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Learning the ropes

Kyle is a friend of mine.

He's young, and he's a fellow writing student. Kyle is quiet, kind and very, very smart.

When he's not writing for class, he's writing for the student newspaper. And not too long ago, Kyle got his first scar as a journalist.

He decided he was going to write a piece about a 'colorful' fast food place on the northeast side of Oklahoma City.

Kyle loaded up with a few friends — remember, he's in college and any roadtrip -- even a short one -- is still a roadtrip – and headed north, up the Interstate.

Kyle visited the place, came back and wrote his story.

And up to that point, everything was fine.

Then the story ran in the newspaper. And everyone from the editor on down jumped up and down on Kyle with exceedingly great jumps.

People turned out in droves to denounce Kyle.

They wrote letters.

His colleagues pissed and moaned.

And my friend Kyle was ready to give up.

He didn't.

Kyle and I and Mel, our professor, had a long, intense discussion one day, after class. "You have to go back," I told him. "Yes, you made mistakes. And your story wasn't ready to print. And, I would suspect that you know that."

"Yeah," he said. He still looked pretty sad.

For a while I worried about Kyle. Then I discovered just how much of a journalist he really was. Because this week, I got a text from him.

"Hey, Scott," he wrote. "Mel and I are going back to do the story? You want to come?"

I smiled as I flipped my phone closed. Yes, Kyle had made his mistakes. And, yes, Kyle had taken a few scars in the process.

But the real example of Kyle's character was when he decided to go back.

Instead of giving up, Kyle decided to go back to the same neighborhood and the same fast food place and talk to the people there. He decided to spend some time and see what he could find.

And that, I believe, was the story he wanted to do in the first place.

By going back, Kyle acknowledged his first problem. Then he found a solution and he set out to fix it. To me, Kyle has shown far more professionalism than hundreds reporters in the profession today.

Kyle understands the need for the story.

He understands that journalism is about people.

And he's going back, a second time, the learn.

I hope Kyle knows how proud I am of him. And this Saturday night, I'll be right there with him.

Comments

Anonymous said…
M. Scott Carter,

I want to thank you for your support of Kyle. I've heard your name so much I feel like I should know you.

You see, I'm a fan of Kyle's too. I worried about Kyle through this ordeal too. The difference between you and I is that I knew I couldn't help Kyle through it. But I'm glad you and Mel were to do what I could not.

Thank you. For everything.

Of course, I'm Kyle's mom.

Janell
January 10, 2010 at 7:58 PM
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