Thoughts on the Derksen case as an aspiring journalist.

I remember when I was a little girl, about four or five-years-old, when 13-year-old Candace Derksen went missing. Well, actually I don't really remember when she went missing, but I do remember when her body was found on January 17, 1985.

Since I was so small, I only remember foggy pieces of Derksen's case. However, one thing I remember vividly is the cold and shocking revelation that the missing girl had been found dead. I cannot put into words the fear her death instilled in me.

That was the first time in my life that I ever had to face death. Even though I was just a little kid, the thought of my own mortality was something that was very real to me.

To be honest, I think Derksen's case was terrifying to Winnipeggers of all ages because it meant that there really was a boogy man and nobody knew who he or she was.

Derksen's case went unsolved for 23 years, until 2007, when DNA evidence fingered Mark Edward Grant as a suspect in the case.

On January 17, 2011, exactly 26 years to the day that Derksen's frozen body was found in an abandoned shed, Grant went on trial.

It's a trial that many Winnipeggers who have carried a piece of Candace around with them for nearly 30-years are ready for. Finally the Derksen's may have their questions answered, or at least find some closure...

As a journalism student, it's kind of surreal to be breaking into the industry at a time where this case (in particular) is being put through the justice system.



Photo: CTV Winnipeg
Video: Ottawa Citizen/Global News

Embracing the Anti-Diet in a Thin-Starved Society

Some of the names of people interviewed have been changed at their request. These changes are indicated by the asterisk (*) symbol.

In North America, the diet industry –everything from weight loss programs, books and videos to prepackaged meals, supplements and diet pills – rakes in billions of dollars a year. Corporations have made a lucrative business of packaging and selling the idea that everybody can be skinny to our thin-starved society.

However, the problem with diets and the diet industry, says Maya Radunz, fourth year Human Nutritional Sciences student at the University of Manitoba, is that they don’t work. Not for the long term anyway.

“Losing weight is short term, nothing has been proven to work long term,” said Radunz. “The majority of those (weight loss) programs, people do lose weight on, but they gain it all back because they teach eating behaviors that are not long term behaviors. You can’t always be dieting or tell yourself ‘I’m never going to eat white bread.’ That’s ridiculous, because yes you will, eventually you will.”

Radunz says that instead of focusing on diets and weight loss, people need to change their school of thought when it comes to eating and consider that being healthy isn’t restricted to any one size. Being skinny, she says, is not necessarily an indication that someone is healthy.

“A preoccupation with weight and food is dangerous because it can be a prelude to an eating disorder,” said Radunz. “Society needs to stop thinking that everybody can lose weight, because they can’t. Some people are just bigger, and that’s OK.”

For Grace Macatangay, 27, being bigger wasn’t OK.

The five-foot-two casino security manager said that she was depressed at 155 pounds.

“I thought, I’d like to be more cut,” said Macatangay. “So I ate less carbs and worked out for four hours a day for three months. It was a passion, I was dedicated to it.”

Macatangay admits that she never gave up any particular kind of food, but she did limit her portions of certain types of foods like bread and pasta. She credits her rigorous workout routine, which she still does on a lesser scale, for her 15 pound weight loss.

“It was a lifestyle change, not a diet,” she says. “I still work out four times a week and eat whatever I want. Being healthy is very important to me.”

Kate Greg*, 26, a self described “foodie,” has been on the Weight Watchers program, on and off, for a couple of years.

“Out of all the programs out there, I do believe that Weight Watchers works,” says Greg. “At one point I lost 25 pounds, and then I had a cheat day, which led to another and another…”

Greg admits that she is self conscious about her weight to the point that she sometimes cries.

“I think that the worst thing, in the end, is my self esteem. Yesterday my boyfriend, Jeremy*, had to listen to me cry for half an hour because I couldn’t find anything to wear that looked nice on me,” said Greg. “You can tell I am having a bad day when I wear baggy clothes.”

Radunz says stories like Greg’s are far too common.

“People need to start enjoying food and just listening to their bodies,” she said. “And that will come with size acceptance.”

SOURCES:

Dr. Linda Bacon, a biology professor at San Francisco’s City College explains the theory of “health at every size” that Radunz refers to in the article, on her website: http://www.lindabacon.org/teaching.html

Radunz also uses information gathered from Dr. Michael LeBow’s Dieter’s Snake Pit, http://www.enableme.net/alternativestounhealthydieting/ -- This theory is confirmed at the end of the story when the second woman admits that she cries about not looking or feeling good about herself.

During our interview, Radunz sourced both authors, and even brought copies of these books (as well as numerous nutrition journals) to our sitting.

