I am attending the 2nd session of the Washington Journalism and Media Conference this July from the 14th to the 19th. I am super excited as I have never attended a conference like this before. Before then, I had been pondering a lot about what I wanted to do once I graduated. I had it in my mind that I would go on to become a famous musician, author, artist, actor, and so on. However, I did not know if I had anything to fuel my endeavors as a rising musician, author, artist, or actor usually struggles to make ends meet until they make their big break. So, because of my passion for writing, I believe that being a journalist would be the best career for me, as I also have a love for learning about new things, even if they have nothing to do with the arts. At first, I was nervous about going to the conference as I was still unsure of what path I wanted to take in my life, but with the reassurance of my family, I am confident that I will have an amazing time at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference. During the week of the conference, I will post short recaps of what I have experienced during each day, along with pictures (if I remember to take them lol).
Reading List
Months before, we were given a reading list of materials we could read to prepare ourselves for the conference. We weren’t expected to read all of the books, so the 3 books I had chosen to read were Trailblazer by Dorothy Butler Gilliam, Smart Brevity by Jim Vandhei, and We Say #NeverAgain, which was written by the student journalists of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Getting to read these books inspired me to get back into the habit of reading and to look at writing both in journalism and in my daily life from different perspectives.
Trailblazer
Trailblazer follows the life of Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first black female reporter for The Washington Post. She talks about the struggles she faced as a black female reporter and her strong desire to diversify the stories shown in the media and those working in the news. She also talks about the way events in her personal life had affected the way she saw the world and how her views changed over time. For example, she speaks about once when she was in her youth she wrote that the desegregation of public spaces should be done slowly, but as she grew intellectually, she realized that she was wrong and that Black Americans and other non-white groups of people should not have to wait to get the freedom and privelages that every white person in the United States was born with at that time. This book inspired me not just to speak out about what I believe in, but to also see that just being open to different points of view can broaden your horizons even if you’re not traveling the world.
Smart Brevity
Smart Brevity told less of a story but gave me a lot of insights about text structure that I want to integrate into my writing, both for my blog and my personal writing, like texts and emails. I liked that the book took its own advice and wasn’t very chunky or hard to understand. I also appreciated that it used examples of what to do and what not to do, whether you’re writing emails, social media posts, or using smart brevity in you’re work or business. Funny enough, this book also reminded me to read over my writing before posting it.
We Say #NeverAgain
We Say #NeverAgain tells the story of the student journalists within the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School newspaper, The Eagle Eye. In the beginning, I was hesitant to read this book as it covers the tragic shooting that occurred on February 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Even so, reading the book gave me some interesting insights into student journalism and also how extreme media attention can be both empowering and anxiety-inducing. The student journalists explain essential aspects of journalism, such as how one can remain objective when reporting, the dos and don’ts of interviewing, and the reasons why one should use their voice to make a change. They also cover how the shooting and the recognition by the media they received afterwards affected them in their daily lives and their reporting. One part that stuck with me was how they chose not to mention the shooter’s name to not give the shooter the notoriety that he desired, even though many large news publishers had done so already. Though the shooting left them changed forever, it also inspired them to become brave activists and incredible journalists.
The other 2 books I desired to read were Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung and She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, but they were not available at my library. Still, I hope to read them in the future.
A Wonderful Blog 