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We can't have journalism without diversity.
In a field where curiosity and learning is central, journalism cannot exist without diversity. Whether it be in writing, sources, topics, or staff, we need diversity to function as a publication---without it, we are not truly reporting to our audience. Differences in background, political leanings, and heritage open our staff up to different topics of interest and passion, making for better coverage and representation in our paper.
Diversity in Reporting
In My Own Work:
Writing and Reporting
To have a truly informative paper, we have to report on diverse topics. Deep diving into new cultures and beliefs is one of my passions, both in and outside of the newsroom. Below, you can view some of my stories that showcased marginalized groups and beliefs.
Not only do I want to expand my knowledge of other cultures, but I encourage my staffers to cover topics that interest them. By encouraging staff to report on events and issues that speak to them, we open our audience to a wider range of viewpoints and information.
Click to view stories.
Changing Times
This year, I wanted to explore the diversity on my campus journalistically. Going through population charts and enrollment numbers, I talked to students from different backgrounds (Middle-Eastern, Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian) to get their perspectives on our campus' diversity and inclusion efforts. However, getting statistics and information for this was not easy. Originally, I planned this to go in our first issue of the year, but complications in receiving data from administration would have made this story rushed. With an important topic such as diversity on campus, I needed time to go through the proper editing process and fact-checking, rather than rushing and making a sloppy story. By pushing this story back for issue 2, it became more reliable, accurate, and painted a more intriguing picture of our campus' diversity over the past 18 years.
Florida House targets transgender students in recent bills
At the beginning of this year, new rules were enacted on my campus that restricted the freedoms of transgender and non-binary students, making it difficult for preferred names and pronouns to be used and for these students to use the restroom comfortably. I knew this needed to be covered to bring the impacts on these students to light. Through this story, I was able to have transgender students' perspective communicated to readers, raising their voice despite restriction.
The pros of pronouns
This was the first story I wrote while on The BluePrint staff. As an LGBTQ+ student, I wanted to cover our campus' LGBTQ+ population and our GSA's efforts to end stigma around pronouns. This was my first experience working with anonymous sources---even if their name wasn't published, they still deserved to have their voice shared.
Dr. King Celebration highlights black excellence in Oviedo community
Attending this event was not only fun, but eye-opening. In a predominantly white city, I was not aware of the strong black community in my town. I covered this as both a writer and photographer to educate others about the importance of Martin Luther King Day to our community's black population.
BSU performs inaugural Black History Month student showcase
Last year, our Black Student Union was formed. To celebrate Black History Month, they held a student showcase to highlight black artists and their impact on American culture. I wanted to cover this event not only to visually show the audience the talent found on our campus, but to learn more about the impacts Black creators have had on our society.
In My Own Work:
Design
Not only must our story topics be diverse, but the students we interview about these topics. Characteristics such as grade, race, gender orientation, sexuality, and political leanings must be varied for every story in order to give a proper representation of student beliefs---certain opinions and demographics cannot be unincluded.
One of the most obvious ways diverse sources can be displayed is in design. In my centerspread designs, I always try to make the photos I include and sources I quote come from students in different grades and from different backgrounds.
Click to view stories.
For my story, Changing times, I included nine sources. Of those sources, they were 11% white American-born, 11% white-foreign born, 22% Asian, 22% Hispanic, 11% Middle-Eastern, and 22% Black/North African. While I believe I talked to a diverse group of students and teachers based on ethnic heritage, it was difficult to find may underclassmen or male students willing to participate in the story.
So, when it came time to design the front cover for this story, my goal was to find more students from different grade levels and genders that would be willing to at least be pictured, if not quoted in the story. Luckily, I was able to find some new additions for the print issue of the paper, further diversifying our front cover in gender and grade.
Changing Times
For the centerspread, I also wanted to include a visual of the different students I interviewed. When designing the hand element of this spread, I knew I needed to show a variety of skin tones in order to truly show the diversity in the students I interviewed. I think this spread, along with the front page, encapsulated our campus' demographics and trends.
For my first centerspread of this year, Trapped, I wanted to highlight different student perspectives, especially from different grades. As new legislation resulted in restrictions on student actions with attending events, using nicknames, and using the restroom, I knew students who had been at Hagerty longer were likely to have different opinions than new students. In addition, I included opinions of students who are very politically active versus those who are less invested in politics.
Trapped
To further show the diversity in student opinions, I incorporated students' quotes into the photo illustrations I created. By showcasing their thoughts through writing and design, I was able to emphasize the different points students brought up in relation to the topic of legislation.
This was the first centerspread I made---ever. As a first year staffer, I wanted this spread to leave an impact on my campus, and it did. Reporting on our school's Gay-Straight Alliance and the topic of pronouns on campus, I talked to students of different gender orientations and identities to give our readers a look into how pronouns, which are often overlooked by many, can make a great impact on LGBTQ+ students' comfortability in the classroom. This spread was hung up in many of the classrooms across campus by supportive teachers, and I think it opened students' minds---as the photo suggests.
Room to Grow
Staff Pieces
When looking for story topics, I advise my staffers to cover topics that are important to them---not matter how controversial or sensitive they may be. Our publication must reflect varying opinions and perspectives, which can be found in the different backgrounds on our staff.
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If the staff all looked and thought the same, we would not be a reliable news source. Everyone has their own bias and opinions, including me, so it is important to have a publication where they can all be shared.
