week 1 blog

STORY IDEAS/ GOOD JOURNALISM

As is always the case, story ideas weren’t necessarily the easiest thing in the world to come up with. Whether it’s because Columbia is a small town, or because it’s crawling with journalists looking for a story idea sometimes feels like searching for a needle in a haystack. Couple that with the fact I am from Los Angeles and I don’t have a car in Missouri, I sometimes feel like the only story ideas I can come up with have to be in walking distance. Occasionally I can talk someone into giving me a ride, but scheduling and extracurricular activities are usually a problem. With that said, when I search for story ideas I first check komu.com to see what other students have covered. If that doesn’t work I visit columbiamissourian.com because the news stories aren’t just about things off campus, and the paper will sometimes have a good feature story. Then if I am looking for campus-centered news I visit themaneater.com. I have been fortunate enough to find a few stories I hadn’t heard about on either komu.com or columbiamissourian.com by using themaneater.com.

I was browsing the web the other day looking at stories on cbsnews.com and I came across a very interesting story. I am a Sports Broadcaster, which is why the story caught my eye; it was about Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach. Unlike most profile stories about a successful player or coach this story detailed the oddities that make Mike Leach one of the strangest and intriguing coaches in college football. CBS Correspondent and Texas Tech alum, Scott Pelley went to Lubbock and unearthed some little known facts about the mastermind behind one of the most electric offenses in the country. In the story Leach admits a love of pirates. Frequently he motivates his players by telling them stories about pirates that lead back to football. Another interesting thing about Leach is that he is one of only a handful of coaches that never played college football, he actually has a law degree from Pepperdine, in Los Angeles. Leach wasn’t the only fascinating thing about the story. Pelley was able to gain the coach and his players trust with his tireless work ethic and alumni status. Pelley went to a Red Raiders practice and actually spoke to the players. His interest in the coach and the story was evident throughout the piece, which showed the reporters versatility given the fact he is a news reporter.
Just to play devil’s advocate, Pelley’s interest and numerous appearance in the story could be perceived as too much and that the story may have been about him more than the coach.
This is the link to the story
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/31/60minutes/main4694714.shtml