Temple journalism students react to tragic shooting of Florida TV reporter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A TV reporter who was shot and killed in central Florida was born and raised in the Philadelphia area.
Dylan Lyons and his family moved to Florida, where he attended high school and then enrolled at the University of Central Florida, earning degrees in journalism and political science.
Lyons and his photographer, Jesse Walden, were covering the deadly shooting of a woman in her car Wednesday afternoon when police say the suspected gunman returned to the neighborhood and shot them both.
Local journalism students at Temple University reacted to the tragedy Thursday, and say their idea about entering this field is evolving.
"Someone should not be losing their life because of a story," Maggie Fitzgerald, a journalism student at Temple, said.
On Temple's campus, Fitzgerald is learning the ropes on how to live out her dreams. She's a junior at the Klein College of Media and Communication, and a former intern at CBS News Philadelphia.
While she didn't know Lyons, his death is hitting her hard.
"Seeing journalists out in the field doing their job delivering this information to the public, doing an act of service and losing their lives because of it is unimaginable," Fitzgerald said.
Part of the coursework is going into neighboring communities in North Philadelphia to cover stories, just like Lyons and his photographer were doing Wednesday when they were attacked. Students say what happened to them is their worst fear.
"It's scary because I know a lot of people, including myself, go out here and do these kinds of things, go do live shots go on stories, so it's a bit scary and chilling to hear," Luke Meli, another journalism student at Temple, said.
And with so much volatility towards the media, a Temple professor says the job still has to get done and he has to evolve on how to teach it.
"The job of journalists is often to approach people at the worst times of their lives and get the stories and so you're already dealing with a heated and emotional moment," George Miller, a journalism professor at Temple, said.
Miller has been a journalism professor at Temple since 2007. Prior to that, he was a photojournalist and crime reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. He says he's teaching his students sensitivity when out in the field.
"We teach our students to be aware of their surroundings," Miller said. "We talk to our students about neighborhoods. We try to give them cultural competency, so they're not going into situations expecting something different.
As for Fitzgerald, while she's dismayed, she says she won't be discouraged from chasing her dreams.
"You don't know what kind of people you'll run into on a daily basis and that increases the risk in the field but at this moment, I haven't changed my mind," she said.
