[nfb-talk] Blindness doesn't diminish student editor's nose for news

[Michael D. Barber]

The following article about our own Rachel Becker appeared in today's Des
Moines Register. Congratulations, Rachel!!!!!

Michael Barber, President, National Federation of the Blind of Iowa

 

Storm Lake, Ia. -- The handcuffs clinked. Rachel Becker knew that much.

She was sitting in the courtroom beside Dan Swanson, the reporter she
shadowed for her newspaper internship.

"Two guys just walked in in handcuffs," she told him.

Swanson turned to her.

"How would you know that?" he asked.

"I might not know what they look like, but I could tell they were there. The
chains made a noise," Becker would later recall. "A lot of people think
blind people have super-hearing, but they don't.

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"They just know how to use it."

Becker, 21, is in her third year at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake,
where she dreams of a job with a big city newspaper, even though she will
never see the final product of her work.

"If you were to close your eyes and hold a newspaper, your image of it would
be different than mine," she said recently. "I have to imagine what it looks
like."

Becker was born blind. She grew up painting mental images of what she heard
on the television news. Now, she helps edit the Tack, Buena Vista's campus
newspaper. She has an aspiring journalist's vision, but it's first-year
student and co-editor Carly Evans who provides her sight. In the newsroom,
she sees what Becker can't.

"Talking to her, I would never guess that she couldn't see any of the stuff
because she knows exactly what would be best going where," Evans said.

Becker laughs.

"Not exactly," she said. "I remember last semester, I would suggest graphic
ideas and someone would say, 'Well, no.' "

The two friends and colleagues play to each other's strengths. Becker edits
stories turned in by the student staff writers; she leaves the design work
to Evans.

"Obviously, the photo thing is not my cup of tea," Becker joked.

She explains her career choice in a simple, matter-of-fact style that would
please any editor: "I like to write, and I like to know what's going on. Put
that together and you have journalism."

Becker's notes are in Braille. She writes with a stylus on a thin, two-sided
plate that goes around a single sheet of paper. Her computer is equipped
with a special audio program that turns text into speech. The technology
helps her do the job, but it poses its own challenges.

"My biggest pet peeve is when people put periods instead of commas before
their quotes," she said.

Jason Jacobs, a second-year media studies major and the sports editor for
the Tack, said he admires Becker because "she goes out there and takes
risks."

"Hey Jason: Do you have those stats on how many tickets were sold at the
basketball game?" Becker called from across the newsroom recently. "We want
to do a graphic with them."

"Yeah, I'll get them," he told her, then said to a visitor: "Rachel just
keeps everyone here on their toes."

Becker knows that her readers will want those statistics, just as she knew
readers of the Nebraska City News-Press would want to know more about those
two men who were led away in handcuffs that day at the Otto County, Neb.,
courthouse.

Their handcuffs clinked. She knew that much.

Becker will graduate in December. When she applied for her next internship
-- maybe in Omaha; possibly in Washington D.C. -- she included her story
clips and a resume that said she is a tutor in Buena Vista's writing center
and a member of the choir. There's no mention of her blindness. There rarely
is.

"If they see that, they might get nervous. If they ask me, I'll tell them,
but I want it to be about my resume and clips, not the fact that I can't
see," she said.

The odds might seem long, but Becker sees her future in big-time journalism.
There's just no room in her story for blindness.

"Sometimes, I wish I could do more than I can, but you do the best with what
you have," she said. "I just pretend it doesn't exist, but I guess it is
good to address it and be, like, 'Yeah, I can't see. It's cool though.' "

Reporter Molly Hottle can be reached at (515) 284-8065 or mhottle at dmreg.com

 

-------------- next part --------------
The following article about our own Rachel Becker appeared in today's Des Moines Register. Congratulations, Rachel!!!!!
Michael 
Barber, President, National Federation of the Blind of Iowa
 
Storm Lake, Ia. -- The handcuffs clinked. Rachel Becker knew that much.
She was sitting in the courtroom beside Dan Swanson, the reporter she shadowed for her newspaper internship.
"Two guys just walked in in handcuffs," she told him.
Swanson turned to her.
"How would you know that?" he asked.
"I might not know what they look like, but I could tell they were there. The chains made a noise," Becker would later recall. "A lot of people think blind people have super-hearing, but they don't.
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>
"They just know how to use it."
Becker, 21, is in her third year at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, where she dreams of a job with a big city newspaper, even though she will never see the final product of her work.
"If you were to close your eyes and hold a newspaper, your image of it would be different than mine," she said recently. "I have to imagine what it looks like."
Becker was born blind. She grew up painting mental images of what she heard on the television news. Now, she helps edit the Tack, Buena Vista's campus newspaper. She has an aspiring journalist's vision, but it's first-year student and co-editor Carly Evans who provides her sight. In the newsroom, she sees what Becker can't.
"Talking to her, I would never guess that she couldn't see any of the stuff because she knows exactly what would be best going where," Evans said.
Becker laughs.
"Not exactly," she said. "I remember last semester, I would suggest graphic ideas and someone would say, 'Well, no.' "
The two friends and colleagues play to each other's strengths. Becker edits stories turned in by the student staff writers; she leaves the design work to Evans.
"Obviously, the photo thing is not my cup of tea," Becker joked.
She explains her career choice in a simple, matter-of-fact style that would please any editor: "I like to write, and I like to know what's going on. Put that together and you have journalism."
Becker's notes are in Braille. She writes with a stylus on a thin, two-sided plate that goes around a single sheet of paper. Her computer is equipped with a special audio program that turns text into speech. The technology helps her do the job, but it poses its own challenges.
"My biggest pet peeve is when people put periods instead of commas before their quotes," she said.
Jason Jacobs, a second-year media studies major and the sports editor for the Tack, said he admires Becker because "she goes out there and takes risks."
"Hey Jason: Do you have those stats on how many tickets were sold at the basketball game?" Becker called from across the newsroom recently. "We want to do a graphic with them."
"Yeah, I'll get them," he told her, then said to a visitor: "Rachel just keeps everyone here on their toes."
Becker knows that her readers will want those statistics, just as she knew readers of the Nebraska City News-Press would want to know more about those two men who were led away in handcuffs that day at the Otto County, Neb., courthouse.
Their handcuffs clinked. She knew that much.
Becker will graduate in December. When she applied for her next internship -- maybe in Omaha; possibly in Washington D.C. -- she included her story clips and a resume that said she is a tutor in Buena Vista's writing center and a member of the choir. There's no mention of her blindness. There rarely is.
"If they see that, they might get nervous. If they ask me, I'll tell them, but I want it to be about my resume and clips, not the fact that I can't see," she said.
The odds might seem long, but Becker sees her future in big-time journalism. There's just no room in her story for blindness.
"Sometimes, I wish I could do more than I can, but you do the best with what you have," she said. "I just pretend it doesn't exist, but I guess it is good to address it and be, like, 'Yeah, I can't see. It's cool though.' "
Reporter Molly Hottle can be reached at (515) 284-8065 or mhottle at dmreg.com