In The Field

  This past Monday we split up into groups to scour the campus for acceptable news stories.  Our group explored the downtown area of Durham to get some information on new local businesses and how they're coping with the competition.  We stopped by Aroma Joe's, The Candy Shop, and Tedeschi's Food Shop and got some interesting feedback on student and other business involvement in the community.  We learned that Aroma Joe's is accepting of the challenge set forth by Breaking New Grounds, Dunkin Donuts and other coffee shops located in and around campus to compete for customers.  The Candy Shop is working together with Hayden Sports Complex to bring in new customers for the new school year by handing out coupons.  Tedeschi's and other convenient stores in the area are cracking down on students buying liquor by checking IDs and confiscating fake driver's licenses.  All of these businesses have their own concerns and issues surrounding profit.
  It surprised me that our group found so many interesting story ideas just down the street from campus. Obviously the bars are going to have issues with weekend drinking and transportation, but the new businesses in Durham have the hard job of defining themselves in an already packed space, complete with other local businesses that have held that ground for decades in some cases.  The experience taught me that you can potentially find a good story anywhere you go, in or out of town.
  I think local beat pieces are important because they show what's important in the community.  It's helpful when I'm looking for my own story ideas to look in the local news and advertisements around my town to know what's going on and what would be neat to cover in a story.  Definitely walking around and getting out into the field, just talking to people at restaurants and other locals about the goings-on in a place helps build story potential.
  An interesting story I found recently is one about Jesus, in which a Harvard professor translated an ancient piece of paper to read about a potential female disciple, and possibly his wife.  I found this interesting because of the perspective of the professor, being a female and advocating for the possibility of Jesus having a wife.  Obviously there's a lot of controversy about this topic, especially from the Vatican's point of view, but I'd love to see where this story goes, if anywhere.  It would be interesting to see a follow up story about what other historians think about this theory.