MY STORIES:

• Utah advocates to stop domestic violence among Pacific Islanders
• Pacific Islanders coalesce to preserve their culture
• Business group leads minority members of the Utah community

MY BLOG:

Three outside stories done this semester was challenging yet rewarding. I gained insight and depth of how a good writing should be and what makes a good article. I enjoyed the work. I certainly look forward to more of it.

I tried to be as professional as possible to be seen with strong credibility by preparing interview questions before each meeting. I asked interviewees’ roles and contributions beforehand. This paralleled to the core of the Reuter transparency project because I tried to be seen with as much professionalism as possible. In other words, I gained respect and trust of my interviewees in a snap of seconds.

Civic responsibility is actions and attitudes carried out by citizens. My first article was civic because it called for action to stop the domestic violence among Pacific Islanders. It prompted readers to know about the issue and what they can do to assist those in vulnerable position.

Media responsibility is the roles mass media have to support the democratic governance and social participation. My second article had a content on Salt Lake Community College students videotaping the culture of Pacific Islanders and streaming it at the Pacific Island Heritage Month. This helped to spread the word about their culture and attract more guests to learn about what their culture offers.

Journalists carry civic and media responsibilities since their work will be calling readers to take certain actions. Although minority members are not often covered in the New York Times, journalists embrace all cultures and try to produce work that promotes diversity. For example, a couple of weeks ago, a book written by Amy Chua was covered in the New York Times. It was about how tribalism exists in this country and how no one group feels dominating anymore. I could tell that the New York Times tries to provide multifaceted articles to its readers.

I did not encounter moral or ethical issue since I followed the guideline given by the instructor. However, I tried to keep the oral tradition of Pacific Islanders just like how we preserved the oral culture of African Americans. However, some Pacific Islanders I interviewed used a form of Pidgin English, so I decided to write down their comments in complete English for readers to understand easily.

Remaining objective was unchallenging because I read a lot of New York Times articles. I know what makes a good article and knew what I had to do to craft one. If I did not read NYT articles in my free time, remaining objective should have been daunting.

As a result of my reporting this semester, I became more diverse, well-rounded, culturally enlightened. In short, I became someone who could put on different hats at different times.

ABOUT ME:

Woo Sang Kim (Ken) is a senior majoring in communication at the University of Utah. He came from the University of Utah Asia Campus in Incheon, South Korea. He would like to go to law school a couple of years after graduation in winter 2018. He is a passionate reader of the New York Times, Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. He also enjoys reading a wide variety of books mostly written by those with JD degrees.

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists |