Getting to the Grind...

For the podcast/video assignment, I have learned how to think, ask questions, and have the angle as a journalist. In my previous assignments, I have found that I love people and love telling their stories. In this podcast/video assignment I have found an interesting take on how I will be informing the audience on fair trade coffee in our region. Where do the coffee houses import their beans from? What is the purpose of fair trade and why they implement this into their business. Furthermore, I will be looking at how the coffee import/export supply chain was impacted by COVID-19 and how our region's coffeehouses were impacted by the shift.

This article will help put me in the mindset for data journalism by adhering to statistics and economic impact with import/export. Furthermore, as I shift my focus to the enterprise story, I will take advantage by what I have learned thus far on the coffee supply chain and interview a local roaster: Doe River Roasters. They roast their own beans and supply to many coffeehouses of the area: Elizabethton Coffee Company, Still Waters Coffeehouse, The Corner Cup, and Doe River Roasters. I will then go to each of these coffeehouses and interview them on why they decide to use a local roaster and what these ethics mean to them.

Moreover, the focus of the enterprise will be on the roasting process: the before, during, and after. Where do Doe River Roasters get their beans? How do they roast them? Where do the beans go? What is the process? This will be in video form, so that the viewer can understand the process of roasting and how it impacts them.

One of the coolest parts about this beat is seeing how closely knit and diverse the coffee community is here in the Tri-Cities. One may think they are in competition with one another; however, it is the opposite: they are cheering one another on. Unlike CEO corporations that are against one another in competition as they try to sell their ideas along with their coffee. Each small business here wants one another to succeed as they bring coffee, community and culture into their region. It really is something beautiful to watch unravel before each story.