Covering people and cultures from around the world is what kickstarted my interest in journalism. I feel myself gravitating toward reporting on issues that marginalized people face to tell the stories of underrepresented groups. Now, I encourage my staff to join me in this effort and continue reporting these stories that haven't been heard just yet.
One of the most difficult stories I've had to write was about the closure of affinity groups in the High School. After assessments from the Office for Standards of Education, affinity groups could no longer only be open to select ethnicities or races. I interviewed 10 members of my community who used to be part of the Jewish affinity group, Students of Color affinity group and Arab affinity group, along with the DEI director at our school.
In October, when conflict arose between Hamas and Israel, London was quick to react. I went to a protest in central London and took photos and conducted interviews with demonstrators there. The piece had interviews from protestors in support of Palestine, a police officer and a rebbetzin. When crafting the story, I took time to craft an impartial piece with information from reliable sources, and interviewees with ties to both sides of the war.
Linked below are more of my stories that cover diverse social justice topics. Click on each image to read the story.
Representation is a key factor in how minority groups engage with media. Being underrepresented in media is directly correlated with adverse reactions to journalism. Last year, I came together with last year's Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Print and created a short mini-lesson for the editors' class. The video we showed in slide three particularly resonate with our editors and made them reconsider what we chose to platform.
Earlier this year, I messaged a staff writer about pitching a story about her background as an Armenian student. She was interested in covering the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in features, however, a lack of knowledgable sources halted the process. In the fall, I asked her to consider writing about her own identity. She is currently working on the piece and is in her final stages. Click to read my correspondence with her.
Another student was interested in writing a follow-up piece to my feature on how women in STEM faced prejudice at the school. I worked with her to workshop the idea and build on my work.
In a student paper, our reporters are bound to have overlap and interest in writing about the same topics. That's why I encourage them to find a new angle or consider finding a new story to diversify our coverage. When I was Lead Features Editor, I would leave notes for our reporters on how they could amend their ideas.
