In the Loop: April 21, 2008 Archive

Blogging from the polygamy beat

Posted at 3:30 PM on April 21, 2008 by Jeff Horwich (3 Comments)

For a show this week, we're preparing to interview Brooke Adams, who may be the only reporter in the country to exclusively cover the polygamy beat.

She reports for the Salt Lake Tribune and, not surprisingly, her paper quickly dispatched her this month to Eldorado, Texas, where the removal of 416 children from the compound of a polygamist sect is creating one of the major news events of the moment (at least if you watch CNN, which seems to have an update every five minutes or so).

Brooke has been blogging from Texas, and it adds a fascinating new dimension to the coverage. While the newspaper articles explore the big ins-and-outs of the court case and broken community, the blog allows for pulling out threads like:

* What's with the bed in the temple?
* What's with the clothes? And is it right that we even care?
* Why, despite objections from Mormons, are these groups called "fundamentalist" Mormons?

The best thing about the blog is that each item becomes a true conversation. Outsiders and insiders weigh in with opinions and the more-than-occasional helpful fact.

We're told Brooke rarely if ever does media interviews, so we're lucky to talk more with her about her unusual assignment.

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