My Heart Is Hurting For Journalists All Over The World

My heart is breaking for the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the TV reporters killed while doing a live broadcast in Virginia on Wednesday morning.

I received my bachelor's degree from St. Cloud State University in TV journalism. I worked as a news reporter with our sister station WJON for two years.

As a reporter I covered the Byron Smith murder trial, multiple shootings in St. Cloud and central Minnesota, violent car accidents, a plane crash in Sauk Rapids, a train accident and many other horrible things. I've also covered my fair share of light-hearted stories and features. In both cases the thought that something horrible would happen to me never crossed my mind. I did my job without fear.

As a student, I was excited to do investigative journalism, write hard hitting news stories and serve the public. Like many students, awful tragedies like this one were the furthest from my mind.

In class, we spent a day talking about the horrible realities of the job. It's not often, but sometimes unspeakable things do happen to reporters. But, it always feels like it happens to someone else in a unique situation somewhere halfway across the world. Our professor talked about Jodi Huisentruit. She was a former SCSU student who landed a job working in Mason City, Iowa. She disappeared while on her way to work one day and no one ever heard from her again. Her abductor was never found.

What happened this morning is another awful tragedy which will be used as an example in journalism classes around the world as to why journalists should live with caution. Two people were living out their dreams, serving the public and doing their job. They were killed on live television by a selfish and horrible person for reasons unknown.

No journalist should ever have live in fear when covering a story or going out on assignment. My heart is hurting for Parker and Ward's families and journalists all over the world today.