Following Mandy and Liz's first meeting with Sandy Smith, the two created a timeline of events related to Stephen Smith's suspicious death while they balanced full-time jobs.
But after Mandy's editor at The Packet assigned the Mallory Beach and Stephen Smith story to a male colleague, a fire was lit under her to fight for coverage.
Read John Monk's article on Mallory and Stephen here.
To keep the story alive, Liz and Mandy continued to file FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests and gather information involving the Murdaugh family; that was when Mandy received the 911 call from the boat crash.
In this call, Connor Cook speaks to a 911 operator and explains the scene of the incident.
Mandy and Liz uncovered many elements of the Murdaugh saga through public records from submitting weekly FOIA requests.
How To: From the Luna Shark Team
To learn more about FOIA, Luna Shark researcher Beth Braden wrote an article on her best practices. You can also gather information by searching the public index. Beth Braden also outlines how to search the public index.
As Mandy's coverage of the boat crash case picked up, so did public attention. To promote her work, Mandy was told to create a Tweet thread with the link to her story attached to gain traction.
That's when Mandy caught the attention of a man named Will Folks, the founder of FITSNews.
Behind the Book with Co-Author Carolyn Murnick
"John Monk appears many times throughout the book. Heโs a real person and a veteran reporter and sharing these interactions with him was not about shaming him personally: heโs one of many; heโs a representation of a system that favors good ole boys and entrenched ways of operating. Mandy and I knew so many women in a whole range of fields would be able to relate. Every woman in the workplace has had to deal with sexist microaggressions or a man taking credit for her idea or being passed over for a promotion in favor of a less qualified man. These scenes were about giving voice to that frustration that every woman goes through at some point in her working life. We also wanted to show what a toxic place The Packet had become for Mandy and introduce Will to set up the next phase of Mandyโs career."
Curious about a document, video or photo? Let us know!
Lee Gilley is still currently in Italy and no new date has been set yet for his Houston trial.
What is the most current status?
Hi Neilson - we just found out Courtroom E on the second floor.
Im here now and cannot find a soul to tell me what room I should be in.
Hi Lisa! Thank you for your support. Weโll be sharing additional ways to stand with Mandy for those who canโt…
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