Reporters on the Job
AT SCHOOL WITH NO RIDE: Reporting on a tragedy is never easy. Today's story about the bombing in Jerusalem (page 1) was no exception for Ben Lynfield. One of the hardest parts was talking to the children at a middle school near the blast. "It's the end of the school year and the children are filled with a sense of impending freedom," says Ben. "This attack turned all that around." A 13-year-old boy Ben interviewed was stuck at school, because his parents couldn't get there to pick him up. "I asked him how he was going to get home. He told me that he was going to take the bus the same bus route that was just attacked. I said that wasn't such a good idea. I offered to give him a ride home, but the school officials decided that I was a stranger, and stopped me. I felt bad for him."
POLITICS AT THE PUMP: Reporter Tom Regan didn't have to hunt too hard to find supporters of rising Quebec politician Mario Dumont (page 7). "My wife and I were taking our kids to the Granby Zoo in Quebec, when we stopped for gas. I mentioned this story to my wife, and the gas station attendant heard Dumont's name. He launched into a long praise-filled description of Dumont. It shows the kind of enthusiastic response this guy gets among young Quebeckers."
WORLD CUP FAVORITES: Nothing has illustrated to our (English) European correspondent, Peter Ford, the value of small teams playing alongside big ones (pages 1 and 7) at soccer's World Cup. Watching favored giants being knocked out by unknowns is a special pleasure, he says, and he has found himself supporting teams belonging to countries he has never visited such as Senegal and South Korea just for the joy of watching them beat France and Italy. "Long may the trend last," he says. "Or at least as long as it doesn't knock England out."
David Clark Scott
World editor
Cultural snapshot
