2021 Michigan Journalist of the Year Portfolio
Broadcast Journalism:
Podcast and Audio Storytelling
At 1 a.m., “Export File to MP3” is my favorite line of poetry.
I've been replaying the same recording on my laptop for hours, editing out fits of giggles and awkward pauses.
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(Meghna, my co-host, is trapped in Cuba on a pandemic-interrupted semester abroad.)
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Many interpret the accessibility of education as the ability to obtain physical resources, such as school supplies. For others, accessibility means securing a coveted seat in the class of a top university. But what many overlook is that scholastic success is built upon a sense of community and the presence of positive role models— those who allow students to believe that their aspirations can become reality.
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These support networks are few and far between for female students hailing from low-income households.
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Born from the desire to offer mentorship to such students, I founded the Joyce Ivy Foundation’s podcast, Heard Through The Vine. The Joyce Ivy Foundation’s mission is to provide low-income, first-generation girls from the Midwest with opportunities conducive to their success, with the podcast a megaphone through which to spread the Foundation’s message. As head editor and host, I utilize audio storytelling as a platform not to put faces to names, but voices to issues. Dragging sound waves across my computer screen, I condense weeks of discussions on how to navigate the world of education as a female into digestible twenty-five minute episodes.
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The rewards of the podcast are not limited to a social media following. Instead, the rewards materialize in the form of emails from those I may never meet in person, thanking me for demystifying the Common Application or validating their feelings of anxiety or fear.
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In working to provide the very community I belong to with acknowledgement, confidence, and encouragement, I am actively raising up the next generation of female leaders.
Heard Through The Vine
My time with Heard Through The Vine has been, above all else, vulnerable.
From kickstarting the project early in my junior year of high school to serving as a source of much-needed validation and emotional catharsis for The Joyce Ivy Foundation’s nearly 1,000 woman alumni network, becoming the host of a podcast placed me in the position of creating relevant journalism for the communities I care about while still maintaining the role as one of its members. No longer was I on the outside looking in, stringing quotes together until my and my readers’ final “aha!” moment at the end of the piece-- I knew the stories of these girls because I am one of them.
I know financial insecurity, how specter-like it lingers even when you’re in the ever-sought after “better place.”
I know imposter syndrome, how I transform so quickly into Sisyphus, condemned to climbing a hill of my own making.
I know how terrifying it is to see education as the only way out.
And, in saying all of this, I know how important it is to make both educational opportunities and motivating journalism accessible to low-income communities so that both may prompt tangible change.
For judging purposes, please listen to 0:00 - 5:00 for an example of HTTV's introduction, round-table style of conversation, and diversity of speakers. If the SoundCloud webplayer does not play on Wix, please view the podcast episode here.
Schedule Superstar
When I was promoted to the role of Heard Through The Vine’s lead host and editor, I knew from my time at The Tower that organization and structure would carry our already-present creativity to success. Acting on this, I instated our monthly schedule, designed to provide clarity to both our team and listening base while also requiring us as creators to be “on trend,” be it when discussing Early Decision results in mid-December or scholarship opportunities in February. By breaking down each week by task, my team is constantly keeping an eye to the future, yet is conscious of the "wiggle room" that provides for effective and genuine communication. The creation of this calendar allowed my team to release the same amount of episodes we did the entire academic year prior in just three months.
A Warm Welcome
With the new academic year seeing the loss of one member and the gaining of two new faces, I knew my primary focus during the first few weeks of production would be the cultivating of a team community. Although the word "family" is overused when describing staffs, considering the inherent shared experiences and identities found within the Heard Through The Vine team, I would be remiss if I said the girls I have the privilege to work with each month haven’t contributed to who I am today. Wanting this same support to be felt by each and every member of my team, I wrote up a cohesive welcome document that emphasized not the podcast’s vision or goals, but what my team members could expect from me as their fellow host. In expressing humility, humbleness, and a genuine excitement to get to know the team, I began the year by establishing the heart of my leadership style: leading not from the front, but the back, acknowledging the responsibility I have as a leader to guide my entire team to success.
Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Brainstorm!
Once I demonstrated accountability for my own actions as a leader and tore down any unspoken “hierarchy” between my staff and I, genuine communication followed naturally-- and this is nowhere more evident than in our brainstorming documents. Drafted before each recording session, these notes are vibrant, living outlines designed to provide my team with the chance to contribute as much or as little as they would like to an episode’s content. The fluid mode of communication and ideas alike encourages active participation both outside of and during team Zoom meetings, which in turn leads to our truest voices emerging in the final product-- the exact thing a successful podcast needs from its hosts.
"Are You Two Twins?"
https://thetowerpulse.net/30174/features/are-you-two-twins-how-lgbt-couples-navigate-valentines-day/
For judging purposes, please listen to 0:00 - 5:30 (due to an anecdote from the source being cut off if stopped at 5:00).
Though Heard Through The Vine was my first experience with long-term podcasting in a team environment, it was not my first exposure to the art of podcasting itself. Following the 2018 MIPA Summer Conference-- or, in other words, my introduction to the genius of Death, Sex and Money's Anna Sale-- I was tepidly interested in making podcasts of my own, but the time commitment demanded by my role as The Tower's graphics manager provided little room for outside experimentation.
That said, when given the opportunity to interview an LGBTQ+ couple on their perceptions of and plans for Valentine's Day, all while creating an engaging dialogue regarding the heteronormative atmosphere surrounding the holiday, I knew a podcast would be the perfect multimedia element to truly invite The Tower's audience into the lives of my sources.
Though the idea of recording an episode of Heard Through The Vine in a busy coffee shop doesn't imbibe me with confidence in the final product, my ability to cultivate a conversational and personable atmosphere throughout the interview-- thus allowing for the couple to behave and answer most authentically-- is an accomplishment I hope to replicate throughout all of my audio storytelling endeavours.
Additional Experience: Video Production
Tales From Quarantine
As the South community neared one full month of quarantine, many found themselves taking the additional time at home to explore new interests and start new projects-- for me, that meant experimenting with video production.
With The Tower still creating content, the staff not only had to learn how to report remotely, but create digital content for a now entirely virtual publication. At the same time, CDC guidelines and social distancing prevented staffers from taking photographs and recording video segments.
We had to get creative-- and who could do that better than a previous graphics manager?
To demonstrate my own commitment to The Tower's efforts, I illustrated, recorded, and edited an inspirational and introspective commentary on quarantine itself. This segment is a testament to not just my diverse broadcasting abilities, but how I have carried the different skills I gained from my previous roles on staff into my modern content.
The Female Voice in The First Amendment
As a 2020 Free Sprit Scholar, an extension of my time at the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference was the creation of a Call To Action project, intended to expand society's understanding of the First Amendment.
For my Call To Action project, I hosted a live webinar with The New York Times' Catie Edmondson and The Washington Post's Maura Judkis; the topic of the webinar revolved around the intersection between the First Amendment and the journey of female journalists in the newsroom.
For a more detailed reflection, analysis, and recording of this broadcast experience and the Free Spirit program as a whole, please visit my Law and Ethics section of my portfolio, as this experience profoundly and organically connects the two categories.