Opinion : Reporter, Person at the Scene and At the Bedside

As a....

Reporter

I came home tonight still wound up from an accident scene. Having been in the positions (except the cop, but having hung around enough people in law enforcement, I've heard enough war stories to appreciate the thankless job that they do) I think I can understand where everyone is coming from.

One of the things I try to do, and I think I have done an excellent job of, is to be ethical in the job. In this job, there is a fine line between a great story, being the first to break it and knowing how much information to put out there.

There are a lot of times that I know a lot of things I don't print, times the "big guys" calling to see if I know more so that they can do a great 5 o'clock story and I say, "Umm, sorry, can't help you."

Why?

Because I feel like we not only have a responsibility as a reporter to get a story, there have a responsibility as a citizen to protect our friends and neighbors as much as we can from putting things out there that aren't necessary.

I've seen TV stations...I kid you not, bang on ambulance doors wanting an interview. At other reporting jobs, the boss, a journalism professor, bragged about covering funerals to get a story, even going as far as being kicked out of a funeral.

Most events can be covered with a zoom lens, giving family and friends the necessary elbow room. I've seen the dirty side of reporting and quite frankly we try not to be the “that gal.”

So if you see Vinton Today somewhere when there's a crisis, you won't see me interfering with our emergency response people or trying to take pictures of the people on a stretcher in the middle of a crisis. You will see us on the edge, looking in.

If you were at the house later, you'd hear the details, sometimes the names of people that we wouldn't put out to the public until the information has been officially released. 

This last round with our elected officials was an example of spending a lot of time discussing what the RIGHT thing to do would be.

In another incident involving our school kids, I was glad to hear one parent advise their child “not to talk to any other media, but, you can talk to Vinton Today.”

That's how we want you to feel when we are around. We aren't out here to make anyone in our area look bad. We understand sometimes you might be in the midst of your worst day, and might say more than you should. We get that. But we also get that what you tell us isn't always all for publication.

You can indeed trust mr (and if I get it wrong, we want you to feel comfortable enough to call us and say, "Umm, can you change that?").

Person at the Scene

Thanks to my dad, I remember being at the scene of an accident he had. The truck was laying on its side, the cargo spilled along the interstate, later we went back to look for his belongings. We did the same when my uncle rolled a cement truck.

It's never a good feeling to be there, but in each of these cases we were careful to be appreciative to those around us, just doing their job.

A year and a half ago, I was actually in the middle of one of those accidents where your loved one is inside the upside down car, the paramedics are gently placing them on a back board, they are in the ambulance and rushing them to a hospital.

Even then, after making sure the offspring was okay, out came the reporter hat and out came the camera.

I've ridden in front of an ambulance with the lights flashing and the siren blaring, wishing it would go faster than 80 miles an hour and wishing the stupid cars in front would get out of the way faster.

I've also been the patient in the Air Care helicoptor, which I might add, was a really loud experience.

We've been there.

To this day when I see an ambulance or the Air Care helicopter I say a prayer for those inside, and those following. We haven't forgotten what it's like on the inside. 

When I've heard that there's an accident the first thought is for the victims and the second for those assisting them. They are just people too, that have to deal with all of the trauma that they see.

Our third or fourth thought is, "Oh yeah, we need to put this on the website...and how is that done tastefully."

At the bedside

As I said, my dad was a truck driver.

For probably about 30 years he drove semis. He started out in a grain truck and moving on to being an over the road truck driver. He wasn't accident free.

There were times that he got too close to the side of the road. Many times he damaged his truck and other property, but he was fortunate that no one but himself was ever hurt..

He at one time, sideswiped a car that fortunately was empty, sitting along the road. Another time he turned over a truck in Iowa City. That time he was pretty busted up. I spent days at his bedside.

As a result of his driving and crazy hours he spent plenty of time in the hospital. He spent weeks trying to get his sleep straightened out, as a result of the up all night, not getting enough sleep between trips schedule that he had.He eventually just couldn't drive anymore.

That was the first time in years that our family...except him...were all able to sleep a little better knowing he was safe.

Because of him, we have a huge respect for those truck drivers, and every time we see a semi accident, it takes us back to one of his sayings, “80 thousand pounds. That's how much we weigh. Your car might be 2 or 3,000...but we weigh 80 THOUSAND POUNDS.” It wasn't a bragging comment, it was a warning not to do something stupid in front of a semi. To always give them extra room.

I remember one time we saw a semi tip over along the highway in the dark. The dust was still flying, tires spinning and I remember thinking, “I hope it's not my dad.” I was with a group of students traveling in a van down the interstate. We immediately pulled over and the guys ran back to help the trucker, that was a quite unsettling.

So, I do get where you're coming from.

I only hope that by writing this, you, Mr. and Ms. John Q. Public understand that Vinton Today has your back...unless you are a bad guy, then all bets are off.

Remember, if you want your story told, with accuracy and compassion, “don't talk to anyone else, but it's okay to talk to Vinto Today...” we've got your back.