News Gathering
Storytelling is a process. It involves actively seeking out information that needs to be shared with the public. Research, sourcing, observations, interviews, truth seeking—every powerful story begins in the same place. At The Hoofbeat, we strive to find stories that elicit strong emotions, reveal insightful ideas, and embolden positive change. News gathering is at the very foundation of the storytelling process.
Eating Disorders
When I discovered that eating disorders for high school students were increasing at an alarming rate, I wanted to cover the issue in an insightful and valuable way. After conducting intensive research about eating disorders, I created many graphics to present components of information on the in-depth page. The four supplemental infographics—"Myths Busted", "Effects on the Body", "The Cycle", and "Finding Support"--provided background information for readers.
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In order to personalize the issue of eating disorders, it was important to have a first-hand perspective of what it is like to overcome one of them. I conducted an interview with a girl on the newspaper staff who was open about her experiences with anorexia. However, in order to protect her identity and keep her safe, we used an anonymous name (read more about anonymous sources in law and ethics). I used a narrative style to write this story, and I integrated facts and experiences of eating disorders throughout the piece to make it credible.
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View infographics →
In order to personalize the issue of eating disorders, it was important to have a first-hand perspective of what it is like to overcome one of them. I conducted an interview with a girl on the newspaper staff who was open about her experiences with anorexia. However, in order to protect her identity and keep her safe, we used an anonymous name (read more about anonymous sources in law and ethics). I used a narrative style to write this story, and I integrated facts and experiences of eating disorders throughout the piece to make it credible.
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Flagship Commons Food Hall
There are two main shopping malls in my city, and when I heard about the large-scale renovation of one of them, I knew that people would be interested in finding out more about it.
Visiting the Site I ventured outside the bounds of the school into the community to get a strong grasp of the new renovation. I visited the construction site of the food hall, where I spoke with workers who let me take an exclusive look around the unfinished area. Interviews I contacted the CEO of the company, Nick Hogan, and the Marketing Director, Megan Longo. After conducting interviews over the phone with both of them, I learned that Longo was an alumni and former Editor-in-Chief of Millard North High School journalism. We connected over our mutual alma mater and I later sent the finished piece to Longo after it was published in The Hoofbeat. Food Concepts Everyone is familiar with a food court, but a "food mall" was a completely new concept in our city. That is why I did extensive research online about each of the eight different food concepts and created a graphic to easily present the information. I also incorporated the idea of a food mall into my lede to engage readers right away. Read Story and View Graphics → |
Superintendent Twitter Engagement
When the first storm hit in the Winter of 2014, the student body took to social media to try and convince the new superintendent, Jim Sutfin, to cancel school. "Memes" and Photoshopped images began popping up all over Twitter. Since this was a lighter story, it was essential to strike the right balance between comedic and appropriate—which proved difficult at first. I scoured social media for credible sources and reached out to Sutfin to get his perspective for the story. Though it took a while to get in contact, we ended up having a fun and light-hearted interview over the phone about his newly found digital fame.
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