Mood:
not sureTopic: Writing
Late last month, LSU celebrated the birthday of its beloved tiger, Mike VI. Our live mascot turned five, not only during the Chinese Year of the Tiger, but also in the same year the university celebrates 150 years of existence.
Odd coincidence, or is it?
I still have trouble actually calling myself a writer, even though it's what I'm doing nearly every minute of my waking life, and it's what pays my bills and funds my drinking habits. There was never a moment in my life when I had that realization where I told myself—I'm going to be a writer.
The closest I came to that moment was in high school, when I took my first journalism class. I was fortunate enough to get proper training on how to be a good reporter, and how to use those values in my writing (thank you Kim Green and Jim Streisel).
As I move through my life as a writer, I often wonder, does being a writer make be look at things with more meaning, or is that simply who I am—which makes me a writer? I've got the Egg vs. Chicken syndrome. Not that the answer really matters.
When I heard Mike VI's birthday was approaching, I knew the story was perfect for me. As an animal lover, I'm happy to put animals in the best spotlight possible. That goes for any subject I am writing on—I'm never out to make a bad name for someone. However, I do believe in the truth, so if that's the painful part, well then that's not my problem.
I consulted the LSU Vet School for my information, naturally, since they are the ones who care for Mike. They gave me loads of information, I did a few interviews, and wrote my story. I even turned in my draft to the Vet School (which for the record is against my right as a writer) and received very little criticism.
Until that afternoon.
The very same person who gave me the information on Mike was retracting it, saying I brought up the past. The past, which is also the truth, included moments when previous live mascots had not been in PETA-worthy care. Everyone on campus knows the story about one of the Mikes getting out into the street after student pranksters cut his habitat open.
Frankly, I don't care about that particular instance. That, along with several other paragraphs, were removed from my story by request of the Vet School in defense for PETA.
Honestly, I'm perfectly fine with that. I have no problem being edited and corrected—I may be cocky, but I know I'm not perfect. What I'm not fine with is an interviewee going into a situation expecting the journalist to fail and create a bad reputation just because of my job title.
Much like a chef, if you hand me the wrong ingredients, the final product is going to end up like shit. So give me incorrect information and yes, your prophecy has been fulfilled, I failed.
Who knew a tiger could be so controversial?
The end result was still a celebration of one of my favorite Hoosiers—Mike VI. Happy Birthday!
Read the story here.
