When I first took journalism, I expected a class that was strictly writing. I quickly discovered that this was not the case, and that there is a multitude of different ways in which a story can be told, to varying degrees of creativity. As a student journalist, I've experimented with ways to communicate information, whether it be through infographic, slideshow, or video. As social media became a more popularized tool for sharing news, I also learned how to create posts, write succinct captions, and take captivating images.
After the books on Texas Rep. Matt Krause's list had been targeted, I wanted to find the organizations who were helping these books reach their audience. To showcase these different organizations which support queer and racially diverse artists, I made an informational slideshow. This was a more visually intriguing and interesting way to illustrate what otherwise could've been a simple list at the end of my article.
After writing a story about the discrimination Micronesian communities face, I wanted to make sure that these stereotypes were addressed. Working with a student who I interviewed for the story, I asked how she would stop these stereotypes from proliferating. I then synthesized her responses with data I found from Civil Beat, which explained the history behind each stereotype. I thought this information was best shown through an infographic as it made the information easier to digest and break down.
As I currently run the Mid-Pacific Awareness Association's Instagram, I often use the skills I've learned as a student journalist in order to tell compelling stories from our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) club at school. In my first artifact, I edited together short interviews from students who attended a workshop that DEI held at the annual School's of the Future conference. This video was posted to help raise awareness for why this topic is important and I used anecdotes from each student to add a more personalized, endearing quality to the post.
For the second artifact, I took pictures and videos of students while they attended the IB English retreat. This retreat was held for all IB English juniors and seniors to reflect on their time being in the program, and I wanted to spotlight this fun experience. After writing the caption, I grabbed a quote from an attending junior so that those viewing our Instagram would recognize a classmate, making the post more engaging for our students.