Supanchick Article Reflection

I have a couple things I wanted to say about writing the article on Tyke Supanchick.

First, it was quite interesting in the courtroom. Many people were rather emotional, and the atmosphere was very different from other trials I’ve been involved with.

It also gave me a chance to wear a good suit, and I was disappointed to see that most journalists did not follow suit (though Meghan from KVAL was an exception). I understand that it is just work to most people, but frankly I thought it disrespectful towards a man whose life was on the line.

Writing the article was relatively quick, though it was difficult to cram all the quotes I wanted in there. I ended up cutting out a good kicker because it made the article appear overly biased towards the prosecution. I bolstered the defense statements a bit, but it wasn’t until I found out the defense attorney’s name that I was satisfied.

Overall, most people who read my article found it slightly biased either towards the defense or the prosecution, which I understand is a good indication of neutrality.

I submitted the article to the Creswell Chronicle and the Junction City Tri-County News, which is why the article has a dateline, etc. However, the editor there had the following to say:

Tristan,

I appreciate that you wish to contribute to our newspaper, but it is customary in the industry not to accept freelance work on hard news stories such as the Supanchick trial.

Feature stories are a different matter though. We may accept features if they are current and within our coverage area.

Again, thanks for your interest.

Cheers,
Phil

The Corvallis Gazette-Times published the AP story a couple days later, which makes me think I should have submitted it there as well, but I just wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. Later I found that jurors had read and posted on this blog, and then I got a critique from Prof. Rea, who I BCCed the article.

All in all it was a very educational experience, and one that I enjoyed very much. I hope for as much success tomorrow at the Lane County budget hearing. The Creswell Chronicle sounded interested in that story, because it is part of Lane County, so hopefully I’ll get a clip.