A lengthy proposal
Monday, my paper published the longest story I’ve ever written. It was longer than the 30th anniversary piece on Colorado’s most deadly natural disaster, the Big Thompson flood, and longer still than the longest piece I’ve ever written about a woman with West Nile paralysis. I followed her around for five months to treatments and therapy, on several occasions I drove to her house an hour away from the newsroom and attended church with her and her family.
The story I wrote about the upcoming Anacortes School Bond stands at about 67 inches. Initially the story was in the 90+ inch category, but my two editors brought it within reason. And while the story is not filled with emotion and drama as the other two are, the story serves one of the most important roles of a journalist: the government watchdog.
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008