The News Never Stops...so my work doesn't either

It has been five weeks since I began work as a TV reporter for YNN (Your News Now, the 24-hour cable news network for Central New York). In those five weeks, I have had the opportunity to cover a variety of stories, some light and fluffy, others interesting and political, and others sad, violent, or gruesome. One thing I've learned since I've started is that's what reporting is all about. You never know what your story's going to be, and you have to be ready to adapt and cover any sort of piece that comes your way.

The fact of the matter is the news never stops. It is a revolving door of random happenstances and as a news reporter, I must be ready to cover whatever comes my way...

I work in Corning, NY, a small city about 20 minutes west of Elmira and an hour west of Binghamton. It's not the most exciting place to cover news stories, but it allows me -- as a new reporter -- to learn, make mistakes, and get creative with what I do. There are some days I really have to think about what I'm covering, or what I'm going to cover, and how I will make it interesting and informative to the viewer. There are other days where the stories speak for themselves, and putting it together is simple.

But every once in a while, a completely crazy story will come along, and those are the most exciting, nerve-wracking, and educational. Last Sunday night, on Father's Day, a murder took place in Bath, NY (just 20 minutes away). My co-worker received a call from our news station at 3:30am to come into work and cover. I normally don't go into work on Mondays until 2pm, but I also received a call and was in the office by 11:15am. It was a 12-hour day for me, and a 15-hour day for my co-worker.

Needless to say, it's not everyday a murder happens in such a small town, so when it does, it's a huge deal. In this case, police say Bryan Ashline, 23, stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Trieste Clayton, 25, and their 3-month-old son, Xavier Ashline, to death. A double homicide...my fourth week on the job and there I was covering a double homicide. It was horrifying for multiple reasons:

• I had never covered anything like this in my college reporting days.
• I still don't have much knowledge of the local legal/judicial terms, which meant I didn't know the jargon being thrown around.
• I was 10-feet away from an alleged murderer who still had blood underneath his fingernails.
• I had to interview close friends and loved ones of those who were murdered and couldn't stop crying, along with angry people cursing, screaming, and wishing the worst on Ashline.

That day was a real shock into the world of news. I had to be able to go with the flow and deal with emotionally fired-up people. I also had to sensitively cover a gruesome, violent story and be sure to use the appropriate words so I wouldn't get in trouble journalistically.

But besides that, I also learned that where the news is, so I am. It didn't matter that I wasn't supposed to come to work until 2pm. I got the call from my assignment editor while I was driving to the gym, and I simply had to turn around, change my clothes, and go to work instead. As a news reporter, the news owns me. My work revolves around it. I will move my schedule around however necessary to be where I need to be when I need to be there. The news never stops, so my work doesn't either.

**Fun fact: In the midst of writing this blog post, I received a call about an interview I was trying to set up. After making a few more calls and trying to plan ahead for a feature story I'm working on, I made plans to go into work 3 hours early this Wednesday. That's just the way it is.