SOTM: Good Purposes Collide
I had to resist posting on this blog as soon as our story about the Burlington-Edison School District’s property problem ran in the paper. Entitled “Good Purposes Collide,” the story was the result of six months of investigation into the how and why of a property purchase two years ago.
Obviously I don’t mean six months straight. Small daily news reporters must juggle many stories. I had to carve out chunks of time here and there, or ask (or beg) an editor for a reprieve on my required Monday Education Focus story.
I was very happy with the result. Usually the night before a big story like this one runs, I toss and turn and wake up in the middle of the night, afraid of errors in the copy. But this time, I went through line by line and questioned how I knew each fact. Confident that I could back up all of the facts with either an audio recording, notes or paper records, I slept easily. My editor also was kind enough to e-mail a final version to me at home so I could read it before it ran.
Needless to say, the following School Board meeting was awkward.