Mom and Son Citizen Journalists

Late one Sunday afternoon about a year ago, I heard a horn blowing outside. Before I could pull back the curtain to see who was making all the noise, I could hear my son's voice bouncing off my second story window. "Mom, there's an explosion in Kentucky," he called out, "Do you want to go?" I'm a citizen journalist, Of course I wanted to go.

Last May, a man representing James "Buster" Douglas' noticed Greg's popularity on CNNIreport.com and called him to ask if he wanted to interview the former heavy weight champion. Of course I wanted to go; and I was happy to accompany him on the 100 mile drive to Columbus, Ohio a few days later.

Cincinnati Reds fans camping out on the square for tickets? Buildings ablaze? Sarah Palin, John McCain, Joe Biden, Barack Obama in town? Ice storms? Wind Storms? Minor or major events? Human Puppets dancing in the street? Yes, yes, yes. Of course, I want to go.

The day the house exploded in Kentucky, I grabbed my purse, my camera, a notepad and pen and ran out the door. (I used to investigate serious injury cases, so getting a call and hitting the road is de'ja' vu for me) It was a short drive across the Brent Spence bridge from Ohio to Kentucky, about 20 miles to Florence; and in minutes we were stepping over glass shards and.wooden splinters on the sidewalk, talking to neighborhood residents, filming video and snapping pictures.

Not long ago someone coined the phrase Citizen Journalists. No matter how it was intended, I like the idea of ordinary citizens out there capturing a story. Whether its Mom or Son who finds the lead for an interesting tale, "Do you want to go?" for us is a mere formality

I'm Carol Rucker.... the Mom half of the Mom & Son citizen journalists team. While my son loves videos, I am a writer and artist at heart. I made a career in insurance claims and litigation investigation, but have always kept my artistic desires alive. When my son told me about CNNIreport.com a a few years ago, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to be heard, so I began writing short articles under the name Natilady.

I write for a few sites these days, mostly Associatedcontent.com (now part of Yahoo), Helium.com, and occasionally Seed.com. I write about making jewelry, insurance and liability issues and as Featured Crafts Contributor for AssociatedContent, I enjoy imparting my personal wisdom and quirky sense of style through arts and crafts how-tos.

While my son sticks to his "fair, fun and balanced" persona, I must tell it like it is with an occasional opinion piece. I toe the straight news line when Vice President Biden, Sarah Palin or some other major personality comes to town.

Working with my son is rewarding; it offers a chance to interact with him in ways most mothers can't imagine. And I must say, we make quite a team.

Greg Reese from Cincinnati (that's how he introduces himself in his videos these days) is excited to have recently surpassed 1 Million online views for his videos.

As with many online videograhers, Greg got his start uploading videos to Youtube.com and later that year, Associatedcoontent.com. His online numbers began to rise during the 2008 Presidential campaign when he wrote and performed the Obama, Palin, McCain and Biden raps, following what he calls his fair, fun and balanced policy.

Greg now posts his videos to associatedcontent.com, CNNireport.com, Youtube of course and a few other sites. He's gone through a few different user names including Powerplayonetv on Youtube and Oyeah on CNNIreport; but now he does most of his videos under Greg Reese from Cincinnati.

Some of Greg's videos have aired on CNN, CNN International, Headlines News and a local Cincinnati television station.

In a lot of Greg's work, you'll see his wife, Dawnyell, providing beautiful vocal accompaniments to some of his more lyrical pieces. She traveled with Greg to Springfield, Illinois when then candidate Obama announced his VP running mate and to Gary, Indiana the weekend after Michael Jackson died.

Dawnyell does an occasional video or two of her own, as well, mostly music tutorials; but she's not so much into filming or writing as she is singing. Then there's Daniel, their two year old son, my grandson, who you will see growing up in their videos.

Daniel made the trip to Springfield and Gary and a lots of other places. He was in the background while we got our super hero and Prius/casket stories. He's there quite a bit, as a matter of fact; he even has a camera of his own.