Hello lovely folks. This Sunday is Valentine’s day and I plan on spending the day relaxing with my boyfriend. This means I am getting all my homework done early this week, including Sunday blog thoughts.
To start, one of the first things I saw this week was Jacob’s story about the 9-year-old who died from suspected COVID-19 complications.
We had a long debate in class over whether this should be published or not, what language we could or couldn’t use around it, and if maybe we should just wait to publish. It was riveting discussion about morals, credibility, and audience perception.
I was one of the few students who thought we should go ahead with publishing this and I was glad to see we did. The few concerns I had with it were taken care of in the published piece. I thought the headline wasn’t too much clickbait, and I thought it was wise to put “suspected” right at the beginning so we don’t lead the readers on. I liked the photos we ran as well. Those, paired with Jacob’s great writing and intimate quotes, really do this girl justice. This story focuses on the person first, the news second, and I think that is what it really needed to be a respectful piece. I am glad we decided to publish because I think this story needed to be out there.
Last week I promised you news from sources other than the Missourian. So here it is:
New York Times published an article about Reddit’s 5 second super bowl ad.
I thought it was super cool, and I enjoyed reading this piece to get more insight into it. This is great journalism in terms of taking a simple fact or event, and then giving the reader in-depth knowledge behind it that enhances the story. There was a quote about how Reddit earned the right which I really liked, and the bonus fact that they did the whole thing in one day. It also gave further insight into the background of the situation by including the context surrounding the Gamestop fiasco.
Next, I read this article about the impeachment trials. This was from earlier in the week. The quote in the headline really grabbed my attention, although after reading it, it was a little less sensational than it seemed at first glance. I did think it was interesting how person focused this article, and the prosecutors’ arguments, were. The angle is very focused on the individual people and the human element. This allows the readers to relate to this in a more personal way. I also appreciated the summary of events told in such a storyline way. It saves me from actually watching the trial.
Today, I followed this up by reading this Associated Press piece on the trial. I was interested to see how the trial was advancing. I think it is interesting that the prosecutors are focusing on the individual and emotional effects of this event, while the defendants are showing a greater focus on the legal aspect of it all. I appreciated the quotes they included as it provides voice to the piece. I did think the way they set up those quotes and the organization of them was a bit telling. They quote one republican at the beginning, a whole bunch of dem stuff in the middle, and they end with republican quotes that don’t paint them in a good light. They also quote our dear senator Josh Hawley although not in a good way.
(I am realizing now I am participating in a little confirmation bias. I should look for sources that speak more from the defendants/republicans side rather than buying into one narrative.)
Next, I want to do a shout out for Allison and her piece on robot delivery. First, I loved loved loved her into. I thought it was very creative and we don’t see much like it. It was refreshing. I also thought she did a great job making this legislation more personal. She had great quotes that moved the story along and made it an interesting story rather than a report of facts.
This is something I could do better on I think so I will use Allison’s piece as inspiration.
In accompaniment with Allison’s brief, Rachel wrote this piece that further explains one of the new proposed bills. Rachel wrote about abuse in religious youth homes. For one, I didn’t realize how much of an issue this was, or how long it had been going on. I thought Rachel did a great job providing the context and history of this story, especially when so much of the abuse that was being recounted happened decades ago. She provides lots of information and really powerful quotes. This story doesn’t affect me directly, but the powerful quotes really moved me and made this something I care about. I also hate how much religion and state are intertwined in this country that was built on the separation of church and state. Stories about religion like this really irk me.
In happier news, I love seeing the ingenuity of people like in this story about some New Yorkers working together to get vaccine appointments to those who need them.
I also was proud to see CPS making a good decision… I want to put “for once” because I don’t feel like CPS has made a lot of good decisions, but I do respect that they are trying their best and there is a lot to consider. But anyway, the Superintendent is not allowing CPS to open again until the teachers get vaccinated. I was glad to see this. I’m from KC where they are requiring schools to open back up before teachers even have access to the vaccine which I think is crazy and irresponsible.
So anyway, there are some of my journalistic thoughts for the week. Stay tuned for my next GA shift, which should come with some big bylines!!, and next Sunday’s thoughts!