Story of the Week 4/7

via MSNBC

I have two stories this week that I want to highlight. They both have to do with the bill that Malloy signed into law on Thursday.

It was a big week for us at the Chronicle because most of our legislators ended up voting “no” when it came time to vote for the bill.

In general, it was a huge week for the state, since Malloy approved the strongest gun laws in the country.

The first story I wrote was a general local legislator reaction to the bill. I wrote it the day before they would vote on it. I had pitched it to my editor the night before I wrote it because I thought it was a big deal, which it was, and that we should jump on it since everyone else will before the big vote on Wednesday.

Local lawmakers satisfied, concerned

I got most, if not all, of our local legislators in the story. I was happy about that because we have a pretty good mix of red and blue in our coverage area. Everyone had really strong opinions and I’m glad that I got the space to get everyone’s two cents into the story. It came out really well.

I was a bit surprised with what they had to say and I think you will be, too.

via nytimes.com

The second story, which came out Thursday was a man on the street reaction to the bill passing. It was Mike’s idea and I asked for it. I made sure I cleared my schedule, so that I could focus my attention Thursday morning to the story.

Local residents react to passage

I was really happy with what people had to say. Those kinds of stories are hit or miss sometimes on what people are going to want to say to a reporter. I lucked out. Everyone knew what was going on and had an opinion on it. Obviously, it’s not everyone in our area, but it certainly puts things in perspective for our readers.

Now that the bill is law, what do you think about it? Will this become the trend for the rest of the United States?

Jonathan