Writing in a Rush
The importance of shorthand, active listening and thoughtful questions in a hot minute.
The room hushed as four officials walked in. Nearly two dozen pairs of eyes focused on the lectern.
First, the press secretary.
Next, the mayor.
Pens scribbled furiously.
A Lieutenant of the Emergency Services Unit of the NYPD explained the incident in greater chronological detail.
Finally, the Public Health Commissioner provided next steps, reassuring the attentive crowd that everything was being handled with great care. Pages turned and notebooks flipped.
The Press Secretary approached the lectern once more. “We’ll take questions now.”
First, one hand shot up. More scribbling. Two more hands, and two more answers. Faces scrunched and curious glances were exchanged across the room. Four more hands were raised.
As questions were answered, more questions were asked. And then, in what seemed like 78 seconds, it was over. The officials left as orderly as they had entered.
I looked at my notebook. I had more arrows than punctuation, and more dashes than sentences. And now I had to write the story.
I had zero quotes. Terrible misspellings. Question marks next to time stamps. The stress of my first make-believe press conference brought an immense amount of attention (and just a tad bit of anxiety) to some of the most critical aspects of being a reporter.
I love taking notes, with a pen, a phone or a keyboard. But this was the first time that I wouldn’t be able to rely on a recording, or on a Google search or another journalists’ published story on the situation.
Fortunately, I had the rest of the press gaggle, err, my classmates, to gather the information and details and quotes that I’d missed.
Taking the time to develop a personal shorthand and a unique outline structure is now a huge focus of mine. This exercise gave me the opportunity to see what skills I need to hone to become a stronger reporter for the communities I hope to serve.
Because you honestly never know when or how the zombie apocalypse will begin, and its imperative that we, as journalists, get it right.
