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Writing didn't come to me naturally, but this class has made me gain enthusiasm for writing and has made me a strong writer and reporter. In middle school, I was not only afraid to use my voice in my writing but I would easily get frustrated that my writing never seemed to adhere to the rubric I was given. However, with AP Style, something clicked for me. The set of rules I learned in my Intro to Media Arts class came to me as second nature once I wrote my first article. Once I make a stance on something or simply tell a story by guiding it with facts, the rest falls into place. The angle is mine to take, and the story is already there, waiting to be told. Ever since I got the hang of writing with this mindset, I have never been afraid to start my articles or reach for those "hard-to-get" interviews.
Stories on the Livewire Website
SPORTS:
Here is one of the first articles I wrote covering volleyball during my sophomore year. The process of setting up interviews was still kind of new to me, and figuring out how to recap sports definetely intimidated me. However, when I took the opportunity to talk to the players, I realized that athletes are excited to be able to talk to you about their performance. I ended up getting quotes that would steer my writing and successfully show me how to let quotes drive your angle.
NATIONAL OPINION:
I loved being able to take a stance on national topics, or even using our platform to share my opinion on things to create fun, yet informational journalism. Between working in the magazine and covering timely topics, I would write about stuff that interests me in my downtime. This often required a lot of research, as it's hard to include interviews in stories on a national level. My Michael Jackson article was an eye-opening experience for me. I emailed countless musicians, friends, and producers of Jackson, and ended up getting responses from nearly 3 of his acquaintances. I had friendly conversations and interactions with these people that allowed me to have meaningful interviews with them, guiding me to create one of what I consider to be my biggest writing accomplishments
LOCAL/FEATURES:
These two articles are ones that taught me how to spotlight special stories in the community and highlight just what makes these individuals special. The first article, "Supporting Tinelli", was my first award-winning piece, which got Second Place for Feature Story in the WKU High School Media Awards and Honorable Mention from Ball State's JDAY/CCIM. I was very excited when I got the award, considering I was hesitant to cover such a serious topic on my first pitch day. To approach it, I asked Ms. Tinelli if she'd be comfortable talking about her health and the support systems she has. The interview was long and emotional, and it set the exact tone that I knew I needed to emphasize with interviews from her family. The result was extremely rewarding, as the article got views from all over the school and community, and it was what I discovered to be meaningful journalism.
INFORMATIONAL:
This informational editorial taught me the importance of research. The more I looked into a subject I thought I knew the bulk of, I realized there was a history behind it that is less talked about. This made me want to shine a light on the unknown or unexplored concepts around nostalgia, catering to and aiming to inform my generation.
INVESTIGATIVE STORIES:
On the subject of research, here are two of my most fact-based stories. I explore the depths of these harsh topics, using the facts to guide the story and be unbiased as I tell it. The P. Diddy Article was one that I produced in quick time. The story was currently breaking, and was the elephant in the room that many wanted to talk about but didn't know how to. I noticed that most people were confused as to what was real and fake news about the story, so as a result, I got the idea to write an explanatory article, clearly structured to break down the case using heavy research. I heard back from quite a few of my peers telling me that they read my article and it was the first easy-to-digest version of this story that they've heard. It made me realize how important truthful, simple storytelling can be.
Stories in the Livewire Magazine
Articles like these news features highlight local trends. These articles cover concert-going and thirfting, two things extrememly popular with this generation's high-schoolers. They were pretty easy articles to get used to writing in the magazine my first year on staff, as they were topics almost anyone was willing to talk about. I'd often post on our Instagram story to see if anyone specific would be interested in being interviewed, and from there I'd start writing.
This article comments on an issue within my school that hasn't been addressed by our staff before: the absence of personalization opportunities for students. When I started the article, I had planned on critiquing the issue and proposing a solution, however, after my interviews I realized there were very valid reasons as to why these opportunities are not available at my school. I then changed my article stance to clear the misconceptions around these popular frustrations.
Through research, I typically gather facts or stories online into one joint document and pull out relevant information to combine with my quotes. In my article "Legend Has It", I was able to speak with a local film-maker and a local author to provide me with more insight to tell my story.
To write about an issue on a global scale, I emailed and called so many fashion departments. I almost got an interview with a CEO from Ford Models, but not wanting to speak for their brand, he opted out. I called those businesses that seemed unreasonable- even Gucci. I realized it is not about the name behind the interview, but what they'll have to say. I ended up with an interview with a local fashion business owner, and the President of TOPS Magazine, a local magazine in Lexington, KY. I got fresh perspectives on beauty standards, perfect to guide my article.
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