A whirlwind of adventure at the Sun-Times

I can't believe I'm already in the middle of my third week at the Sun-Times. Between Carolyn and Danny coming to visit, work and not having Internet in my apartment, things have been pretty hectic. I'm happy to report, however, that I'm still having an absolutely wonderful time at my internship, and really couldn't be loving it much more.

Jean Lachat~Sun-Times

So let's see ... last Monday started off with a bang as I rushed off to the Blagojevich verdict. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagogjevich was accused of trying to sell President Barack Obama's Senate seat and shaking down a children's hospital and a racetrack. When it was announced the jury would be giving their verdict some time between noon and 2 p.m., my editor Paul sent me over to the courthouse to await the big news. And wait I did -- along with the entire press pit. I saw people from NPR, Reuters, AP, every Chicago news outlet and more. It was pretty cool to be among the elite, but the most memorable part was when Blago came into the pit to give a statement. I was squatting down next to the Reuters reporter (Eric Johnson) and the radio gang, and I held my voice recorder right up to Blago as he gave his statement. I didn't get to write anything, but helping with such a huge story was awesome.

I did a couple other stories that week, including one about a study that showed race affects face recognition and one on Eddie Vedder, the frontman of Pearl Jam, giving an impromptu performance at a bar after a Cubs game.

I also worked Sunday, where I worked on an article about Jack Daniel McCullough, a man arrested for an alleged 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old girl. Since there weren't that many people in the office Sunday, I was working on tracking down his family members, which was pretty difficult when you consider this man had 50 years of history between him and the case. I tried a few different methods, and it was a really good learning day for me, because I'd never really tried to track down people like that before.

This week is already off to a great start, as well. I had Monday off for the Fourth of July, and fellow intern Rachel Rice and I traipsed down to Navy Pier for the fireworks.

On Tuesday, I was called out to a story before I'd even gotten to the office. There was a 10 a.m. press conference about a woman who was the first parent in the state to reclaim custody of her children with the help of a new law. This was a really cool story to cover, but one of the best parts about writing for the Sun-Times is the editing I get from the metro desk. Rummana has been really helpful and I've been learning a lot about concise writing from her. I feel like I've had more experience in feature writing and entertainment articles, so the chance to really clean up my news writing has been beyond great.

Brian Jackson~Sun-Times

I thought today was going to be a bit ho hum, but boy was I wrong. I started off with an article about a specialty license plate getting a redesign, and then, once I got back from lunch, I was whisked off to a press conference at a law firm. The firm filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Police for a 2009 incident where the defendant alleges police beat him without provocation and arrested him without cause -- an incident that was videotaped by a neighbor. This was a really fascinating article for me, and I wanted to make sure I was perfectly accurate and clear, since it's a somewhat confusing subject.


Well, this post is long enough, I would say. Tomorrow, I've got an interview that I'm extremely stoked for, so hopefully I'll be able to write about it soon! Until then, all my love from Chicago!