Sometimes, even when you think you're prepared, you're just not.

So I went to a vigil at the Legislature tonight, in honour of Manitoba's missing and murdered women.

Equipped with an ENG camera, a tripod, audio equipment, an SLR camera, a notepad and my purse, I was ready to cover this vigil for my IPP Blog, Missing Manitoba Women. Since I had been to a number of these vigils before, I assumed that today's homage would be like any other.

I was wrong.

You see, I'd never attended one of these vigils as a journalist before. Nope. I've always gone as an "advocate" or a "supporter" of the cause.

Even with all of my high tech camera equipment, there were a number of things that I failed to capture:

I failed at my attempt to capture the essence of this event-- where mothers of lost daughters sobbed and comforted one another, and the smell of sweet grass and tobacco wafted through the air.

I failed to capture the tears from friends and family who can't seem to move on from the day their sister/daughter/mother/friend, vanished, and the bonds that have formed out of this tremendous pool of loss.

I failed to capture the utterly unfair reality of partly-orphaned children obliviously running around at an event that has become a normal part of their young life.

At this vigil, with my journalist hat on, I failed at really capturing the emotion of the event. It wasn't until I was faced with the decision to film people in their most vulnerable moments, or turn the camera away, that I realized how scary and intrusive this job can be.

I turned the camera away.

Though, I understand that public vigils are an invitation to the media to film and help these families raise awareness for a cause, it is still hard to cover these kinds of events without feeling like you are exploiting people. Especially when you see people you hardly know, or don't know at all, at their weakest.

Tonight was a real eye opener for me.

Speaking political language...

Being journalism students, my classmates and I have the daunting task of covering the upcoming civic election for a news outlet in Manitoba. (Sorry, political buffs, but I can say with certainty that this assignment really is daunting!) We have to speak to residents in the ward we've been assigned, as well as the candidates who have thrown their name in the hat to run for city councillor or mayor.

That doesn't sound so bad, right?!

Well, here's the thing: speaking about politics is like speaking a foreign language to many people, especially civic politics. Seriously. When the term politics comes up in conversation, I would venture to say that many people -- from uneducated to extremely educated -- shutter at the word. It's like the cancer of the english language.

This is not because there is a lack of political-filled content in the newspaper, and on the TV and radio. Nor, is this because candidates haven't put themselves 'out there,' (because, for the most part, they have.) This is because formal politics are hard to understand.

The newspaper, for example; it's written at a grade six reading level. Well, that's fine and dandy, but when you write about something like politics -- a subject that makes use of big words, terms and phrases that are often difficult to understand the meaning of -- the "easy to read" news story becomes rather difficult.

Take, for example, this paragraph in today's Winnipeg Free Press:

There are a total of 51 people running for 15 council ward seats, plus four candidates for mayor. None of council’s 12 incumbents – Katz and 11 councillors — will run unopposed. That means there will be no acclamations in Winnipeg for two straight elections. There were no acclamations in 2006, either.

Sure, this starts off relatively easy to understand:

There are a total of 51 people running for 15 council ward seats, plus four candidates for mayor.

"Yeah, yeah; there are 51 people running in the election in 15 wards of the city...I get it."

But then, some of the words in this story (perhaps easy for some people to understand, especially if they follow civic politics...) get a little touchy:

None of council’s 12 incumbents – Katz and 11 councillors — will run unopposed. That means there will be no acclamations in Winnipeg for two straight elections.

"What?! No really; what?!" (This, my friends, is what I like to call that "Charlie Brown teacher moment," when everything you see, hear, or read becomes the 'Wah-wah-wah-wah' voice of Charlie Brown's teacher.)

I don't consider myself stupid, and I even took a few politics classes in university, but after a few years of not really following civic politics, I'm a little confused by this. (Like any language, if you don't use it, it tends to wear off!)

It's really a shame, because you can't blame people -- voters -- for not caring about civic politics, if they don't fully understand. And you certainly can't blame me (and my journalism classmates) for thinking that covering the election is daunting.

Sometimes you just get lucky.

The other day in broadcast journalism class we were assigned the task of shooting video and writing a voice over for a thirty second clip (of a news item) of our choice.

With both our partners and our job positions assigned to us by our instructors, Steve Vogelsang and Forde Oliver, we were sent out into Winnipeg to capture a story.

I was partnered with Sean Angus and was assigned the role of shooter/editor, while Angus was assigned the job of reporter.

Since Angus was the reporter, the story idea was up to him. When I asked him what story he wanted to do, he suggested that we cover the Bodies Exhibit, which was slated the open (to a mixed reaction of controversy and excitement) the following day.

