You Know You're A Reporter When...

Friday's are my only day to sleep in (if you call 9 a.m. sleeping in!). So normally I'd be happy to wake up, nice and rested, ready for a day of live reporting. But not this Friday.

This Friday I woke up to a voicemail left at 7:30 a.m.

"Hey Tara, the verdict for the Wright trial is supposed to be announced today. The trial resumes at 9 a.m. and so if you can cover it today call me back in the next 20 minutes or we're going to have to call the next reporter."

It has always been my dream to cover a trial and this trial wasn't just your normal trial. It was trial in a 35-year-old murder case. So waking up to the message at 9 a.m. pretty much devastated me. How could I have been so stupid as to leave my phone on silent? I called the assignment desk to make sure they had gotten someone, and sure enough they had. It took me the whole day to get over. I guess you know you're a true reporter when you're beating yourself over the head because you missed a story. You win some, you lose some though and one day I will get the chance. I'm just happy for my friend who got to cover it because I know he likes trials as well.

After this internal debacle, I pitched the tuition story that I had worked on Tuesday morning, but another reporter was already on it. Finally I was given a story about the National Winston Churchill Museum in Fulton being selected this past week to showcase a Smithsonian exhibit next year. I guess it's a good thing I don't mind a nice soft news story every once in a while. It's fun to be able to get creative with and easy to bring out your personality on camera. Those at the museum were extremely nice as well and I had great time learning a thing or two about Winston Churchill while I was there.

Click here to read "Churchill Museum Will Showcase Smithsonian Exhibit" or watch the video below. I included both liveshots since they are each unique in their own ways. Different sots, different intros.



After my shift I stuck around the newsroom to help out. I was going to head over to the courthouse to help the live reporter, but the trial was pretty much over so I went to the other station in town to pick up the pool tape. I cut the VO of the trial video when I got back. Once again, even if I didn't get to cover the story, it feels nice just to help out!

The next day, before my anchoring shift, I was supposed to pick up a vosot. It was an EXTREMELY slow news day. Finally I decided to settle on an email we received about a school in town holding a rummage sale. Expecting to get there and find a small amount of people milling around, I encountered something completely different.

Come to find out, a group of five students were holding the sale to raise money so they can travel to India in July to build a school for disabled children. There were a ton of people there and apparently there had been a long line out the door that morning. I was able to speak with a parent whose child is going, his daughter, another student going, and a teacher also going. I called my producer and asked him if I could do a package on it. Pretty cool story if you ask me! It was a rushed package with only an hour and 45 minutes to do it, but it was good enough for the producer to run in the 6 pm and 9 pm. A vosotvo ran in the 10 pm.

Click here to read "Students Hold Rummage Sale To Raise Funds For Trip" or watch the video below!



Along with the package, I also co-anchored the 6 p.m. newscast. Watch a few clips below!