There are days when you wrack your brains trying to come up with stories. And then there are days like today. The story falls in your lap and dictates what you do for the rest of the shift.
Even though today is a holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, that never matters. I've said it before and will say it again, breaking news has a habit of happening on a holiday.
Today, a plane crashed in Lorain County near the airport.
After speaking with Elizabeth Isham Cory from the FAA, it was a no-brainer that another reporter had to tag team this breaking news. Cory said there were at least 3 dead from the crash, and a 4th person on board. She also said the NTSB would be picking up the investigation.
It's great knowing who to contact when an incident such as this occurs. Makes my job easier as well as more efficient.
The first reporter covers the 'nuts and bolts' as we call them. 'Nuts and bolts' consist of what has happened and is happening and the information currently available.
Usually, you put a second reporter on something like this to delve deeper and try to find out more about the people involved --who they were, where they came from, and a bit more into why this happened.
We caught wind of 'who' it may be early on but were unable to confirm immediately. That's OK. When we received a tentative id, we started researching on-line as well as sending a camera man to that city, Vermilion, to nose around. Reporting a story is equivalent to putting a puzzle together. We arrived in Vermilion and found the victims' home which was blocked off by Vermilion Police. However, we were 'shooed' away by Vermilion Police. Though they would not speak to us, we knew we were on the right track.
You take all of these little signs, though unconfirmed, and start putting together the big picture.
Eventually, through hard work and a tight team effort, we had completed the entire puzzle and confirmed enough facts to report to our viewers on-air at wkyc and on-line at wkyc.com.
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