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One Reporter's Experience
Story by Becky Sutton
I had never given a thought to working on a
newspaper but when my husband decided to start one in our small Rocky
Mountain town I went along with the idea. I didn’t know how to interview
anyone, take interesting photos, or how to even put a newspaper article
together. So, I took my camera and just started carrying it with me
everywhere.
I went to a children’s hayride one Saturday morning to get some shots of
the local kids. I arrived early so I could talk to the adults in charge.
I needed to get some information to go with any pictures I took.
Getting a Horse Laugh
After the kids were seated on the hay and I had plenty of pictures of
their smiling faces, and the wagon, I just stopped to chat with a lady who had her horse with her. She planned to ride along side the
wagon and keep an eye on things.
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Hating the bit or hogging the camera? |
While I chatted with her, her horse turned to fully face me and gave me
a big horse smile. It opened its mouth wide, showing all of his teeth.
We all laughed and I asked the lady to make him do it again so I could
get a picture. She said she hadn’t made him do it the first time and
didn’t know how to get him to smile again.
I stepped back, positioned my camera, and said to the horse, “Smile
again for the camera,” and he did!! He looked right at the camera and
gave me a huge horse grin. I actually got two shots of him and he was
willing to keep grinning for the camera.
Later on, we published the pictures of the kids and their hayride in the
paper but the picture of the horse got most of the attention. I keep
that picture in my photo album to this day, and proudly show it off
every chance I get.
The Bigger Story
Another time, I was to interview an elderly
lady in town who had just celebrated her 100th birthday. I went to her
home and she was told me about her party, who had attended, the children
and grandchildren that had been there, and about the gifts she’d
received.
 After I had gotten all the information on this event, I stayed to chat
with her and learned that she remembered getting the news about the
Titanic being lost at sea. I started asking questions about her
reactions to the news, what members of her family had said, and she
began to relive the emotions of that day and time.
It was so exciting for me that I started writing everything down, and
then went on to ask about other events in history that she remembered
from her long lifetime. She shared lots of memories with me. I was able
to include that information in my article on her, revealing fascinating
bits of local and national history from a little girl’s point of view.
Thrill of the Story
After that, I was always ready to go and get
the story. I had learned how exciting and rewarding interviews and news
photography can be. You may think you know your community pretty well.
But wonderful surprises are waiting all around you.
Everyone and every age group has something of interest to share. For
example, if the younger generation were to interview me about where I
was on the day John F. Kennedy was shot and killed, I could tell them. I
remember exactly where I was when I heard the news, what my thoughts and
feelings were, how it effected the adults around me, and how devastated
the entire nation felt.
In fact I was actually in Dallas two days later, when Jack Ruby shot Lee
Harvey Oswald. Now that would be an interesting interview and article to
write. Another great assignment!
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