Courtesy: FSView
It’s a normal Thursday night on November 20, 2014 and as any college kid would be doing, Setareh Baig is sound asleep. She is suddenly woken up by a text from her friend, Blair Stokes saying, “There’s a shooter, someone’s shot.” Immediately Baig is confused. She can’t quite comprehend what Stokes is telling her. Then a fellow editor from the FSView texts in a group chat saying, “I’m walking by Stozier and heard gunshots.” It was in that moment she realized something terrible was happening.
Baig is now an alumna of Florida State University, but a year ago she was a student double majoring in ICT and Psychology, and a key asset to the FSView. She dedicated so much of herself to the paper that it became a third major in her eyes, and eventually she became the leader as Editor-in-Chief. Baig recounts her state of mind the night of the shooting and how she and the editorial staff of the FSView handled the situation.
“When we were hit with it, we started working right away,” said Baig. “Nobody questioned it, nobody said ‘No we’re working too hard.’ Instead everyone was like, ‘How can I do more, how can I sleep less.’ It was really cool how dedicated everyone was.”
Baig and the editorial staff were the only ones working on the story from the FSView. They banded together and worked for 42 hours straight in order to keep the community informed. As both a college student and also a journalist, it is difficult to separate the role you should be taking in this situation. “At first it was really hard for me because these people are my family,” said Baig.
Sports Editor Perry Kostidakis and Photo Editor Matthew Paskert went to the scene, but Baig’s initial reaction was more as a friend and did not want Kostidakis and Paskert in that situation. “Maybe a good editor would’ve said you got to go, but I couldn’t do that.” Kostidakis and Pasker’s sheer dedication drove them to the scene. Having them there allowed for Baig to keep the website and Twitter up to date by getting the events first-hand from them.
“We broke that news for a lot of people as well as a lot of news organizations.” This was a time of all work and no play. The editorial staff had an emergency meeting the next morning to discuss who was going to do what task and how to approach it properly. In this meeting, the staff came to the decision not to name the shooter. This became a huge controversy within the journalist community. “I had established journalists and adults in their careers harassing me on Twitter,” said Baig.
The FSView made a decision that is not uncommon. Oregon recently made the same decision not to name the shooter. They figured that if his name was used and broadcasted that the focus would be on him instead of the victims and the community. As a newspaper, they had to take into account their readers, and if they didn’t want the shooters name displayed then those wishes should be honored.
Courtesy: FSView
Through all of this, Baig also had major news organizations such as CNN and MSNBC contacting her. Because she wasn’t at the library, she instead transferred them to Stokes as well as Kostidakis and Paskert who were reporting on it first-hand.
Baig often reflects on the situation. “It was wild and definitely life changing. It’s hard when you’re reporting on yourself and your peers – these are my friends. I’m not reporting on a random town I have no connection to. When it’s your own campus and your school, it becomes difficult to separate yourself from it.”
When a tragic event occurs on a place you call home, it’s tough to move on from that, but we as a community have and are stronger than ever. To say this was an experience for Baig is an understatement. It was a tragic event for the entire community. As she continues to look back on the situation, she realizes that she doesn’t want to discount the severity of that night but also can’t ignore all she has learned.
“Before the shooting, before I was Editor-in-Chief, I felt like a lot of what I was doing had to please everyone and appeal to everyone around me,” said Baig. “But the shooting happened and I was put into a situation where it was divisive and not everyone agreed with what I did or how I handled it. So I learned that you don’t have to please everyone all the time – epecially as a woman, especially as a woman of color.”
The shooting has given Baig as well as the rest of the Tallahassee community an opportunity to grow. It’s unfortunate that such a tragedy had to happen to bring us all together, but in the wake of the tragic events one year later Baig put it perfectly, “The Tallahassee community is unconquered.”