Reflections

I learned a lot about how writing circulates and develops over time.  Through this course, I've seen multiple examples of how writing can change over time and across multiple different mediums and sources.  I thought our work with Harris did a lot to help me conceptualize the different moves writers can make with respect to other people's work.  The first chapter, "Coming to Terms", really helped me to be a better critical reader, and the chapter's about forwarding and countering helped me to see what other writers were doing, as well as to incorporate these moves into my own writing arsenal.

I really enjoyed the news focus of this class.  I had fallen out of paying attention to the news last quarter, but I've become an avid follower recently, do mainly to this class.  Reading the New York Times started as just an "assignment", but now it's gone on to me just caring more about the world around me.  I also really like how we discussed the news in class.  It was always interesting to hear what other people were following, and I liked talking about the news stories I had seen.  I also found myself looking into stories a lot more.  I never used to look at different sources for stories, but now I've become more skeptical about different points of view.  Overall I really enjoyed this course.

The Death of Chris Grundy

            On the morning of Saturday, May 10^th, 2010, Saranac boy Christopher James Grundy lay dead with a single bullet wound in his left shoulder.  Around 1:30 AM, Deputy Dan Bishop gave chase to Chris, 20, after he blew past a stop sign going nearly 100 MPH.  Deputy Bishop was soon joined by another officer, when they cornered Chris.  Chris rammed the other officer’s vehicle, and that’s when Deputy Bishop fired four bullets at the car.  Chris drove another tenth of a mile, exited his vehicle, and collapsed in a ditch.  By the time the ambulance arrived, he was already dead.  This was a local story, and it had a powerful impact in the small community of Saranac, MI; the town I grew up in.  I had known Chris since 2005.  He had been great friends with my older step brothers, and even lived with us for almost four months.  The story itself is pretty straight forward, and the facts of the incident remain the same from site to site.  However, what does change is how the story is presented and what purposes the story is used to serve.

            On May 15^th, at 10:26AM, Wood TV published a story titled “Family Questions Cop-Involved Shootings”.  This was one of the first news outlets to address that morning’s story.  The writer, Dani Carlson, focuses primarily on presenting the currently known facts, and the story also features quotes for Chris’ brother, Ben Rawlings, and Lt. Kelly of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.  She begins by explaining what they know about what happened that morning, talking about the chase, the confrontation, and the eventual death.  She then presents the opinion of Chris’ brother Ben.  Ben was astounded by the situation saying “It’s just hard to understand.  Was there a way around it?”  He wonders about anything he could have done to save his brother, and who can blame him?  Lt. Kelly was quoted saying “It’s very traumatic” speaking for everybody involved.  Dina takes a simple news approach to this story, and this story represents a local news sphere as it has just begun.  She presents what facts she has at the moment, and she effectively uses quotes from Ben and Lt. Kelly to present opinions from both the family and the police.  She ends by mentioning the funeral to be held for Chris; an event which was attended by over 100 people including myself.  Wood TV 8 is a local news station in western Michigan.  It’s primarily a television news station for the Grand Rapids area, and like most news sources, it also has a presence on the web.  This was the first story I could find detailing the events of the shooting.

