Community Engagement Reporting Project
In April 2023, I embarked on a month-long project engaging with a community underrepresented in journalism to create something that would help them, involve them, and impact those outside of the community.
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It all started in my Community Engagement Reporting class I took that spring semester. I learned about a journalism concept unfamiliar to the traditional way I was taught. I learned how to really report on a community with sympathy and care rather than being concerned with deadlines and the end product. I learned that fostering connections and involving the community in every step of the reporting process doesn't interfere with a journalist's duty to "act independently," and I learned that those things actually make a story more whole. I learned how to take the traditional reporting process and flip it on its head to create something more worthwhile and impactful.
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At the beginning of my project, I had a listening session with the Children First Leadership Academy----a school that primarily serves students and families experiencing poverty or housing insecurity in Phoenix. In the session, I listened to students talk about how their situations at home affect their education, and I learned about how the unique learning environment of CFLA really helps them in and out of school. Since then, I knew I needed to work with CFLA. I spent the next few weeks talking to students and staff, and I wrote an article about the school. But even though I finished the article, I didn't stop there. I spoke with the school's health aide and we talked about what would be most helpful to the school. I learned that donations are a big part of how the school operates, so I decided to hold a donation drive for CFLA. I designed a poster (pictured below), and I spread the message across ASU's downtown campus. I collected donations from students, and at the end of the school year, I took all the donations to CFLA.
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Writing the article was one thing, but being able to help the school meet their needs was an entirely different feeling I have never gotten from journalism before. This project made me fall in love with community engagement reporting, and I hope to continue projects like these in the future.
article coming soon...
Walking into the Children First Leadership Academy, I was amazed knowing that they were able to turn an old Food City into this inspiring learning environment. These are just a few photos I took during my reporting process.
I worked with CFLA to create two donation guides: one for the general public that they could use anytime and one tailored to college students during move-out week. The main thing I wanted to ensure was that everything on the list was an absolute need so that the school wouldn't have to end up storing a bunch of random items.
Outreach
Throughout spring 2023, I served as The State Press's Diversity Council Outreach Coordinator. In this capacity, I worked on trainings for the newsroom and helped the Diversity Council Officer come up with more ideas for the council.
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However, one of the main things I did was table on campus in order to get feedback from students, answer any questions regarding The State Press, but most importantly, bridge the gap between the newsroom and the community we report on.
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I tabled three times throughout the semester, and being able to engage with the community was a fulfilling experience to say the least. Tabling was important to me as the Outreach Coordinator because it allowed for our newsroom to be more transparent with our community and give them an opportunity to hold us accountable.
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In previous years, The State Press would have open newsroom nights where the community was welcome to come in and ask questions; however no one really showed up. From previous community engagement projects I've done, I learned that the best way to let a community know you're there and the best way to connect with them is to go to the community itself, thus sparking my idea to table for The State Press.