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In this episode of “Journalism 101 with Tripping Raul,” the host, Tripping Raul, shares reflections and anecdotes from her past experiences as a journalist. She starts by mentioning her intent to recall various memories that include gallows humor, the bond she shared with colleagues, and her reasons for falling into a journalism career despite her fears of the dark.
Raul provides a personal account of her life, admitting her introverted nature and difficulties confronting people, which sometimes affected her reporting. She illustrates this with an example involving a school superintendent accused of misappropriating funds. Raul also touches on the financial struggles of journalists, humorously recounting a conversation with a police chief about journalists’ cars and her shockingly low salary.
As Raul continues, she describes not feeling physically attractive and contrasts this self-view with the AI-generated images on her blog. Despite these insecurities, she finds value in the journalistic work she was able to do, which she felt helped people.
She fondly recalls the camaraderie and humor shared among her colleagues in the newsroom to cope with the often grim nature of their news stories. Raul shares a specific instance of morbid humor when a coworker created, then discarded, a darkly humorous headline about a tragedy at a theme park.
Raul reminisces about covering serious news like 9/11 and lighthearted exchanges between colleagues that offered brief respite during stressful times. The discussions would jump from professional to personal topics, illustrating the tight-knit nature of the newsroom.
Towards the end of the episode, she reveals future plans for the podcast, expressing a desire to feature stories from other journalists. She invites her former colleagues and other newspaper reporters to share their own journalism journeys by recording their stories and sending them to her for inclusion in future episodes.
Raul concludes the podcast by hinting at an upcoming episode about a murder case that may have been solved with modern technology, emphasizing her continual pursuit of engaging and relevant journalistic stories. She signs off by inviting listeners to tune in for the next episode.
In this episode of “Journalism 101 with Tripping Raul,” the host dives into a chilling case of cannibalism that took place in San Luis Valley. Tripping Raul begins by describing the grisly discovery of human remains belonging to victim Peter Green. His torso was found wrapped in Native-American-themed blankets in the closet of his own home, while his legs were found in a trash bin outside his on-and-off girlfriend’s apartment.
Through the course of the episode, Tripping Raul reflects on her own experiences and challenges in podcasting, including dealing with programmatic advertising and testing new AI applications. She shares insights into the art of journalism and the tool of acting oblivious, which was employed by the local police to manage media inquiries about the case.
Shifting to the main focus of the episode, Raul narrates personal stories involving difficult and inappropriate colleagues she encountered during her journalism career in New Mexico and Colorado. These stories cover a variety of unsettling experiences:
4. **Roger, the ‘Jingler’:** Raul briefly mentions Roger, who made her uncomfortable with his behavior in the newsroom.
Throughout the episode, Raul reflects on how phrases and approaches to racial issues have evolved, critiquing past terminology like being “color blind” and highlighting the importance of acknowledging and celebrating diversity. She also delves into a personal anecdote about a city council meeting where her journalistic integrity was questioned, illustrating the complexities of covering sensitive issues and the judgments journalists can face.