Trial coverage (July 7-17, 2015)

This series of articles was one of the largest projects of my summer in 2015 when I worked as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian. The resulting stories were a product of digging through information that had been buried by two years worth of earlier coverage. Although court reporting is relatively straightforward, this was a heavy case and it challenged me journalistically. To properly report the case to the Missourian's readers, I had to refrain from irresponsibly framing the defendant in an unflattering light. Bluntly, the case required a hard-news approach. The crimes he was accused of were heinous, and the 13-hour days in the Boone County Courthouse were long, but I'm proud of what I produced. The links below are in chronological order. 

1) Second trial set for Adkison (July 7, 2015)

2) Ex-girlfriend testifies in Adkison rape retrial (July 15, 2015)

3) Adkison trial jury deliberation will continue Friday (July 17, 2015)

4) UPDATED: Adkison guilty in Columbia rape retrial (July 17, 2015)

Balloons float upward in celebration of Bryson Pruitt-Smith (July 24, 2015)

5-year-old Bryson Pruitt-Smith and his struggle with diffuse intrinsic patine glioma, or DIPG, was well-documented on social media. His battle with the disease had gone on for enough time that the Facebook page titled "Prayers for Bryson" garnered thousands of followers. When he died in July of 2015, followers showed that though they might not have met Bryson, they felt connected. This was coverage of the public ceremony put on by his family and close friends. If you'd like to read the story and learn about Bryson, the title above is linked to it.

Gorrit off and running with Columbia police K-9 Unit (July 10, 2015)

Who doesn't like dogs? In the summer of 2015, I became closer to the Columbia Police Department than I'd ever planned to be. Gorrit was one of the newer police dogs on the K-9 unit, and it was suggested that a piece be done on the Dutch Shepherd. I jumped at the opportunity. I did all the research that I could on him and had multiple discussions with officers, including Gorrit's handler. Eventually, I was able to see the the disciplined pup in action as he rummaged through an abandoned hospital in training exercises where he located multiple types of narcotics hidden in cupboards, drawers and among alluring McDonalds bags filled with treats.

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Missouri soccer's equipment manager brings back World Cup memories (July 7, 2015)

It was an exciting time in the U.S. during the Women's World Cup. They were in the finals, and everyone was watching, waiting, and hoping for a championship. Ryan Dell, Missouri soccer's head equipment manager, was lucky enough to get to tag along with the national team. He shared his experience with the team and discussed his responsibilities while traveling with them. This story was one of the few sports stories that I wrote in the summer's athletic lull.

Last remaining restaurant of original Mugs Up chain turns 60

This article was co-authored with another reporter as part of a Missourian Minute project. We were responsible for pitching our idea to an editor, getting it approved, writing the article collaboratively and producing a brief video to accompany it online. I had little experience operating a DSLR camera going into this and even less with Final Cut, which was the program we used to edit the video (below).