The Laughing Wolf

Story Motivation

A question has been raised, indirectly, about what motivates me to pursue certain stories. I wrote recently about the Lynch rescue story that the presentation “caused me to rise up out of bed and and do some digging.” The same is also true about the Maine teacher scandal.

To answer the obvious charge first, no it was not a knee-jerk reflex of an evil Conservative rising to defame those who dare speak freely. Give me a break.

To be honest, the Maine story got my interest because I sat there and said to myself that there was no way it was true. My first thoughts were that it would be as easy to debunk as the JATO-mounted car story and I could get that out. The truth, however, proved to be much more. My own investigations, posted elsewhere, proved to my satisfaction that some of the charges were true and that some were unfounded or true cases of miscommunication.

No, I have not continued to write about it for two main reasons (all puns intended). First, I would need to go spend time in Maine, a lot of time doing a lot of digging, relationship building, and more. This requires sponsorship, which I don’t have and don’t anticipate getting (Hi media outlet. I need to go live in Maine for 3-6 months to do one story. Pay my way for this and give me credentials. SFX: Slamming doors).

Second, the families asked that it be dropped. They have to live in these communities, some of those involved have ways of making their lives, and the lives of their children, hell if it gets pushed. They also want the chance to take care of local problems locally, and make the hell go back the other way without outsiders involved. Were I still a reporter rather than reformed, I would probably be digging and the heck with the consequences. Since I am reformed, I think that this is their individual choice to make and I have decided to honor that.

As for the “fake” Pvt. Lynch rescue story, the motivations were a little more complex. There was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, then the reporter came out of the cell where I try to keep it locked up. If the whole thing had been staged, then this was indeed a great story. If the story was false, or another hatchet job by The Media, that too was a good story. So, I began to look things over to see if I could get a pointer to the truth.

Determining the truth of the matter would take a trip to Iraq, time, and a lot of interviews. All of this, again, means getting sponsorships. Unless someone drops about $20k in the bards’ jar, or a major news outlet gives me the job, that isn’t going to happen. But, there was a good bit I could do from here, so I sat down and began digging into it.

No courtroom proof yet, but a story that smells to me like a cod that has been out of the fridge for a week. The story in question has none of the checks and balances, to borrow a phrase from my blogfather, that I would expect to see, which speaks volumes. It is one, of several, stories on which I plan to keep an eye.

So, motivations are complex but often no what one would think. I choose some because a part of me says “no frelling way” and some because I see them and go “oooh shiny!” and see possibilities. Hope this helps.

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