keeping on court

As some of you already know, I'm covering Kamloops court as part of my beat at Kamloops This Week. Although I've been tweeting most of the stories, I'll be posting all-things criminal on this site in the event you missed a post or the paper.

Right now, I'm covering Allan Schoenborn's murder trial. He's the man accused of killing his three children in their Merritt home 18 months ago and has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. Tuesday marks the third day of the trial and it's expected Darcie Clarke, the mother of the slain children, will take the stand.

growing pains

OK, so my issue can be likened to "blogging" pains — a painful time period in which one grows and develops their blog self.

The problem: Finding a look for my blog that's really cool and represents my personality at the same time.

Sounds simple enough, but five months and at least a dozen different templates, I'm about ready to throw in the webpage towel.

It's not that there aren't thousands of super graphic and and really unique templates available — for free! — on the web, it's just that none of them are representative of me.

So, I've opted for a simple, three-column layout and replaced the header image with a photograph I took while in Victoria, B.C. this summer.

Here's the full version:

It's a window front of a store in Fan Tan Alley, which is the heart of B.C.'s oldest Chinatown. The pane is plastered with original concert posters dating back decades — it was a gorgeous melange of music's past.

This image, taken by yours truly, is more telling of who I am than any other mass-downloaded, copy-and-pasted template. Plus, it will forever remind me of that trip to the island — which was my first time out there — with my younger sister.

Additionally, it's a pretty grown-up looking site that will take some tinkering — so please bear with me as I blindly fiddle with HTML codes.

Hope you like the new look.

reportedly human

All day, I've been thinking about a tweet by 20-year newspaper vet Gina Chen about journalists remaining professional while still being human.

Using social media as an example, Chen pointed to the Washington Post editor abolishing his Twitter account because he feared the social media site went against the paper's policy.

She weighed in: "Puleeeze! Why is it that journalists don't think they can manage to be both human and good at their jobs as so many people in other fields can be."

And, if there was any discrepancy in various company policies, Chen pointed to a comprehensive list of organization's rules for social media.

The question remains, where does the role and responsibility of the reporter end and the rights of the person begin? Or, are they one in the same?

As a new journalist, I know what I can and can't post on my personal social medias. But, are journalism ethics a part of who I am or am I just self-censoring to avoid getting in trouble?

This inner dilemma reminds me of what Vancouver Sun managing editor Kirk LaPointe insists: New journalists must brand themselves online by getting a website with your namesake, start blogging, consume and participate in the news.

And there are lots of sites out there with a number of tips on how to accomplish this and take over the online media world, including one from student-driven Reporter Online.

Great advice, but how do employed journos make that separation between work and personal life?

Journalists are supposed to be non-biased and objective, but this isn't always the case when it comes to personal blogs. Should journalists have the freedom to articulate their personal thoughts or should professional duties trump personal desires?

If all goes well, there's still hope for the human.

week in tweets

Tweets from @mlampy (that's me!) from court last week:

• A new week and a new shirt - white - for the man accused of murder. No eye contact as he's lead to the prisoner's box. #crime #grimtweets
• I wonder what a bag of scalp looks like. Some people have the most unique/horrifying/interesting jobs.
• I wonder how the tragically sad-looking teen felt as she talked about her dead mother in front of the man accused of murder.
• 12 sat staring at a pic of a woman. Body half sunburnt, half white and bloated, snagged on a tree in the river. Her hair was falling out.
• A female juror looked at the pic of holes in the dead woman's head. Lips pursed, brows furrowed, she glanced at the man accused of murder.
• Why are sheriff's uniforms so squeaky?
• Do you know a dead body's various stages of decomposition? I now do. Gross.
• Six years after Heather Hamill slaying, murder trial begins: http://tinyurl.com/lsyfp5 #kamloops #crime
• Roe will get second murder trial in 2010: http://tinyurl.com/ll2n2q #kamloops #crime
• Sting suspects back in court next week: http://tinyurl.com/lbogmy #kamloops #crime
• Robert Balbar sat, head left-leaning, motionless for two hours. He wore no shoes. Jury didn't look at the man accused of killing his g/f.
• Stephen Roe's new shoes squeaked as he walked by. They were auburn brown. He gets a new trial in 2010 for stabbing David Holditch to death.
• I spent the majority of my day in the company of two alleged murderers. Who's hungry? I sure am...

courting

So I've finally got a computer at home — I splurged and bought a MacBook! — so I'm back to blogging — albeit, my focus has changed a bit.

In addition to my current beats, I'm also the new court reporter and will be blogging about my experiences covering exciting trials, like the first-degree murder trial of Robert Balbar and the upcoming Allan Schoenborn, to the less-intense matters in provincial court.

Check back for more on the Kamloops crime beat.