Latest Work!
Videos from The Joplin Globe
And here are my latest articles:
Since 2007, I’ve written for Missouri Southern’s newspaper, The Chart. Since many articles have impact only in their intended medium, below is a description of each article next to a picture of the page it was printed on. Click the pages to view them larger, or feel free to download them for the purpose of reading. I also did a little freelancing for Joplin’s daily, The Globe, but those can only be found online.
“Rollin’ with the Girls” was one of the most fun features I ever did. In one of our staff meetings someone suggested I go skate with the MoKan Roller Girls and then write a first person account of the experience. The story and video came together nicely, but it wasn’t until I saw Glenn Landberg’s gorgeous photos and Andrew Ford’s killer page design that I knew I was in love with this package. The accompanying video was the first multimedia story I ever put together and one of the first for our paper as well, though sadly, I only had a point-and-shoot camera as my camcorder, an iPod as my audio recorder, and iMovie as the video software. Even so, the video contains more great photos and is worth a look here. The story is online here.
“Wine Tasting 101″ and “Autumn Memories” was my second multimedia package. For this, I had a Sony Handicam, which was a huge upgrade from the point-and-shoot camera of the last package. I also borrowed a really nice audio recorder. Once again, Glenn Landberg’s photos and Andrew Ford’s page design make this what it is, but I hope my written account and videos of the experience at Keltoi Vineyard & Winery tell the story well. Accompanying videos here and here and story online here.
“In Good Hands” was a big deal for me, because my family got involved in my writing for the first time. Ex-Governor Warren Hearnes is from my family’s hometown, and my Grandmother got me an interview with him. It was my University’s 40th anniversary, and the administration building on campus is named after Governor Hearnes, who helped push legislation to make the school a four year University. The story received Honorable Mention in the Feature category at the state media convention. Alexandra Nicolas designed the front page illustration, and I took the photo. Story online here.
“Walking Among Us” is a profile of a soldier in the National Guard who left his life to go to Afghanistan, and then returned to attend Missouri Southern. There was a lot of anti-war talk around town at the time of publication, and although I didn’t support war, I wanted to hear a soldier’s opinion instead of just agreeing with every Joe Schmoe I knew. The result was thought provoking to say the least. He wished to remain anonymous but was willing to reveal some pretty personal things to me about his time there and struggles coming home. He provided the photos, but Andrew Ford designed the page, which I think is beautiful in light of the story’s mood. The subject was very pleased with the piece. Read it online here.
“Whiskerino” was a blast. From November 2007 through February 2008, a group of guys in Joplin, including myself, participated in an online beard-growing competition. The experience was incredible in the ways friendships were formed simply by growing beards and communicating through the website. I broke the conflict of interests rule for sure, but I tried to remain unbiased and simply tell the story of some key characters in the group. A documentary is set to be released in 2009. Alexandra Nicolas designed the page and it looks great (aside from the subhead typo). Story online here.
“Working for a Better World” is a profile of my friend Tresor Yenyi. Tresor has an amazing heart and outlook on life in spite of growing up in a war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the only story for which I had a chance to hear reviews and do multiple rewrites prior to publication. The main photo is mine. The others were provided by Tresor. Alexandra Nicolas designed the page. It won First Place in Feature Page and Honorable Mention in Feature at the state media convention. Story online here.
I had so much fun writing “He’s Still Got It.” It was the first event I ever attended for the purpose of a story and the first press pass I ever received. The PR guy at Downstream Casino let Glenn Landberg and I into Tony Bennett’s concert for free. We both acted like children on Christmas. I took pages and pages of notes and conducted interviews like I was in the big time, while Glenn ran around taking some great photos, although they didn’t make it onto the page for some reason. The front page banner of this issue contained one of the photos, and a couple more appeared on the website, but only one ran with the story. The feeling in the concert was electric, and I tried to convey that by using lots of description. The page also contains a news story I did about the opening of the new venue at Downstream. Read them online here and here.
A group of students hang out in the gazebo on campus and call it “Bowman Hall.” They are an eclectic group, but pretty much good-ole-boys with who like to relax and tell stories. The quotes I got were hilarious. The page didn’t turn out as pretty as we all hoped, but I hope the story still properly reveals the gist of Bowman Hall.
Enjoy it online here.
“Student Publishes Children’s Book” was a simple newsy profile on a Southern student, Isaiah Bayse, who was to self-publish his children’s book. For some reason, it’s no longer available online. I talked to him recently and found out he never went through with the printing.
I guess it was fun to be on the front page, anyways.
“Butterflies” was my first editorial and foreshadowed a niche I would eventually fall into. I posed as a thespian and auditioned for a play at school. I made it to the callbacks, but didn’t get a role, fortunately. This was my colorful account of what theatre majors go through when auditioning. The theatre department didn’t find out my secret until the story ran, and one admitted to me they were completely fooled. Sweet. Read it here.
The parking story at the right of this page was a rare news story I did. In the Fall of 07, the University began two new building projects and a parking spot was lost. The was a big issue with students at the time. Even though no parking has been added even a year later, no one is talking about it anymore. Find it here.
The chili cook-off story was one of my first. I was still trying to figure out how to interview, who to interview, how to write ledes, how to write news, etc. I found out quick I would rather do stories on things like chili cook-offs than meetings, however, so it was at least a good time.
Read it here.
“Spook Light” was my third article in the same issue, so I felt like a big deal. My Feature Writing class put together a Halloween page as a final project, which didn’t end up turning out as cool as it could’ve, but I got the main feature of the page, at least. We have a local spook light surrounded by lots of legend. A friend and I went out one night before Halloween, and I talked to those trying to see it on that creepy country road. I then interviewed an organization on campus called the MoSo Ghosthunters, which searches for local paranormal activity. We talked about the spook light and other haunted places in the area. It was really interesting. You should read it here.
The Maple Leaf Bike Ride story was the third story I ever wrote. After the interviews, I decided to volunteer for the event. It was a really neat community event and fundraiser. Best of luck to them. Read it here.
Two stories appear on this page: “Student to Become Professional Cage Fighter,” at the top, and “Group puts Religion, Beer on Tap,” in the middle, are both mine. The first was about a local extreme fighting group. They were surprisingly nice. The other was about Theology on Tap, which was an event a local church put on last year at a pizza place in town. A significant amount of my writing was cut for space in this issue. Read what’s left of them here and here, respectively.
In my second editorial, I wrote about an issue I had been mulling over for a while. I was hoping for more response and discussion to be generated on the paper’s website, but no one said anything. Maybe it was bad timing.
Read it here.
Other small news stories and reviews:
- JB Elephant’s Thai Bistro Review
- Burn After Reading Review
- Lalo’s Taqueria Review
- Matt Stanley Makes a Moview
- 40 Under 40
- Firearms Course
- Arabic Teacher
Articles from The Joplin Globe:
- Bison Business – There is a bison farm near Joplin, and the owners sell meat at the local farmer’s market every week. The farmer’s market intrigues me, so I had a good time writing this one.
- Beijing Bound – Lee Peters is a recent college grad from around the area. He’s a really nice guy and great at what he does, which is run a camera. He was one of 55 students selected from America to run a camera for the Beijing Olympics. This was a pretty cool profile, yet very simple.
