The production of field assignment #2.
This time around for my field assignment, I wrote about the Make-A-Wish Foundation philanthropy project that the Beta Kappa chapter of the Chi Omega Fraternity participated in.
For those who do not know, Chi Omega Fraternity is an all-women organization on campus.
They organized a benefit dinner and multiple events throughout the week leading up to the dinner to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
For those who do not know this either, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants terminally ill children’s wishes.
It was great learning about what they did and how other sororities and fraternities supported the Beta Kappa chapter with their philanthropy project. I was surprised by how much support they received from other members of the Greek life.
Compared to the first field assignment, I felt like I had more trouble writing this piece. I think it is because I received a lot of different types of information from my sources. In the end, I had to go back to the Make-A-Wish chair of Beta Kappa to confirm whether those facts were true. Besides interviewing the chair of the event, I interviewed two members of Beta Kappa and a member from Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity who was heavily involved in the philanthropy project.
There was a lot of misinformation between members of the sororities and fraternities; therefore, it was hard to get the actual facts.
I was lucky enough to have the chair of the event as one of my contacts; she was very willing to speak to me regarding any details about the philanthropy project.
I learned the importance of checking facts before finalizing any story. I would not want to publish anything that was not true.
Because I do not know many Beta Kappa members, I was able to reach out to the different people involved in the event after speaking to the Make-A-Wish chair. She provided me with members’ contact information. Once I was able to find the person in charge of the whole event, I was able to get in touch with multiple people involved in the philanthropy project. Having good relationships with people is very important in the journalism world. People are very willing to help if you ask.