A gunmen kills five people before killing himself at Northern Illinois University last week and the college newspaper, The Northern Star was the first to report on the scene. It was an advantage as well as a tragedy for the Northern Star.
Soon after hearing about the killings on campus, the Northern Star learned that one of their staff members, Daniel Parmenter, was one of the people killed. Despite the tragedy, they had to cover the breaking news story on campus before local and national news went to report the scene.
The Northern Star did not know how to write a story like this, because they were used to headlines like “Things to do on Valentine’s Day” and “Winter season ranks tenth snowiest.” Even though they were unprepared for this story they turned to Virginia Tech for advice. Virginia Tech faced a 32 killing spree by one gunmen last year.
The Virginia Tech newspaper gave the Northern Star some great advice, by using the internet as a tool to reach students and other people. They set up a website where people can talk about what happened at Northern Illinois University. In many ways, the Northern Star had to react and work like a hardcore newspaper such as "The New York Times."
The Northern Star staff members also convened Friday afternoon to support one another and reflect on Mr. Parmenter’s death. “He was a motivated individual,” Justin Zegar, the advertising manager told a local newspaper, The Daily Chronicle. “He used to always come up to me and say, ‘Justin, what can I do to move up?’ ”
I believe that the college newspaper faced a tragic loss with one of their staff members, but they proved to be proffesional with the outcome by reporting first on the scene. If it wasn't for the Northern Star, students, professors, and other faculty members would not be able to keep up with the current news on the situation or be able to comment about the killings. This was a way for the college newspaper to experience breaking news first hand despite the death of one of theirs.
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3 comments:
Mary-
Good piece. The whole nation heard about what happened at Norhter Illinois. It was a horrific tragedy to say the least. Well I should say another one. I did like what the newspaper staff did in being professional. We all know the world will move like after any other horrible events in the past. And I commend them for the respect they have for each other and thier lost friend. Being the first on the scene really did help in them getting the story.
I enjoyed it
Gordon Brigance
It truly is so sad that this campus newspaper had to cover the shooting even after one of their own had been killed. Their bravery to do so proves how good they are as journalists.
I think that it is a terrible thing that happened there but it is great that the professors and students have a place that they can perhaps participate in the discussion of what happened. I can't imagine covering something like that I am a humor or feature sort of girl so those students were incredibly brave and professional.
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