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Friday, February 21, 2025

The tragedy through an alumni’s eyes

 

“There are three kinds of people who run toward disaster, not away: cops, firemen and reporters.”

-Rod Dreher, newspaper columnist

The Tragedy

When the news surfaced that reporter Allison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward were brutally shot and killed by a former employee, the Roanoke community fell in together to help their loved station in any way they could. Coworkers voiced positive memories of their fallen friends, saying that they were some of the kindest, and nicest people at the station, according to CNN’s Todd Leopold and Emanuella Grinberb. It has surely been a solemn week for Roanoke and the surrounding areas.

This tragedy is not new news to most of the American public, but a situation of this magnitude always leaves unanswered questions.

The alumni.

Longwood alumni, Paul Eldert, is a photojournalist at WSLS 10, a NBC affiliate out of Roanoke, Virginia. WSLS 10 is a competing station with WDBJ 7, but in times like this, that factor is pushed aside. According to Eldert, rival stations of all sorts came together as this situation unfolded in hopes of aiding WDBJ 7 in any way that they could.

“No matter what they needed, we were going to be there until the end, and we saw that through other agencies as well.”

Paul shot and edited the story WSLS did on Adam Ward’s high school ties to Roanoke, along with the shooter’s apartment investigation on August 26. He even got the pleasure of briefly meeting Alison and Adam when they were covering a story, but never got the chance to truly get to know the two.

He graduated from Longwood University in 2010, with a degree in Communication Studies, and is a former member of The Rotunda, where he created ‘The Rotunda Show.’

How this tragedy affected the community?

“It hit the community hard, everywhere you go, you see signs saying ‘We stand with ‘WDBJ 7’ and ‘Roanoke Strong,’ ‘Prayers for Adam, Alison and Smith Mountain Lake Commerce,’” said Eldert. “At the high school football game I’m covering Friday night, you’ll see signs of love, support and ‘prayers for 7.’”

Wherever you go, whether it's in Roanoke, Bedford or the New River Valley Area, people are affected and hurt by this awful loss, and it's almost difficult to go anywhere without seeing overwhelming support for WDBJ, according to Eldert.

Is safety an issue for journalist?

Safety, after that horrible Wednesday morning, is on a lot of people's minds. Do reporters need to worry every time they leave the station? Will this change anything in the media community?

“I know some of my colleagues are on edge at the moment, and rightfully so, but you can’t let that overcome your talents,” said Eldert. “I don’t feel as safe as I did earlier this summer, but there is no fear on my end when I am going out and doing my job.”

Methods of reporting are being altered after this incident, in hopes of keeping journalists out of harm's way.

According to Eldert, live shots and being a one-man band, are concepts that are currently being reconsidered in the Roanoke community. Stemming from a safety training meeting WSLS had with the Roanoke City Police, they are now putting more effort into ‘look-live’ shots, and doing more ‘in studio’ live shots, so that reporters who are out in the field could have a fighting chance, if it came down to it.

“When you're sitting out there for two hours doing a live shot, you're basically a sitting duck, in a sense, the public knows where they can find you if they wanted to confront you about something,” said Eldert.

“For the love of the game.”

Eldert encourages aspiring journalists to not let this discourage them from the career. “What happened last week, that wasn't an attack on journalism by the public. That was workplace violence played out in front of the public, and that is a very important difference.”

“My love for journalism has never wavered, I don’t say these things to discourage up-and-comers,” said Eldert. “You’ll find yourself surrounded by amazing and inspiring colleagues…it's a fraternity of sorts, and if you're as lucky as I am, you will become part of a group of people who can pull you out of the funk of whatever tragedy you are covering that day.”

“This job is not for the faint of heart; you're going to have to cover some heartbreaking and terrible stories,” said Eldert. “There will be murders, fires and layoffs, and while the people you are interviewing will probably take the rest of their day to mourn what’s going on, that’s going to be your office until the story gets told.”