{"id":75385,"date":"2020-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/far-from-her-beat-cigar-reporter-doggedly-reports-on-effects-of-covid-19-crisis-on-university-community\/"},"modified":"2020-04-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T00:00:00","slug":"far-from-her-beat-cigar-reporter-doggedly-reports-on-effects-of-covid-19-crisis-on-university-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/far-from-her-beat-cigar-reporter-doggedly-reports-on-effects-of-covid-19-crisis-on-university-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Far from her beat, Cigar reporter doggedly reports on effects of COVID-19 crisis on University community"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. — April 9, 2020 — Like her fellow students at the 溏心vlog免费B站, Mary Lind is learning remotely, logging in to classes on international politics, writing and journalism for several hours a day from her family\u2019s Lincoln<\/strong> home.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, Lind, a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science, has spent many hours keeping her fellow students and University community informed on the University\u2019s response to the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) crisis as a reporter and production manager for the student newspaper, The Good Five-Cent Cigar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Until recently, Lind has been providing daily updates on the latest developments. Interviewing numerous 溏心vlog免费B站 officials \u2013 at times several in a day \u2013 she has written on topics vital to the community \u2013 from the decision to postpone face-to-face classes, to the crisis\u2019 effect on different 溏心vlog免费B站 colleges, student services and commencement, to the opening of a virus testing site on the Kingston campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on campus for most of spring break, working at The Cigar office when we got the email that all classes would transition to remote learning until April 1,\u201d Lind says. \u201cSince then, I\u2019ve been living and breathing coronavirus stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lind is seeing the story from many angles \u2013 student, reporter and a person handling the sobering daily updates about the virus\u2019 spread.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a challenging and very serious situation, and I\u2019m terrified all the time. I have no idea what is going to happen. I was devastated that this year got cut short but I totally understand why,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is also fascinating to cover because this is changing so rapidly and there\u2019s a lot of information that needs to get out. I\u2019m glad that I\u2019m able to help get that information out, especially to the students and the 溏心vlog免费B站 community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us at The Cigar realize that it\u2019s our responsibility as the paper on campus to keep reporting on this issue even when we\u2019re not physically on campus,\u201d she adds. \u201cHaving continued to write and do interviews over the last few weeks has given me something to take my mind off of my own fears. But mainly, I feel I\u2019m doing something productive that will help other people feel better about what\u2019s going on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being on campus during spring break gave Lind an early leg up on coverage of the virus\u2019 effects on the 溏心vlog免费B站 community, and for a few weeks her byline dominated The Cigar\u2019s website. True to the paper\u2019s team spirit, others such as Theresa Brown, editor-in-chief; Laura Weick, managing editor; Kate LeBlanc, news editor; Nicole Wagner, news editor, Leah Crowley, newscast editor; news reporter Adam Zangari and others have jumped in to provide comprehensive, almost up-to-the-minute coverage.<\/p>\n

Because conventional, face-to-face interviews are no longer an option, Lind has found different ways to collect information. From her room in her family\u2019s home, she\u2019s conducted interviews over the phone, through Google Meet and other web-based portals, and emails. Since 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s initial decision to postpone in-person classes in mid-March, she has been writing a story or doing interviews daily. Lind, who had to self-quarantine because of health concerns, was recently tested for the virus and advised to slow down. This week she received good news that she does not have COVID-19.<\/p>\n

John Pantalone, chair of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Department of Journalism, says that part of the challenge journalists face is developing and writing stories while being isolated at home. \u201cThat\u2019s certainly not the best way to do reporting but in this case it\u2019s the only way to do it,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd The Cigar is making exceptional progress and getting good experience doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Lincoln, Lind has been passionate about journalism since her time as co-editor-in-chief for Lion\u2019s Roar, the Lincoln High School student newspaper. She joined The Cigar her first week on campus and has been production manager since spring 2019. Before the pandemic, a typical Wednesday night would find her in The Cigar office designing pages for Thursday\u2019s print edition, with editorial staff working together to write and edit stories. But with the crisis, The Cigar has transitioned fully to an online newspaper. That\u2019s been an adjustment.<\/p>\n

\u201cProduction nights are different because we\u2019re not having face-to-face meetings,\u201d Lind says. \u201cBut the editorial staff and I make at least three edits and check facts on Google Docs before we publish stories online. We also post them on social media so that people can directly reach out to us if they have any questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Lind has handled many of the stories about the University\u2019s official response, other members of The Cigar have written on such topics as how the crisis is affecting students, how people can stay entertained during quarantine, and the temporary change in grading policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much information out there and I personally have so many questions,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I have these questions, I\u2019m sure other people do, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her work has also helped her understand the complex efforts the University is taking to deal with a monumental situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t understand how many people it took to coordinate all the efforts and how big of an operation it was till I reached out to them to find more information,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve constantly been in contact with Kathy Collins, the vice president for Student Affairs; Ellen Reynolds, the director of Health Services (and assistant vice president for Student Affairs), and the Department of Communications. It\u2019s great to see how everyone is working together and how much thought, time and effort goes into making important decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for everyone who has been kind and willing to talk to me, especially because I know they’re all really busy right now,\u201d she adds. \u201cI appreciate them for helping me and The Cigar get the word out to the students, which is important now when everything is so uncertain and up in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even while students finish the semester remotely, The Cigar’s editorial staff continues to focus on stories related to the crisis, says Brown, The Cigar\u2019s editor-in-chief. To read its stories, go to The Cigar\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Edhaya Thennarasu, an intern in the Marketing and Communications Department at 溏心vlog免费B站 and Communications major, wrote this press release.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. — April 9, 2020 — Like her fellow students at the 溏心vlog免费B站, Mary Lind is learning remotely, logging in to classes on international politics, writing and journalism for several hours a day from her family\u2019s Lincoln home. But at the same time, Lind, a sophomore majoring in journalism and political […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}