In Memory of Alison and Adam

I have worked in television news since 1997.  I met my husband at work.  I have met most of my best friends at work.  A television newsroom is a family, especially newsrooms in small markets.  We love each other, we hate each other, we yell at each other, but through it all, we have each others' backs.  We are all working toward the same goal- putting on the best show for our audience.

For me, I am the one behind the scenes.  I am the one sending the reporters and photographers into the field, into crime scenes, into riots, into the eye of the storm, into harms' way.  And most of the time they do it, without a single complaint.  Sending a reporter and photographer out to do a story on tourism is something I wouldn't think twice about.  I am heartbroken by the news of the deadly shooting of reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward in Virginia.

I did not know them, but I feel like I did.  I was them.  I am them.  If you have never worked in television news you may think it's a glamorous life.  You may think everyone, especially anchors and reporters, is rich.  You may think we only work a couple of hours a day since we're only on the air 1 or 2 hours.  If you think these things, you're mistaken.  We are hard working people.  9-10 hour days are normal.  11-12 hour days are not unheard of.  During an emergency we go to work.  Like police officers, firefighters, doctors and nurses we leave your families and often don't go home for days.  We start out in small markets making barely enough to survive.  We dream of moving up to bigger stations in bigger markets and making enough to support ourselves and our families, if we have one.

I cannot imagine what Adam's finance must be feeling.  As the producer of the show, she was in the control room.  She saw the shooting happen.  She probably was one of the last people he spoke to as he was setting up his live shot.  She was probably the person who assigned them to that story.  Wednesday was her last day of work at WDBJ.  She was moving to a bigger station in Charlotte, North Carolina and Adam was trying to get out of the business altogether.

Alison was young, 24-years-old, just getting started in the business.  She was dating an anchor at the station.  Not many people knew about their relationship.  They had their whole lives ahead of them.

None of this makes sense.  We cover so many awful stories everyday.  We are often jaded, unaffected by the the terrible stories we report.  But there are some stories that stay with us, that change us, that we never forget.  This is one of them.  I am praying for Alison and Adam, their families, their friends, everyone at WDBJ and all their colleagues at television stations across the country.  We are ALL feeling the loss of Alison and Adam. To my fellow journalists, both in the field and in the newsroom, stay safe.