来自俄勒冈州野火前线的报道

梅德福,矿石. – 保持暂时的安全距离, Megan Willgoos ’20 trains her camera lens toward a wall of gray smoke blotting out 的 horizon, 的 过这样 of firefighting helicopters wading into 的 plumes to douse 的 flames, as she describes to viewers 的 latest efforts to contain 的 worst wildfires 的 state of Oregon has ever seen.

上周，在短短三天的时间里，威尔古斯进行了现场直播 KTVL新闻 more than two dozen times from 的 front lines of 的 wildfires in Oregon, covering national breaking news less than four months after receiving her journalism degree from Roger Williams University. 多媒体记者正在地震震中进行报道 历史性的国家危机, 一个巨大的, tri-state wildfire outbreak that has consumed more than five million acres across Oregon, 加州和华盛顿州, 夺走了至少27人的生命, and left a toxic cloud hanging in 的 atmosphere across 的 West Coast.

黎明前出发, 她在给她的新闻团队做咨询, 通过脸谱网从居民那里获取新闻线索, and chasing down active fires and wildfires that have been extinguished but left utter destruction in 的ir wake. 在这样的一天, 威尔古斯走过熊溪移动房屋公园, 的 odd air-conditioning system or wood-burning stove still standing amid piles of ash-covered rubble and vehicles blasted down to nothing but steel and stripped rims.

“我开车四处寻找直播的最佳地点, 看看我能去哪里, 因为许多街道都被警察封锁了. 有时警察会让新闻车通过, 但这取决于该地点是否仍然被认为是危险的,威尔古斯说, 一个考文垂, R.I.搬到俄勒冈州梅德福的美国人. 5月加入KTVL新闻组.

While a typical news day sees her reporting live only three times for 的 afternoon and evening news, 的 urgency to update 的 community on 的 wildfires has her broadcasting reports up to 10 times a day, often interrupting regular programming with breaking news updates. “My team and I are happy with 的 work we have done,” she says. “We have provided, we think, 的 most comprehensive and constant coverage for our community.”

这种工作当然不是没有危险的. “I was driving back into 的 Rogue Valley from 的 Two Four Two Fire in Chiloquin and I saw huge smoke plumes on both sides of 的 freeway. 正如我看到的, I was getting notifications from my news team about reporters stuck in traffic near 的 fires and one reporter saying things along 的 lines of, ‘This is 的 most stressful and scary thing I have ever done in my life,’ as she was about to do a 脸谱网 Live to keep people informed.”

我后退了一步, 穿上“正常的衣服”，别摆出记者的样子, 这对我打击很大。”威尔戈斯说. “Although I moved here almost four months ago, this is my community.” 

But Willgoos was prepared to be successful in this line of work. 在RWU的数字优先新闻项目中, 初出茅庐的记者从实践中学习, 培训 in multimedia news ga的ring and reporting techniques through hands-on practice. 威尔古斯有报道国内外新闻的经验, from 的 demolition of Brayton Point Power Plant’s cooling towers to 的 large-scale off-shore wind turbine project in Block Island and 的 impact of beach resorts on Caribbean ecosystems during a faculty-led, 到多米尼加共和国留学.

“Megan is one of many young reporters who leave here ready to work in 的 newsroom of 的 future. Our ‘Mark of Excellence’ award-winning journalism program equips students to work in mobile, 快节奏的, 数字新闻环境,新闻学副教授保拉·普拉多说. “梅根让我们感到骄傲, 我们其他新闻专业的毕业生也一样, who are heralding in a new frontier in reporting: 的y deliver hard-hitting news at breakneck digital speed.” 

Her work to keep people informed won’t be done when 的 wildfires are finally contained. 但是现在, 威尔古斯将在黎明前入住, determined to report critical updates and tell 的 stories behind 的 national headlines.