            Another similar story was featured on the Michigan news site mlive.com (a site that brings together local news from across Michigan), written by Shandra Martinez for the Grand Rapids Press.  Published on May 15^th at 7:42PM and titled “Christopher Grundy's shooting death by Kent County Sheriff's deputy mystifies family”, takes a more personal approach to the story.  It begins with a photo of Chris holding his baby niece, and talks about Chris at his 8-year old nephew’s birthday party, where he “was acting like a kid himself.”  She then goes on to talk about the story in a similar manner to Dina.  She presents the same facts of the incident, but then adds a more in depth look at Chris as a person.  She talks about him graduating from Saranac High School, some of the jobs he held, and also about some of her own reflections on him from looking at his MySpace page, saying how it “shows deep affection for the family”.  Being the first day of the story, Dina and Shandra were limited in what they could report.  They both drew from the facts given by the police, and also the words of Chris’ brother Ben.  Shandra added background information about Chris to bring more a clearer context to the story, and to help illustrate the family’s reservations about Chris’ intentions that night.
            John Tunison also wrote an article for mlive.com titled “Christopher Grundy's death is latest in uptick of officer-involved shootings in West Michigan” May 17^th, 2010.  This story forwards the story by Sandra Martinez.  John noted that Deputy Daniel Bishop had been identified as the officer that had shot Chris.  He also adds some more background context to Chris, saying that Chris “was marked by trouble with the law” and that he’d spent 93 days in jail in 2007 for reckless driving and destruction of property.  He forwards Sandra’s story by adding details, and also by using it for a new purpose.  Whereas Sandra was trying to present the story and the details she had available, John is trying to use this story to help illustrate a rise in officer-involved shootings.  He also provides a list of other shootings that happened in west Michigan over the past year.  This article is still early in the life of this story, and it would continue to develop as more details were presented.            On June 16^th, 2010, a story from WZZM 13 News (another local news TV station in west Michigan) titled “Prosecutor rules deputy-involved shooting of Chris Grundy is self defense” seems to be the end of this story in the news sphere.  It forwards the original story of the shooting, by presenting it again, and adding the information about the Deputy.  It covers the same facts as the other stories.  He blew a stop sign, ran from police, and the Deputy had no choice, but to use lethal force.  This story also adds some new details about Chris’ state of mind during the incident.  He had been driving on a suspended license, and his blood alcohol content was .19.  Also that day mlive.com featured the police video of the incident.  These articles marked the end of this news stories life cycle in the news sphere.  It hasn’t been reported on since, but this story still lives on in the hearts of Chris’ friends and family.
            This story had a tremendous local impact in the town of Saranac, and the story was spread around the town in unconventional ways.  I didn’t hear about this story from the news.  I heard about through word of mouth, from my friends and my older brother.  The story was all over Facebook, and was widely discussed around Saranac High School.  To help pay for the funeral, the local gas station, Torco, sold Chris Grundy wristbands.  They said “Rest in Peace” on the outside, and “Christopher James Grundy” on the inside.  I saw numerous people in my school, and the town of Saranac wearing these wristbands.  Many of his closest friends took his mother’s quote, “He could make people laugh” (mlive.com), as a line to remember him by.  They printed shirts and bumper stickers saying “Christopher Grundy: He could make people laugh.”  Chris may have died, but his memory still lives on through his friends and family.            I think this story helps show the lifecycle of a local story.  This audience isn’t as large as a national story, and it didn’t receive noticeable recognition by the blogging community.  However, I think this particular story provides a good demonstration of how a news story develops as new details are added about it.  It started by being presented as a local news story with limited information.  They knew what happened, but many details had not yet been released, such as the name of the deputy, and Chris’ bodily state that night.  As the story developed it was used to help illustrate a growth in police-involved shootings.  Finally, the case of Deputy Bishop was decided as a justified act of self-defense.  Throughout the whole ordeal, this story was spreading around the community.    While the news sphere has forgotten about the shooting of Chris Grundy, the village of Saranac has not forgotten this tragic turn of events.Sources1.       “Family questions cop-involved shooting”, Dani Carlson, Wood TV 8, May 15^th, 2010
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/suspect-shot-by-sheriff-deputy-dies 2.       “Christopher Grundy's shooting death by Kent County Sheriff's deputy mystifies family”, Sandra Martinez, mlive.com, May 15^th, 2010http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/christopher_grundys_shooting_d.html3.       “Christopher Grundy's death is latest in uptick of officer-involved shootings in West Michigan”, John Tunison, mlive.com, May 17^th, 2010
4.       “Deputy cleared in shooting after case”, Wood TV 8, June 16^th, 2010
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/deputy-cleared-in-shooting-after-chase
5.       “Video of police shooting of Christopher Grundy shows lengthy car chase” John Tunison, mlive.com, June 16^th, 2010
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/video_of_police_shooting_of_ch.html
6.       “Prosecutor rules deputy-involved shooting of Chris Grundy is self defense” WZZM 13, June 16^th, 2010
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=122717

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/christopher_grundys_death_is_l.html