hard to understand.
She could be in the dictionary next to next-door-neighbor. We hope somehow something outside her control caused her to consume alcohol and pot. Even as those explanations sound more and more fantabulous.

Some experts believe her husband's statements are a classic example of denial. But he's not alone in his beliefs. On the internet, where things seem to get hashed out these days, people are running every theory possible up the flagpole.

We want to believe that people are readable. That the smiling lady blowing bubbles with her kids in the yard was the person she seemed to be.

Maybe someday something will give us an answer...but the disturbing part is we may never understand.

The wrong way

I spent much of my week covering the story of the Taconic wrong-way crash tragedy. What started as a news item about a car wreck has turned into an agonizing drama as Diane Schuler's survivors struggle to come to grips with the evidence that she appears to have been intoxicated.
Another story, from another market, what seems a life time ago has been on my mind.
Malik Sealy of the Minnesota Timberwolves died in a similar crash on Highway 100 in the Twin Cities back on May 20, 2000.
I met Sealy just one time on a story when he was visiting the school of a young heart transplant patient. He talked to the kids about staying healthy for a long life.
I was also a T-wolves season ticket holder. Sealy had a cool, stylish, maturity to his game, a silky jump shot, and a swagger that reminded me of the 1970's NBA.
The wrong way crash was equally hard to understand. It seems so incongruous that the driver, a Hmong immigrant with an almost unpronounceable name and the NBA player would cross paths this way.
I remember listening to KFAN and hearing "we lost Malik". At first I thought he had been traded.
It was so sad and so confusing and so ....wrong.
A drunk driver, a mistake on the road, and so much lost.
The wrong way, indeed.

Newsysuzy on stage?

Oh this made me smile!
Ethan better watch out for "Scoop Sancho"!
This appears to be a real school play for younger kids.
Just think, all those little Newsy Suzys on stage.

See You At the Fair is a musical fun way to meet other children from other lands and enhance global awareness.
Cast: 4 News narrators, Newsy Suzy, Headline Hal, Ray Reporter, Scoop Sancho and a lot of Multiculture Kids. The simple mini play kit contains parts for many students. Self-contained, easy to do. Song lyrics are sung to familiar tunes for easy-learning. Part 1: You listen to the whole play. Part 2: Has sound effects and music only - so you can act out what you hear. Everything you need to produce your own play.

crashing down

I must admit, the number of car crash stories the past week has been overwhelming.
2 triple fatals plus the collision that killed 8.
Even tonight as I headed home from work I passed an accident, and I had my own close call with a driver who decided to drive straight across three lanes of traffic last week on the LIE.
We live in a car society, and this is the price we pay. It's just hard when the bill gets collected all at once.
I try so hard to look at each fatality as a person. This week it's been a challenge.

latest demo reel

I guess it's really time to stop calling these tapes.
This "demo reel" is a bit different from past editions, featuring more hard news and fewer features.
Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUAfOMuYTI