Hood College Multimedia Project

My Project Narrative:

 

My multimedia project centers around community journalism and telling stories that often go unnoticed or unreported. I am focused on shifting the focus away from traditional coverage and highlighting the people and perspectives that are overlooked. I believe journalism should strive to give people a voice, especially those that often go unheard. This can include focusing on the fans of a sports club rather than the players, or the cultural elements of a tourist destination rather than just the mainstream attractions.

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I created this project because every person and every place have a story, even if it’s not considered breaking news. Many meaningful people and stories exist outside of the traditional news construct, and I would like to create work that exemplifies that. This project also gives me the ability to showcase my multimedia skills through conveying stories to audiences in an engaging and informative matter. It displays my diverse media experience, of which I hope to build upon, even beyond the project’s original trajectory.

 

My audience is broad but primarily centers around communities and their people. It should go beyond only those who commonly read and engage with news. I want audiences to be able to see themselves reflected in the news that represents their communities.

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Community journalism spans multiple news beats. There can be stories about what inspired a professional soccer player to create an at-risk youth program; how a local mom balanced raising four kids with training for her first marathon; why a former animal control officer decided to adopt the shelter’s oldest dog. I designed this multimedia project with the hope that it would highlight real people with real experiences. In today’s media environment, audiences should be able to read stories that could belong to their neighbors or even themselves. It’s important that the everyday, untold stories are voiced and given a platform.

 

For this multimedia project, I created two podcast episodes and wrote an article accompanied by an infographic. I chose these formats because I felt they represented both the traditional and evolving forms of media.

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Articles are a primary format for institutional news outlets, making it an important representation of how community news can be integrated into a centuries-old platform. Conversely, podcasts represent changing media. They can be produced by anyone with a phone and shared on numerous apps that are easily accessible, essentially available with the touch of a button. Podcasts are a strong example of community members creating their own platforms to speak for themselves, reflecting the primary goal of community journalism.

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Utilizing multiple media forms allows journalists to share stories in different ways and reach audiences across different platforms.

 

Through the multimedia project, I want community members to feel more connected to news outlets and vice versa. There should be an understanding that some of the most meaningful stories aren’t those with the best headlines, but are those may have gone unnoticed were it not for the proper investment of interest in a community.

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I also want my audience to understand that journalism can take numerous forms and that each one has a unique advantage to connecting with audiences. Overall, the message of this project is that every story matters. Even stories that don’t fit into the box of traditional news coverage deserve to be told, if not more so.