MADELYN AUGUSTINE
When writing any type of story it is crucial to have all the facts and to ensure that all of the facts are the truth. Ensuring that a source is reliable can be tricky and time consuming, but it is essential to journalism. It is also imperative that each fact is checked. I never trust just one source: whether that means interviewing multiple people or checking a few different websites for accuracy. It is better to be safe than sorry, especially now that readers can find your story within seconds on the internet.
During first semester this year, my school was named to the ESPN Special Olympics Honor Roll for Unified Banner Champion schools. This recognition was monumental and although I already had an assignment for that week, I knew that I wanted to write a story about it. When I went to begin writing I quickly realized that I knew very little on the subject. I wanted to get the full story and capture the significance of the Honor Roll, so I went to ESPN's Special Olympics website, the Nebraska Special Olympics website and called the Special Olympics Nebraska Youth and School Program Manager. After doing this I was able to create a story that ended up winning an "Excellent" award at the 2019 Neb. JEA High School Winter Competition. Featured above is a screen recording of one of the several websites I visited to get my facts straight for the story.