Discover Duluth within (DDW) has been a way to spread a positive light on the many neighborhoods and small local businesses in this large city. Unfortunately, this week is the last of the series. With this final report, I’ve decided to share about my experience in making discover Duluth within come to life and the journey it has taken me on, as well as for the viewers.
I knew I wanted to create some sort of video reporting series for Lake Voice, and when this idea came to me, I wanted to run with it. Never having done on-camera reporting and story-chasing, this series showed me that this was exactly what I wanted to be doing.
The fun in doing DDW was being able to travel around Duluth to places I’ve never been before. Finding hidden neighborhoods and little corner shops was a little tough when I had no idea where to start looking, but that was one of the best parts. Finding the ultimate area to cover for the video completed the first step in the whole process.
Once I would find the area I’d be covering, I’d grab my video camera and record every inch of the neighborhood and small business nearby. While doing this, I would start to write up the story script in my head.
After doing my research on the small corner shop, I would then call the place and make sure they were cool with me producing a positive story on their business. When the interview was set up over the phone, I made my way there to meet and record more details within the store.
Out of all the videos I’ve reported on, every small business owner/manager has been so kind and willing for me in producing this series. Being able to listen to their story on how they got started and to hear their funny personal stories was my favorite part of reporting by far.
As awkward as you might think it is to go door-to-door knocking to interview neighbors living in the area, it was a bit intimidating. I would never know who was going to answer for an interview; sometimes people were completely willing to chat with me, and sometimes people weren’t as interested. But that’s the life of being a journalist.
Being able to talk with people all over the Duluth community in doing the DDW video series was nothing but a fun and exciting learning experience that I was able to share for Lake Voice.
This most recent and last video on Hermantown Road and Keene Creek Lane was the perfect way to end my series. I ended up finding the Golly G Occasional Boutique on the Duluth Loves Local Facebook page. I went there and instantly fell in love with the area and the boutique.
Discover Duluth within will always have a place in my career path, where I hope to continue my feature reporting and news anchoring. Thank you to everyone for the support for this series and remember to keep exploring this beloved city on a hill.