Below, I have included some stories that my staffers have written this year, all of which have appeared in our first three issues, that demonstrate diversity in reporting on our staff.
Will's World- Isaiah Macri
By far, this is one of my favorite stories of the year. Written by first-year staffer Isaiah, this story dove into the life of Will Seavers, a student at our school with Williams Syndrome, a disability affecting the heart. Despite his learning and physical disabilities, Will is a highlight on our campus and a familiar face to many. Before writing this, we made sure to get approval from Will’s parents and the ESE teachers to do the story. While it required a little extra work, but the end result was extremely worth it.
The gray area- Josephine Lim
After Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas. My news editor, Josephine, wrote this story to show how our campus has been affected by these events, despite the distance between Florida and Gaza. As a staff, we felt it was important to find students who had been directly impacted by the event. This shows diversity in reporting as Josephine wanted to centralize a global issue and increase campus awareness on this development, giving a platform to students experiencing first-hand effects.
Antisemitism is no laughing matter- Lia Miller
Written by my opinions editor, Lia, this story opened not only our audience, but me, up to the antisemitism present on our campus. Lia, who is ethnically Jewish, has witnessed this hate throughout her life, and if she weren't on staff, this story would likely have not been written as neither I nor my other staffers have been victims of antisemitism. I am proud that our newspaper provides a space where staffers feel comfortable and supported in writing personal pieces such as this.
Written by my opinions editor, Lia, this story opened not only our audience, but me, up to the antisemitism present on our campus. Lia, who is ethnically Jewish, has witnessed this hate throughout her life, and if she weren't on staff, this story would likely have not been written as neither I nor my other staffers have been victims of antisemitism. I am proud that our newspaper provides a space where staffers feel comfortable and supported in writing personal pieces such as this.
Rap music is on a decline
- Jolin Alcindor
When it comes to music, rap isn't my top pick. But for Jolin, rap has had a heavy influence in his music preference. Before this story was written, I had never considered how rap music has evolved over time, whether in a positive or negative direction. The more diverse our staff members are, the wider range of topics we will cover, which is always exciting.
Recurring Content
Another way that diversity in reporting is encouraged on staff is through recurring content. On our staff, all staffers must have recurring content, similar content they create twice a quarter, which can be a column, podcast, video, or other form of coverage. With specific content set aside for each staffer, they have an opportunity to devote coverage to topics they have an interest in. Covering topics such as underground music, unique hobbies, pop culture moments, best-seller books, and political developments, our publication maintains a wide variety of topics available on our website and paper.
Click to view some of our different recurring content below.
What's Your Thing?
In this features column, my online editor, Greta, highlights unique hobbies that students on our campus are involved in. From hockey to competitive fishing, this column allows a diverse range of topics and students to be covered.
Hidden Harmonies
In this podcast, my staffer, Jolin, dives into underground musicians with mega-fans on campus. Through this recurring content, Jolin has expanded our diversity in pop culture coverage.
Book Talk
Gabriella, my features editor, is the definition of a bookworm. So, I encouraged her to take over the review column Book Talk to discuss recent releases and give her expert (at least to me) opinion. By advising staffers to report on topics they are passionate about, such as books and literacy, more well-thought-out pieces, such as Book Talks, are produced.
Fired Up
In my column, Fired Up, I focus on political, environmental, and global issues that should be addressed on our campus. Covering issues beyond our campus opens up our readers to topics and issues they may otherwise not be aware of.
Diversity on Staff
Over views, followers, or awards, diversity is the strongest tool our staff must use in order to be good journalists. Without a diverse staff or coverage, we are not truly reporting to our audience---all types of topics and issues must be covered. However, finding a passionate and diverse staff can be difficult.
On our campus, approximately 60.2% of our population is white, followed by 27.7% Hispanic, 6.7% Asian, and 5.4% Black. On our staff, our numbers are similar, with our staff being 61% white, 15% Hispanic, 7% Asian, and 15% Black. In addition, we are 38% LGBTQ+, 7% Jewish, and come from varying religious beliefs. For grades, we are comprised of 31% seniors, 38% juniors, and 31% sophomores.
This is a good start, but I would love to see our publication gain even more staffers from different backgrounds and political beliefs, as we are 100% middle-to-left leaning. I would also love for more boys to join newspaper---in my three years on staff, we have had only five boys come through the program. In order to achieve diversity on staff, we need to have diversity in recruitment methods.
The first path students can take to join staff starting next year would be enrollment in Foundations of Journalism and either Photojournalism or Digital Design. After completing these courses, students could then join either our newspaper or yearbook. However, this is not the only path that has been taken.
For my online editor, Greta, who moved to the United States from Mexico in middle school, she came into newspaper as a freshman after working as a yearbook editor at her middle school. My print editor, Kailey, transferred from another school in the middle of last year, where she also wrote for the newspaper. Our news editor, Josephine, who is also our only Asian staffer, joined newspaper after a year of illustrating for our website. With her sister on staff last year, she learned journalism skills from home that transferred over beautifully. Jolin, a first year staffer and one of two Black newspaper members, also didn't take Jounalism 1 at Hagerty, but his enrollment in classes such as Gifted English and Debate gave him the basic communication skills needed when entering staff.
By having multiple paths for students to enter staff, we open up to a larger population of students. Not all have the room in their schedule for an entry journalism course or had the opportunity to hold leadership n a middle school publication. The more ways possible for students to enter our program, the more populous and diverse our publication can be.
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