The Washtenaw Voice

The Washtenaw Voice visited New Orleans over the Halloween weekend for the 2024 Fall National College Media Convention. The team attended three days of sessions, explored the city and attended an awards ceremony, taking home three awards. 

Awards

4th place: Best of Show, news website, Voice team.

6th place: Best of Show, newspaper/news magazine, Voice team.

Contributor Tahura Badar received an honorable mention for her column, “Ramadan sees tragedy in Gaza,” for the Story of the Year category.

Voice Staff reflects

While I’m no photographer, one of the main things that resonated with me at this conference was keynote speaker Kathy Anderson. Her point of view about working in the “Golden Age of Journalism” excited me. Could there be another one? What can I do to create something more? I loved how she talked about change. She said we must embrace change and not be afraid of it. She encouraged us to do what we love, and I think I am. There’s so much more to come.

Between what I learned at the conference and visiting a new city, this was pretty much one of the most transformative weeks of my life. I walked away with a clearer understanding of what it means to be both a journalist and a leader and what steps I can take to make my dreams come true. Janet Blank-Libra’s panel on the practice of an “ethic of empathy” in journalism inspired me and left me feeling that there is a place for me in this field.

New Orleans was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t change. But out of all the workshops I attended, one stood out to me. The workshop was called “Making Connections.” That class taught me to connect with anyone I interact with, not just for a future story but to make a genuine human connection. I found that fantastic since I don’t usually talk to strangers unless I have to. However, this class gave me a new perspective on how to view interactions.

This conference was the perfect mid-semester motivation booster. It is hard to pick just one key takeaway. If I had to choose, I would pick the class I took on accessibility design. I look forward to applying what I learned in that class to our website and any future design work I do. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to take this trip and learn so much.

This trip was definitely a learning experience; as the days went by, I learned more and more while attending this conference. One of my favorite sessions I attended was “Building a Portfolio and Crafting Your Professional Identity.” I learned that while your portfolio is being created, you can always go a different route. This quote stuck with me during that lecture: “No one can tell your story except for you.” Everyone has something to say about you, but you are the only one who can honestly speak about it. During this trip, I learned many tips and tricks that I would love to try as time passes.

Some of my key takeaways from the conference were that, firstly, I’m not alone in my position. Many students on the business side of student media seem to be holding down the fort entirely by themselves, just like me, which was somewhat comforting to hear. I also learned a lot about networking and improvising, practicing elevator pitches, pivoting conversations, and falling back where necessary.

The trip to New Orleans for the Fall National Media Convention was everything I needed and so much more. I loved attending different lectures/classes and learned so much valuable information. The key takeaway from the trip and convention that I would like to highlight is from the “The Convergence is Here” class, which highlighted the importance of having a social media presence in the newsroom. This inspired me to want to help relaunch and revamp The Voice’s social media presence.

The amount of useful information I gathered at the conference was overwhelming, in a good way. If I had to narrow it down to one key takeaway, it would be the research tips and interview tactics. I learned to dig deeper into stories to find the element that our readers and I can connect. When a story may seem uninteresting, there is always something in it that will connect all humans. Learning how to dig for that connection and having the courage to display it creatively will be helpful for many years.

On the first day of the conference, a lecturer said that being “just a newspaper” was like being in the Stone Age. From then on, I focused on learning about social media, podcasts and other reporting forms that can move the Voice into the 21st century. I learned about social media marketing and strategies that can be implemented here to boost readership and engagement among the student body. Overall, the conference rejuvenated my dedication to journalism and reminded me of the honor of being on the Washtenaw Voice staff.

Comments

comments