My first convergence shift began immediately with the story meeting, each reporter pitching at least three ideas to get started on instantly after the meeting. The ideas varied from investigative dayside pieces focusing on a current bacterial turf study, to sewage leakage in Callaway County, to MU’s crowded buses. I paired up with Ciara Corley to cover the crowded buses because Jenn Reeves and I dubbed this idea with the most potential for visual appeal.
With that, Ciara and I jet off to the bus stops along Old 63 Hwy where I began snapping pictures of groggy students, time check: 8:10 a.m. My duty as a convergence reporter was to, essentially, shadow a broadcast reporter and take photos to create my own photo slideshow that would supplement the ACC (text web story). The photos at the 8:10 a.m. bus stop were turning out decently, however Ciara’s camera was overexposed and neither of us could fix the technical difficulty. We then sped back to the station to switch out cameras and catch the 9:10 a.m. buses.
We began acquiring interviews with students and I convinced one of the bus drivers to agree to an on-camera interview, as well. Information and opinions were streaming in about the inconvenience of overcrowding and how the Columbia Transit buses were doing the best they could. The story was unraveling and we covered all the bases by interviewing a Columbia Transit official before noon.
Focusing on my photos specifically, they seemed to develop and improve as the story and day advanced. Like a college student slowly getting back into the groove of a new school year, I gradually got the hang of finding angles and framing photos through the eye of the D70 lens.
At the end of the day, I am pretty proud of my photos on my first day as a convergence reporter. I particularly liked my photo captions because I feel like they, paired with the photos, have effectively told a story about overflowing buses and how students and the Columbia Transit buses are coping. Sure, the pictures are not perfect in the least bit, I could have gotten a lot more tight shots, I could have done this, I could have done that.
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