Pub Day
Sending stories into the world
Hello everyone,
A story of mine published this morning in The Guardian, something I’ve been working on for quite some time, about an Amish migration taking place around the country and the ensuing lawsuits over their use of privies as they move into new areas. I went to Michigan last year to interview one of the families and have been diving into arguments about religious exemptions. The story is very “me” in that it explores an issue occurring in rural communities and grounds a narrative within the context of place.
Pub day is exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. There’s the worries over accuracy and the days beforehand spent fact-checking and calling sources and double checking people’s names and ages. Wondering how readers will respond and knowing that readers will respond in all kinds of ways and that’s a good thing. But also the thrill of a project being out in the world. Especially since there’s no real guarantee that a story will run until it actually runs.
And speaking of pub day, my co-fellow Alison Dirr at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published the first installment of her O’Brien investigation, a look at childhood lead poisoning and the city’s failings to uphold its once model lead program (her interns also published pieces, in addition to other behind-the-scenes takeaways that can be found in the special reports section). Our other co-fellow, Eddie B. Allen Jr., recently published his tenth installment for the Detroit Metro Times on his series looking at conviction integrity units.
So! It’s an exciting time around the office (though my story today is unrelated to the fellowship; more to come on that soon). I always love to behold the life cycle of a story, from its vague beginnings as a kernel of an idea to sentences on a page with photos and infographics and quotes that make you go, “damn.” This is one of the reasons I’ve loved advising and teaching students, too. To see their work and research start as something nebulous and fluid until it becomes a fully-formed enterprise. Because that’s what journalism is all about. Pulling at a thread — groping around — and seeing where it all leads.
And now we’re finding ourselves in the end stages of what another co-worker calls the “arc of suffering.” We’ve made it through and the only thing left to do is start all over again.
Thanks for being here <3
Britta Lokting
Endnote:
Well I did already provide a number of story links, but there’s always room for more! My Spotify is all Kacey Musgraves this week and so is my reading list.
I’ve been on a memoir kick lately, which happens when I’m in the throes of change and emotional roller coasters. Here’s Danielle Crittenden on suddenly losing her daughter.
And then, the memoir of all memoirs making the rounds right now, I’m reading Belle Burden’s Strangers. Lots of thoughts and am excited to dive into the discourse when I’m finished.