Being a “Hyperlocal Blogger” carries with it certain benefits. Since I started my community website back in December of 2008, I have been fortunate enough to meet a lot of local leaders. I’ve gained quite a few friends and I’m on first name basis now with a lot of our local community leaders. I have worked very hard to gain the trust of my community and I run a pretty neutral site as far as politics go. I report news as news but I do stay away from political infighting and I don’t take a stand and voice any personal opinions. I would rather play the part of citizen journalist. I don’t want to piss off 50% of my readers. I save this site to piss everybody off.
I guess because of this, I do not have much trouble at all when I ask someone to give me an interview or to make a statement on my site. I feel like I have gained their trust and they don’t fear that I will show them in a bad light or put a spin on their statements. As a result, I have gained some benefits and I get to go where many are not invited. I say this because you can do the same thing in your community. I have gained a lot of trust and made quite a few friends at my local Police Department. About 2 weeks ago I received a phone call asking if I wanted to ride along on a SWAT bust in my city and bring my video camera. It took a microsecond to accept the invitation. It would be an early morning bust before the sun came up.
We met a 5 am and all of the officers were briefed and went over the plan. Each officer was assigned a duty and each one knew the room of the home they were going to cover. I was in on everything and one of the SWAT Officers were actually assigned to me to cover me in the event of this thing going wrong. Once the briefing was over, all the SWAT Officers put on their gear. It is just like TV. Helmets, masks and automatic weapons. We all piled into a police van and headed for the house with search warrants. Shooting video in the dark presents a problem. When there is not a lot of light, you open the iris on your video camera all the way and try to stay still because light will trail.
Become a Hyperlocal Blogging Bad-Ass
Ok, that may be a little extreme, but I felt like one for a little while. I outfitted one of the officers with a wireless mic and you will be able to hear him easily on the video below. Heavy breathing also. As the SWAT Team entered the house, I could hear everything through my headphones super clear. I knew what was going on inside and these individuals were having a bad day. Their adrenaline was probably sky high and so was mine. It was a pure rush. This is just a clip of the actual entry made. No editing, just raw video. Most of all the video that I shot will be turned into a police training video and also be used for recruitment. I wish I could give more details to you but I’m not a liberty right now. I hope you enjoy the clip below. I certainly recommend that everyone start a hyperlocal blog in your community. Become a video journalist. The fringe benefits can be very exciting.
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quite on the verge of baller status opportunity.