Looking Back:

Well I have a LOT of work to do on this portfolio of mine. A lot of the the tips mentioned in class challenged some of the ideas I had about what my portfolio should include, and I’ve definitely realized that I just had way too much on here. There is definitely more work to do to curate my portfolio, and I expect a lot of really great feedback from our in-class review. I appreciat eht emphasis on the impact of a portfolio and resume, and the need to make it as user friendly as possible. 6 seconds to make someone fall in love?!? A girl can try.

Latest News/Research:

In my presentation this week, I drew on a few of the ideas brought up in API’s Monday newsletter, including the idea of using one hour a week to listen to a reader or create a system around a story. I appreciated Greenbaum’s understanding that journalists feel like they don’t have the time or capacity to take on new models of reporting or new stories. But Greenbaum does a great job of emphasizing that the wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented, just altered to more efficiently go from point A to point B. I’ve already thought of some ways to incorporate the “product mindset” in my own reporting with KLCC, including a twist on a recent story I did about SNAP benefit cuts. I might try to find a way to pitch a comprehensive guide to SNAP program updates, where to find alternative food assistance and how to help those in need. The gears are turning!

API’s Wednesday newsletter included some interesting tidbits about the development of journalism in terms of actual physical spaces. It made me think about our conversations on reporters working in-office only half the week after the pandemic. I wonder if that is detrimental to the flow and collaborative environment of a newsroom or if it’s actually making reporting more accessible. If all of the reporters on a team are based in the same building in the same area in the same city, is there a comfortability that discourages a broad and deep reporting of various areas in the publication’s coverage area?

A specific segment from API’s Friday newsletter caught my attention. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists updated its Cultural Competence Handbook to offer a  “sharper, more practical guide” for reporting on Latinos. It brought back our conversation on bilingual journalism and the nuances of reporting on communities you are not a part of — whether you know the language or not. I’ve often gone back and forth on the topic, sometimes feeling that it’s incredibly important for journalists to report on marginalized communities that they do not identify with, because it broadens the journalist’s understanding of issues pertaining to that group and increases coverage of those communities. But, at the same time, the best stories done on marginalized communities most often come from reporters and writers within those communities. They understand the nuances, can more easily build sources, and there’s less of an invasive feeling for people being reported on. But with a lack of diversity in those newsrooms, it is up to the journalists in the newsrooms to continue reporting on communities whose stories should be shared. It’s reassuring to know that there are organizations making handbooks for this kind of reporting, so that journalists who are not a part of a specific community can avoid inaccuracies and stereotypes in their coverage. But it’s a question I grapple with often in my own reporting.