Amity Rejoices as Killer Shark is Deemed Dead

Celebrations are underway after a nurse shark, believed to be responsible for the death of 17-year-old Christie Watson and 11-year-old Alex Kitner, was caught and killed in waters one mile southwest of Amity by a fisherman.

Amity Police Chief Martin Brody reports that Amity beaches will reopen for the Fourth of July weekend.

Beaches Close as Shark Hunt Begins

South Beach as well as all other beaches in Amity will be closed for the next 24 hours as a wide shark hunt begins. A shark attack has been the suspected cause of death for two local adolescents, Christie Watson, a 17-year-old Amity High School senior, and Alex Kitner, a 11-year-old boy. 

Watson's body was found brutally dismembered on the South Beach shore last Sunday morning. She was last seen alive at 11pm Saturday night by Christopher Hoggenbottom III, after they decided to go swimming after a night of heavy partying. Kitner's body was never found after he went swimming last Tuesday. 

Police Chief Martin Brody announced at the meeting that the beaches are to be closed for the course of a full day in order to allow for wide search and capture efforts to be made. This was an unwelcomed mandate for this beach community which thrives off of the tourism brought by their shores. 

"In Amity 24 hours is like 3 weeks," shouted one enraged citizen. 

A bounty of 3 thousand dollars will be awarded to whomever captures or kills the shark that believed to be responsible for the deaths of Watson and Kitner. 

On Reading Zeitoun

I've been reading a piece of non-fiction called Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, an author who everyone must read at least one book by before they are thirty. Zeitoun follows the lives of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his wife Kathy, in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Eggers illustrates Kathy and Abdul's lives in vivid, personal detail. I swoon over the intention with which he interviewed the couple in order to capture the idiosyncracies that we only notice are strange when someone outside kin witnesses them. Long-form journalism has always won my attention and appreciation more than any other form of non-fiction narrative (with perhaps the exception of personal memoir). Having interviewed quite a few people now, I know how frustrating it can be to get the subject to engage poignant facets of their memory. If there is no color in an interview, the narrative falls to hueless transparency. Profiles fail without these details and long-form narratives as well. I admire Egger's patience and dedication in finding the colors of a family.

I've Got News for You

I don't read news like I used to. As of late I spend more time critiquing leads, questioning sources and taunting my ego ("well I wouldn't have written it that way) than actually focusing on the content of the story. It is reminiscent of the affect of intro film studies class freshman year. Try watching film without your thoughts deviating from the narrative in order to indulge in cinematic curiosities after studying mis-en-scene, lighting, cinematography and acting. My new inner voice of journalistic critique helps me to have an increased appreciation for good reporting, especially from journalists who tend to diverge from the inverted pyramid and take risks in their story-telling.

2 dead after shark terrorizes South Beach

Wide investigation efforts are going underway after the remains of the body of a 17-year-old were found washed up on South beach early Sunday morning. The teenager has been identified as Amity high school senior Christie Watson. Watson was last seen on 11pm on Saturday night with Christopher Hoggenbottom III, a sophomore at Trinity College, when they went swimming at a remote section of South Beach after a night of partying on the shore. Police report that both Watson and Hoggenbottom had been drinking heavily that night.

Hoggenbottam contacted police at around 6 in the morning when Watson had not returned from the water.