"Ok," I said, secretly doubting his idea. -- Though the story seemed like a good one, I was skeptical that I could deliver on good video, since we didn't have access into the actual building.

When our time to shoot rolled around, Angus and I signed out a camera and a tripod and made our way to Portage Avenue and Donald Street, the site of the exhibit. Lugging the heavy equipment and still doubting my partner's story choice, I drilled Angus on the details of his story while trying to come up with shot ideas in my head.

"Ok, we can get a ground shot of people walking, and a couple shots of the building..." I thought. "We can get a shot, or two, of the Donald Street sign too."

To me, the story didn't look hopeful, since we didn't have access to film the actual bodies in the exhibit. I was frustrated with the idea of filling thirty seconds of video (which is a lot more than you'd ever think) with a bunch of mediocre shots that had nothing to do with the actual story or exhibit.

But, this was his story, and I didn't want to complain, or bully him out of it.

We began filming outside the MTS Exhibition Centre; shots of the building, shots of the street sign, more shots of the building...We joked about pretending the be the real media, and asking for a tour, when we noticed a group of people outside the door to the MTS Exhibition Centre, waving us over.

When we made our way to the door, the people told us that they would call the media coordinator for us. We were stunned. (Did they think we were real media? Had God somehow answered our prayers?! Was this a practical joke?!)

When the media coordinator came out (A woman named Christina I think...I can't remember her last name though!) she asked who were we with. Instantly, Angus and I both confessed that we were "only students" in the CreComm program.

Waiting to be expelled from what we now realized was the media showing of the exhibit, Christina offered us press kits and told us that she too had recently graduated from CreComm. (Score!)

Within minutes, thanks in part to a stroke of luck and the CreComm mafia, Angus and I were up in the exhibit with the rest of the Winnipeg media, getting some neat shots of the actual bodies in the exhibit.

We haven't yet been graded on our assignment, but I am very pleased with the shots that we got. (Especially since I am not very good with the ENG cameras.)

Now, there's no real moral to this story...Perhaps, if any, I guess it would be: It's good not to bully your partner? Or, sometimes you just get lucky. Or maybe the moral would be: Sometimes, as a journalist/reporter, you just need to put yourself out there (for the story you want) and see how far your willingness (and luck) will take you before you decide you can't do it.

Who knows...

What is journalism...

When I entered into CreComm, my ambition was to be a "print journalist." (Yeah, I even put that term on the portfolio/application that I submitted. -- when I was asked Journalism instructor, Duncan McMonagle, to explain what I meant by "print journalist" during my entrance interview, I said I wanted to write for a newspaper. Only a newspaper.

Uhhh...

Flash forward to a year (and a bit) later, a couple of industry internships under my belt, and some intense journalism classes endured at Red River College, and I am not sure that I even want to embark on a career in the "print journalism" industry. (Number one reason is probably because there is actually no such thing as a "print journalism industry." But fundamentals aside, I have also come to realize that I don't think I want to be just a 'regular journalist' either. -- A columnist, maybe...)

You see, I have come to realize that when I dreamed of being a journalist I actually had no stinkin' idea what this job entailed. In fact, it wasn't until I was well into my first year of CreComm that I realized how different this job was from the job I made up in my head.

Truth be told, I assumed that it was what I wanted to do because I liked writing and watching the news. I was wrong. (Journalism -- even non-existant "print journalism" has very little to do with creative writing...)

This leads me to the questions: What is journalism:

Well, friends, the profession of journalism is one that sees a group of people -- reporters, editors, photographers, etc. -- come up with news stories, write the news stories, and package it all up in a neat little parcel (in the form of a newspaper, TV, radio, blog, etc...) And present it to the public for consumption.

(Note: Before I continue, I should clarify that when I say that: "Come up with news stories" I mean that these news outlets have means to information that regular joe's like you and I don't. -- They have access to police scanners, and news/press releases. They are invited to press conferences and have credibility when speaking to the public... "Hi, I'm Shelley Cook, a reporter with the Winnipeg Free Press..." That never got old when I used to say that!!)

Some people have a knack for journalism; the to-the-point writing style with little to no inputed opinion about the story; the tight deadlines; the uncertainty about what the day will bring. I would almost venture to say that journalism is a lifestyle for the reporters, editors and other media folks, who are impassioned about their careers and the "news" that goes on around them.

This, however, is not me.

I love to write, share my opinion and I really love to use adjectives. (This, my friends, is not journalism. Or, so I have been told.)

Cartoon: Courtesy of Natalie Dee (www.nataliedee.com)