Beat Q&A
I interviewed Historic Athens President Alan Cleveland for a Q&A story highlighting historic preservation efforts in Athens. I gained valuable research, preparation and interview skills from my first story assignment. This story also allowed me to gain a contact and a path to future contacts within my city-county government beat.
Porchfest Event Preview
This story discusses information upcoming community event. I learned about new features at Historic Athens Porchfest 2025 from multiple locals involved with the event. I also learned how to pick the best direct and indirect quotes to place in my story. Writing this story helped me to better prepare for my upcoming Porchfest coverage story.
Porchfest Coverage
I chose to highlight how Hisoric Athens Porchfest is an event that can cater to all ages of the Athens community. I specifically discussed how children enjoyed Porchfest 2025. Covering a community event improved my interviewing skills and helped me with a quick story deadline. This story fostered my city-county government beat by showing me a time and place where locals come together to share a common interest.
Beat Story
I worked alongside my city-county government beat group for a beat story assignment including an Instagram reel, story, budget line, mutlimedia, presentation slideshow and pitch to a panel of judges. This assignment taught me valuable information regarding my beat and the importance of interviewing multiple viewpoints on a story topic in order to fully cover the topic proficiently. The potential addition of a parking deck to Thomas N. Lay Park was a current event that was in close proximity to Athens residents.
Meeting Story
This story covers a potential new church location in Winterville, Georgia that many locals spoke about during a local government meeting in Athens-Clarke County. Locals expressed much emotion and conflict during the discussion, supplying diverse perspective. Reporting on this meeting helped me pick the best direct and indirect quotes to supply context regarding the topic to readers.
