In
this occasional Byliner series, we'll connect with journalists behind
winning entries in the All-Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Interviews may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q&A with Marlene Harris-Taylor, Health Reporter, ideastream
***
Byliner:
Your
stories stem from the death of a 9-year-old girl killed by a stray
bullet, but you said that initially, the crime didn’t get as much media
attention as you might expect. Why was that?
Marlene Harris-Taylor:
We were not really doing much coverage on it because, let’s face it,
she's not the first young child in Cleveland who’s been killed. For some
who have lived here a while it was like ‘Oh my God, another young child
has been shot,’ but it wasn't like it rocked their world. But for me,
as a recent transplant to town, to hear this story, it just felt like it
rocked my world.
It
happened not too far from my neighborhood and I thought, ‘I've been
there, I've been down that street where it happened,’ and also, just as a
mother, the thought of your child, innocently sitting in a car, eating
ice cream, and something like that happens? So, I basically came in and
told my manager that I wanted to cover it. I wanted to go to the
funeral. I didn't know exactly what the story was going to be, but I
knew I wanted to cover it. I wanted to go to the funeral as a
journalist, but also I personally felt like I was in mourning for that
child, and I had never met her in my life. I wanted to be in a community
setting with other people mourning that child and feel a sense of
community around that event.
Byliner:
How did your story angle evolve from the incident itself to the broader topic?
M H-T:
Gun
violence impacts African American communities at a higher rate than
others, and there is community trauma generated by these shootings.
People often think about the person who was shot, obviously, and their
immediate family. But what people don't think about is how that shooting
affects the whole community – how it affects the business owner next
door, or the people who live on the street, or the extended family.
There’s this trauma generated by this onslaught of gun violence, and
what do we do about that? This is a big deal right now – in fact,
“trauma informed health care” is a big buzz word right now, and gun
violence is one example of that. People who are showing up at the
hospital or the ER are often impacted by trauma, and how do people in
the system think about that and treat people differently, knowing that?
Byliner:
What challenges did you face in reporting these stories?
M H-T:
I decided I wanted to talk to the family, but I didn't want to approach
the mother or the family at the funeral – that’s just so insensitive
and tacky to do that. So I asked around to find out who her pastor was
and I gave him my card and I told him I wanted to do a story about this
and asked if he wouldn't mind introducing me. He said wanted to meet
with me first. He basically wanted to check me out, check out my
motives, so he and I met at a restaurant and just talked and I shared my
desire to cover this story and that I wanted to be sensitive about it,
and come at it in terms of talking about the trauma around the entire
community and not just what was going on with that particular family.
And he liked that so he called the mother, Marshawnette Daniels, on his
cell phone, while we were sitting there, and basically introduced us.
Byliner:
What impact did your reporting have?
M H-T:
The response was tremendous. Everybody thought it was a really strong
piece and it just broke people’s hearts. But it's also very
disappointing because I don't think a thing has changed. I think the
shootings have continued. More mothers have lost their children. The
community continues to be traumatized and the beat goes on. But on the
positive side, Marshawnette has become an activist and is determined
that her daughter’s death will not be in vain. She is working on getting
a law passed to hold parents accountable when their kids commit
violence.
###
Are you a first-place award-winner who would like to be featured in
Byliner
? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a note at
pressclubcle@gmail.com
.
Special thanks to Press Club board member Cristy Carlson for this profile.