Dealing With Feedback

After three weeks of interviewing, writing, re-writing, frustration, and re-writing again, my article about student sex workers is finally finished and in print. It ran in The New Hampshire (TNH) on Tuesday and I’m so happy with it. I’m really surprised that it was put on the front page, seeing as it’s not a news story, but I’m very glad that it was considering how much work went into it.

It then continued onto page four and was accompanied by an amazing picture made by Justin, the former executive editor of TNH. I love how it turned out and I think it really captures an important aspect of the story, showing that these girls are not only strippers, but they are students too and that both are part of their identities.

I’ve never worked as hard on a story as I did for this one and usually once an article is published I usually forget about it and move onto the next one. This one is different though and I keep checking back to the site to read the comments people have been posting. At first I was very happy with them because there was a big range of responses. Some people thought it was great and commended the girls I wrote about while others bashed them and put them down. Some people commented on the writing itself, calling it poorly written, while others said I did a good job. I also received text messages and tweets complimenting the article, as well as people I barely know approaching me in person to tell me that they liked it.

Today I checked back on the website though and saw two comments that really bothered me, even though I know that I shouldn’t let them. One said that I made sex workers look even worse and that I only furthered the stereotype, which is not true at all. The person also said that I chose the worst two people to interview, which I don’t believe is true either. I brushed this comment off though because it’s not a big deal. The next comment though was awful and said that my article hurt her and made her cry. She said that she’s been sexually harassed and that my article “hurts women” and “has no place on the front page of TNH”. She said that TNH should think about what messages we put out there.

At first this comment hurt me because I don’t want my writing to hurt anyone so badly where it makes them cry. The more I thought about it though, I became less sad and more angry. It’s not fair of that girl to say that my article made her think of her past and the things that happened to her. Yes, I’m sorry that it happened to her, but that doesn’t mean she can blame my article for all this stuff. I’m not making men or women look bad. I wrote about two girls who wanted their story out there and if they’re comfortable with what’s being said, then what’s the problem? Also, I think TNH should be able to put any message we want out there. For the record though, the only message of this article is that more college girls are turning to sex work as a way to pay for college and that these girls are still normal college students.

Anyways, I’m not going to let these comments bother me because I worked hard on this article and I’m very proud of it. I never put so much into a story and I even had Justin help me work through drafts of it, which normally doesn’t happen. I’m thankful for all of the comments on this story though because if people are talking about it (good or bad) it means I’m doing something right. As Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

Amity Shark Attack Story 4

            After a reward of $3000 was offered at Monday night’s town meeting, a shark was caught and killed on July 3, approximately one mile south-southwest of Amity.

            Following the gruesome deaths of Alex Kintner, 10, and Chrissie Watson, 17, a reward was offered for the capture of a shark that may have been responsible. Although it is not confirmed that the shark that was found was the same shark that killed the young Amity residents, beaches are now open again. The town council had previously closed the beach for twenty four hours for safety precautions.

            The shark was caught by visiting fishermen and was quickly examined by Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. As the shark was displayed on the dock following the capture, Hooper confirmed that it was a tiger shark, but in a press release from Police Chief Martin Brody, it is said to be a nurse shark.

            Although it is still not confirmed whether or not this is the same shark linked with the recent deaths, residents and visitors are urged to return to the beaches. It is believed that the beaches are probably safe and that all beachgoers are out of danger.

Despite this though, many shark spotters will be patrolling the waters. Spotters will be from the Coast Guard, the Marine Patrol, the Massachusetts State Police, the U.S. Navy, Homeland Security, the FBI, and local officials. Police also suggest that any shark sightings be reported through a toll-free hotline, 1-800-sharksee.

            Amity police say that they hope for a happy and successful 4^th of July weekend. They hope that residents and visitors alike will have a fun and safe holiday.

Amity Shark Attack Story 3

            After the two apparent shark attacks that occurred on Monday, the town council has decided to close Amity’s beaches for 24 hours.

            Although a shark attack is still only a possibility and has yet to be confirmed, the lives of Alex Kintner, 10, and Chrissie Watson, 17, were taken and Amity is looking for answers. At Monday night’s town meeting Police Chief Martin Brody announced that the beaches will be closed, much to the dismay of the townspeople. Mayor Larry Vaughan quickly interjected, saying that the beaches will only be closed for 24 hours.

            People still aren’t happy though. “24 hours is like three weeks,” said one woman.

            For the safety of the people, extra summer deputies will be working once the beaches are open again. Experts from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute are also being called in to investigate the case. Although Kintner’s body still hasn’t been found, the institute will be examining Watson’s body and determining whether or not this is indeed a shark attack.

            As for Kintner, his mother Marion Kintner has offered a $3000 bounty for anyone able to catch and bring back the body of the shark who is suspected to have killed her son. One fisherman is looking for more though.

            “I’ll find him for three,” said Ben Quint, “but I’ll catch him for ten.” 

