MY STORIES:

• The difficulties of being LGBT in sports
• LGBT Resource Center connects through Pride Week
• The Paper Moon, a one-of-a-kind bar in Salt Lake City

MY BLOG:

At the beginning of the semester I knew we were going to have to cover a beat regarding the LGBT community. At first I was very worried, as I didn’t know much about the subject matter. But as a journalist I knew the No. 1 thing I had to do was become informed about what was going on in the community.

Be objective and neutral throughout was of essence.

Not knowing a lot about the community and many of the issues the LGBT community faces on a daily basis, I quickly hit the web to try to eat up as much information as I possibly could.

In connection to researching about LGBT issues, I also found that having guest speakers (Kai Medina-Martínez) come into class at the beginning of the semester to talk was very helpful on trying to expand on my ideas to create a story with a unique angle.

Personally, I felt that it was a huge change from what I was used to writing at the Daily Utah Chronicle as the beat writer for the volleyball team. I felt I had to go much more in-depth with topics, and I also found getting interviews became evermore difficult than just talking with players.

Overall I felt that it was great experience for me going out into the actual public and having to discuss topics that I hadn’t previously explored. When it came to interviews I felt like I was actually asking questions to help my personal knowledge of the subjects in the articles i wrote; and since I didn’t know a lot of the answers unlike with sports, I felt it was a great learning experience on how to gather outside information from others and  through research that I might not have known before.

All the interviews this semester really helped me break out of my box and get away from being shy when asking questions. I normally don’t like confronting people about serious questions, so this class really pushed me on that aspect.

ABOUT ME:

I am currently a third-year student at the University of Utah. I plan on graduating with a degree in communication with an emphasis in journalism, as well as a business finance degree at the University. I have always had a passion for sports, but with this class I have gained further knowledge and respect for the journalism aspect as well. With such a bright and gleaming personality, I always enjoy talking with others and finding out how people tick. Each and every person has a unique story about themselves, and getting the chance to find out about their lives through journalism on a daily basis is quite a privilege that I hope to pursue through my entire life.

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists |