Tonight I had the opportunity to ‘play’ reporter…and of course I took it. It all started with a viewer tip on Facebook about a controversial comic regarding homosexuality printed in the University of Arizona’s daily newspaper, the Arizona Daily Wildcat. The editor-in-chief issued an apology on their website, so the problem then became getting our hands on the printed version. This all happened at 9:30 p.m. so the pressure was on to break the news on the 10 p.m. newscast. With the green light from the executive producer, a photographer and I bolted down to the journalism school. I knew this would be the only spot on campus most likely to have the copy. After business hours the building is locked to CatCard access only, so luckily that wasn’t an issue. Turns out the comic ran in an old issue, so it required digging through a trashcan…literally…to get our hands on it. But sure enough I found it and we were able to be the FIRST ones to break the news on-air, online, AND on social media. What a rewarding feeling!

Here is the link to the story: http://bit.ly/Xraxlu

Daily Wildcat Controversy from Sarah Cantey on Vimeo.

And not to mention the story is BLOWING up the Tucson News Now Facebook page and giving us numerous new likes (probably hitting a younger demographic that wants to join the conversation)

The following day, as anticipated, the story had gone viral. It even made it to the Huffington Post! Two reporters at the station advanced it in the morning and through out the day. I was even able to get in contact with the cartoonist and interviewed him as well as a UA journalism ethics professor. Cannot thank the executive producer and assistant content director enough for trusting me with the camera equipment, all to myself.  What a day…what a story… it’s this rush that reaffirms my love for this profession.