            The town council said they would take his request for ten thousand dollars under advisement. In the mean time, beaches will be closed while the institute begins their examination.

Information Overload

So I’m still working on my article about the student sex workers and it’s coming along pretty well, but I just have so much information to go through. I have more than I realized and it’s all going in different directions. There’s so many ways I could take the article based off of one quote or piece of information. There’s the issue of money, self esteem, the sex industry as a whole, family, boyfriends, getting a “real” job, and probably a few more that I can’t think of. I’m going to try and include all of it, but I don’t want the article to get out of control. I want it to flow nicely and be organized in an understandable way. All of the issues are equally interesting though, at least in my opinion. I guess I’ll just have to keep writing and if anything needs to get cut, then that’s what’ll happen. I just hope that my article isn’t so long that people won’t want to read it all.

Amity Shark Attack Story 2

            Two people have now died in what police are calling possible shark attacks. Alex Kintner, 10, and Chrissie Watson, 17, were both killed on Monday following vicious attacks.

            Kintner was floating on a rubber raft at Village Beach at around 2 p.m. when the attack occurred. The water was full of beach-goers, mainly children, when Kintner was pulled under and blood started to spread throughout the water. Panic set in as people began to realize what was happening. Parents began running into the water to remove their children from the area.

            Kintner’s raft, which appeared to have a large bite mark, washed up on shore within moments. The boy’s mother, Marion Kintner, was at the scene and is currently being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital. There are no other injuries in this case, although one beach goer said that his dog never returned from the water. Kintner’s body, as the well as the dog’s, has not yet been recovered.

            The other attack, which claimed the life of Watson, occurred earlier in the day. Police Deputy Jay Hendricks found her mangled body at about 8 a.m. and according to medical reports, she had been dead for about nine hours.

Watson was found on the shore of South Beach where she had been swimming with Christopher P. Hoggenbottam the night before. Hoggenbottam, a sophomore at Trinity College, had been at a party with Watson that where witnesses said that both teenagers had been drinking heavily and possibly smoking marijuana. The pair left together at about 11 p.m. and Hoggenbottam called in a missing persons report for Watson at 6 a.m. 
            Police believe that both cases may be linked to possible shark activity in the Amity area but the investigation is still ongoing. At Monday night's town hall meeting Police Chief Martin Brody discussed his plans for closing the beaches on July 4. The Kintner family offered a $3000 dollar reward for the capture of the perpetrators in their son's death, but fisherman Quint offered to hunt down the alleged shark. Both deaths are still being looked into and police are stressing that a shark attack was only a possibility.

Amity Shark Attack Story 1

After the body of 17-year-old Chrissie Watson was found mangled on South Beach Monday morning, police are talking of a possible shark attack.

            Police were notified at about 6 a.m. that Watson had gone missing. The call was made by Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, who had been seen leaving a party with Watson the night before. Watson’s body, which had been mauled by an unknown attacker, was found washed up on the beach by Police Deputy Jay Hendricks at about 8 a.m. According to medical reports, Watson had been dead for about nine hours when she was found.

            Witnesses at the party said that both Watson and Hoggenbottam, a sophomore at Trinity College, had been drinking heavily and possibly smoking marijuana before they left together at about 11 p.m. Hoggenbottam said that they decided to go swimming and headed toward a remote section of South Beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy.

            Watson was known as a good swimmer, being both a lifeguard and a member of the varsity swim team at Amity High School. The water was calm that night and the weather was clear.

Police currently have filed no charges and the investigation is ongoing. Police Chief Martin Brody said that they have while they have no suspects, Hoggenbottam will continued to be questioned as a witness. There is also no evidence that a weapon was used in this attack.

While a shark attack may have been possible, police would like to assure residents that they are not in danger. Beaches are safe and will remain open until further notice.

Tackling a Big Story

For the past two weeks or so I've been slowly working on an article about student sex workers. I've talked to a couple of students, former and current, who work as strippers in order to make a lot of money for school. These were hands down the most interesting interviews I've ever done, but I'm now finding it hard to write the article. The issue is so complex and interesting, plus not many people know about it, and I want the article to be big. Justin (from TNH) even told me that it could be picked up by local papers. With that in mind, I'm feeling a little extra nervous.

I've been trying to take the advice from the visiting journalist, Chris Outcalt, and tell this story in scenes. I wrote a couple different leads using this method before I wrote one that I liked. It still needs work though, as Justin told me when I had him read it. He's going to help me edit and workshop through the article as I write it to make sure I get it just the way I want it. In my head I have a picture of how I want it, but I really have no idea how to get that on paper. It's interesting because I've always loved to write fiction and that's what Chris Outcalt said it should read like. For some reason I can't write a true story like it's fiction though. I'm really stumped on this one so I guess I'll just have to go for it and see what happens. Maybe I'll just sit down and write without thinking about it, just to see where it takes me.