There were lots of great editorial team moments from today’s workshop, but a few that stood out as most helpful and impactful were around student perspectives and how to place our statements in the correct context. Sarah Bourdeau offered two really helpful points. One was during our workshop on Caitlin’s story, where she made the point that it might be best to bring in the fact that UNE is a private institution, as Caitlin’s story is about UNE’s tuition. I found this to be really impactful as we think about how we as journalists represent the facts we have – if certain points are taken too far out of context, we might be creating a narrative that strays a bit from the whole truth. On the same note, when workshopping Sarah Bedore’s story, Sarah Bourdeau offered some advice on the importance of interviewing students if the story centers on student experiences in the mailroom. Again, placing the story in the context of the actual students it impacts, such as work-study students being the only people available to work in the mailroom, provides a whole new perspective to her issue in mailroom complaints. Another helpful example from our classroom-style newsroom came from Tony as we were workshopping Cole’s story on UNE’s dorm accessibilities. When our conversation turned to the potential angle of looking into UNE’s elevators, costs, etc., Tony jumped in with a personal connection to someone who would have a lot of expertise and credibility and offered to share that with Cole.
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