A Decade of Changes

Tuesday, September 11th, 2001 is a day no American will ever forget. Almost every American can tell you exactly where they were when they found out what happened that morning. It's kind of crazy to think about that, because there are very few moments in life that everyone no matter what race, gender or class remembers.

There have been a wide variety of stories that have popped up across various news organizations in the days leading up to this tenth anniversary. I wish I had time to watch them all, because they all show another view of what happened on that day. The impact one emotional story expands when as a viewer you realize that for each story you watch there are a hundreds if not thousands more of people affected by the terrorist attack.

It was really interesting to watch MSNBC today when they replayed their coverage from 2001. When I first watched the coverage back in 2001, I was in sixth grade and didn't completely understand what was going on. Now as an adult and journalist, it was a very neat experience to watch that coverage and see how well the journalists coped with something they didn't even understand themselves at that time.

At KOMU, we have run a few different stories looking at how 9-11 is taught in schools, what has changed for the military, what has changed in terms of public safety and security and how life has changed for Muslims in America. You can check out my story on public safety and security changes in Missouri here.

There are so many different things to reflect on in our lives, our country and the world since that day. God Bless all those lost that day and everyone affected, and God Bless the United States of America. Never Forget.

Beginning of the End!

I had hopes of keeping up this blog while I was in Paris, however I decided to take in every moment there instead of recapping on the computer.

Now I'm back, and I'm starting my senior year! It's crazy to think that I only have one year left here, but I am extremely excited about my semester. 

Right now, I'm part of a group creating the social media desk for the new UNews@4. It's exciting to think about the ways to incorporate social media and user generated content for a newscast.

Amidst my shifts at the station producing, reporting and brainstorming, classes and trying to unpack my apartment, I came across something that really touched me this week. 

The photo of the dog of a Navy Seal who died in the helicopter crash a few weeks ago. 

Here's a link to a story about the dog on the Huffington Post. 

I also grabbed the picture off the NY Post site here: 

This image really proves two things:

1. The power of a photo/video

2. The relationship between a dog and its owner. 

I have always been one to love photography and videography (hence why I love TV and sharing video with others) because of it's power to provoke emotion and show things that can't be expressed in words. This photo is the epitome of that because it provokes an emotion that would otherwise not exist or not with the same strength as just hearing about it. It also shows the love between man and his best friend. Usually it is the other-way around and a dog owner has to put his dog to sleep. This time it is flipped, and really proves the relationship goes both ways. Makes me miss my dog, but also love the fact that a relationship like that can exist.

That's all for now, I'll add more soon :)