Monday, June 29, 2009

Is it a story?

I don't actually report back to school until August 5th, but I was up in my classroom today, finishing up some last minute stuff and trying to get myself organized. Because I took on Yearbook, I've gained 5 computers, a box of broken cameras, a giant teacher desk, a monstrosity of a filing cabinet and approximately 24892039488539843498 old yearbooks from around the country that span the course of the last 35 years. The organizational oasis I had created for myself before school let out was long gone.

In addition to finding piles of Yearbook crap all over my classroom, and my desks put back in some sort of cracked out jigsaw puzzle version of the sketch I left behind, I also came across two very interesting voicemails. I actually only checked my messages because I was meeting with my yearbook rep, and she was running late, so I wanted to make sure she was still coming. So, I checked my messages expecting there to be a call from her, saying she was cancelling, or in an accident, or held up at another appt, whatever. But I got something else entirely....

And I find the timing on this... so odd. Over the last two weeks, we heard a lot of people tell us about their investigative stories that won them awards. Or their coverage of events that did wonders for revamping their papers. Or the little bit of digging that lead to a huge discovery. And the whole time, I'm sitting there thinking, "How often does a story like that come along? And really, how much investigative journalism can a high school kid do?" I mean, it would be awesome to scoop the paper on some amazing piece of news, but I feared my kids were considerably more interested in themselves than the world around them.

But it was like the journalism gods answered my prayers, or something. I had 2 messages on my voicemail (both like 10 minutes long) from a "concerned citizen"... I can't go too far into detail, because after sharing this information with one of my Asst. Principals, I've been asked to keep things on the D.L. until we have a chance to look into a little more closely. But basically, I have what sounds like an elderly man begging the newspaper (the high school paper, at that), to tell his story. He says he was in a severe car accident, that was actually an attempt on his life. It was a cover up because someone was trying to get rid of him because he was going to expose the fact that the junior college system in California was actually a covert marijuana smuggling operation. He was so severely injured in the accident that he was actually pronounced dead, but then was revived enroute to the hospital. He suffered severe brain injuries and had to relearn basically everything. He claims that he had a shot at swimming in the Olympics, but all hope was lost because of this accident. He also alluded to the fact that his parents may have been killed in the accident. He left me his name, his mailing address and his phone number. He claims he is a graduate of Orange Glen HS. When I attempted to return his call today, I got a voicemail requesting A) Prayers B) a good woman to marry him and C) money (in that order, surprisingly). All of this is very strange, I realize. But honestly, it's too insane to make up. I have a good imagination, but I don't think I could have cooked this up.

So what do I do? I've given his name and contact info to my AP, but I don't think this guy is going to stop calling. I'm meeting with my newspaper editors in the next week or two, but I don't know if I should put them in touch with some guy who could very well be a total whack job. I guess that's another area where HS journalism differs from professional journalism---our reporters are still kids, and we don't want to put them in harm's way.

I've googled the guy myself, and not found much. I think the only real hope is to find out when he went to OG, start looking through yearbooks and archived newspapers to see if there is even a story here. I mean, it's sensational to claim that your car accident was actually an attempt on your life... And obviously, we wouldn't print anything like that unless we could prove it.

I feel like this has the potential for a great teaching moment... But I need some direction. Help, y'all!

Jessica Young
Orange Glen High School
Escondido, Calif.

4 comments:

  1. Jessica, I don't know what to say except tread very carefully. If you do take this to your students, check the man out thoroughly first and make sure it is a safe situation. He sounds nuts, but then maybe he isn't. What a strange situation to go home to for you. I can't imagine. When I worked at a newspaper before teaching, there were a few nutjobs with strange stories that turned out to be bogus, but someone always checked them out, just in case.

    Lynne Schneider
    Murrah High School
    Jackson, Miss.

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  2. Jess, what fascinating things happen to you! I doubt this is a story. It sounds like a desparate try for attention (the reason he called a high school paper is because the professional paper wouldn't listen). On the other hand, maybe it could lead to a story about the state of elder care in your city. All the kids have grandparents (maybe they don't all know them, but they HAVE them). They could relate to that.

    I wouldn't ever send my kids to a person/place I didn't know was safe, but maybe I would try to follow up myself. Maybe. It wouldn't shock me if the fellow were in a home, or hospital, or some other situation where he actually has caretakers who don't know he's calling the high school paper.

    Bottom line: be cautious but merciful. I hate to sound like a mom, but be safe!

    Juli Stricklan
    Rigby High School
    Rigby, Idaho

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  3. Jessica,
    I agree this is strange situation. You really need to be careful concerning student involvement. You may want to be present when/if this guy's contact with your students is justified.

    Journalistically, you and/or your students need to verify all information this guy tells you, and if he has newspaper clippings, documents, photographs and anything else in writing it is a bonus.

    Many years ago at the local daily I ended up interviewing a guy who had a strange story, which differed slightly in some respects each time a reporter spoke to him, yet we knew something was there, mainly through a police report and interview with a detective. My turn to talk to the guy was late one night after I finished the daily paper. He came to the newsroom and I interviewed him, and typed the notes and sent them to the editor. The next morning the editor of the paper at the time took my notes and that of a couple of other reporters who spoke to the guy and was able to verify most of the information, so he wrote a story based on the verified information.

    The story concerned a guy whose family and car disappeared after meeting a stranger when they made a pit stop in Laredo before crossing the border into Mexico. They eventually contacted him through the newspaper from some place in Mexico. The family called the paper asking for help in locating the guy.

    To sum up: don't use anything you or students cannot verify, preferably with documentation. Unverified statements are no better than gossip and may even cause legal problems. Before you run the story I suggest you run it by the SLPC (www.splc.org) to get an attorney's opinion and guidance.

    Mark Webber
    Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts
    Laredo, Texas

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  4. Sorry but it smells fishy to me.

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