As the 2007 cherubs learned about national media and how to cover hard news, they were lucky enough to hear from Baltimore Sun reporter Melissa Harris’s first-hand experiences covering tragedy.
Harris, a former cherub and Medill alum, spoke to cherubs about her experience covering the Virginia Tech shootings. Harris’s energy was welcomed by the cherubs as she took her audience through every action during her four-day experience at Virginia tech.
“Talking to (Seung-Hui Cho’s) roommate was one of my most memorable experiences,” she said. “It was as close as I got to understanding who this person was that caused so much heartbreak. It was a challenging interview.”
Harris told the cherubs how she learned about ethics through real-life experiences at Virginia Tech. She said it was like a combination of putting everything she’d learned in school into practice all at one time.
“I learned a lot very quickly,” she said.
Working her way up at age 15 from the Mason Pulse Journal, close to her hometown in Ohio, Harris went to Northwestern and now works as a full time reporter for the Baltimore Sun.
When Harris first received news about Virginia Tech from her editor, she had only one thought: get there as soon as possible. After staying in a motel and wearing the same three outfits for four days, Harris said she was exhausted.
Working 14- or 16-hour days, Harris had to learn to cope with her surroundings. “I had no complaints about my experience except I would have loved a hot shower,” she said.
After explaining some of the ethical situations that she was put in, Harris revealed she had to make difficult decisions about what she thought was right. Harris faced several ethical issues and had to get advice from her editors. For instance, reporters snuck into Seung-Hui Cho’s dorm room by hiding their press badges and passing as students. Harris said she didn’t feel it was right to pretend to be someone she was not.
Katherine Driessen, a cherub from Columbia, Md., said Harris had great energy. “She seemed so excited about her job that it was almost contagious,” she said. “It was cool to listen to her because she worked her way up to a top reporter and that’s what we are going to have to do also.”
“Driessen said she respected the decisions Harris made during her reporting. “She seemed to make the most respectful decisions in a hard situation," Driessen said. “She really stuck to her guns.”
Harris enjoyed speaking to the cherubs about her reporting experience. The lecture went longer than expected because there was so much interest and so many questions about her story.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of questions,” she said. “They were so good they even made me look at it in different ways.”
Harris still remembers when Larry Yee, a cherub from San Francisco, continued asking questions about where she stayed and when she slept while at Virginia Tech.
“It made me laugh because he kept asking about practical needs and you really do have to consider it,” she said. “It’s important to get rest. The paper goes to bed at midnight.”
Yee said he wanted to know what it would be like to work her hours.
“She worked almost 18-hour days for four days straight and I get tired after 16 hour days so I was curious about how much rest she got,” Yee said. “She was away from home and only had a car and a change of clothes.”
Harris said she hopes that her presentation helped students learn about first hand experience in journalism.
Driessen said that Harris’s experience taught her that you can’t back down from situations.
“As a journalist, it’s always about getting the story,” she said. “I learned that it’s like an endurance test.”
Harris said she still uses knowledge that she gained during her cherub summer.
“Journalism skills will help you in your career whether you become a journalist or not. Don’t let your skills go to rust because you will need them in the future.” |
