Reporting on Martha Stewart's stay in prison stretched the journalistic skills of AU professor Alicia Shepard, who had to find creative ways to glean information about a celebrity she was not allowed to interview.
"I stopped cars going to the prison and asked for interviews. I'd ask people if they wanted to talk to People magazine," Shepard said. "It was a little embarrassing sometime. But most people want to talk to People magazine."
Shepard began her work as a Martha Stewart special reporter for People when she was called by the magazine's D.C. bureau and asked to go to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia on Oct. 8, 2004.
"I was asked to report on the Martha Stewart case last minute," Shepard said. "I went to Alderson for the first time the day that she went in."
During Stewart's entire five-month stay at Alderson, Shepard traveled on special assignments to report her observations on the Stewart case. "It was a huge challenge to get accurate information," Shepard said. "The only way to cover the Martha Stewart case was to report through the family members of inmates."
Interviewing through third-party sources challenged Shepard to come up with creative ways to get information she needed.
The visitor arrangement of the prison worked toward Shepard's advantage, she said. All inmates and visitors met in a small waiting room where everyone in the room could see and hear everyone else, including Stewart.
"I asked people what they had seen or heard in the visitor room at Alderson," Shepard said.
Within the first weekend, Shepard found reliable sources, whom she used during the next two times she went back to report for People.
"These families who were visiting their loved ones in Alderson were my eyes and ears," Shepard said. "I essentially trained them to be reporters."
Shepard returned to Alderson on Thanksgiving and when Stewart left the prison.
"Alicia did an incredible job reporting," said Linda Kramer, acting D.C. bureau chief at People. "You can't just walk in and interview Martha Stewart in prison. ... Alicia was creative and did what had to be done. We couldn't put the magazine together without good freelancers like Alicia."
Shepard's position as a stringer reporter for People began when a friend encouraged her to apply for the position. Since then, Shepard has been contracted by People to report for the national publication.
"I think it's definitely cool. ... It's really great to have a professor teaching us what we're supposed to know," said Mati Kerpen, a senior in the School of Communication and a student of Shepard's. "It's good to see a professor going out and practicing what we're learning"
