Synopsis
This semester, I have learned about what it means to be a journalist and the different techniques it encompasses. I learned about digital journalism ethics and the importance of remaining ethical in your reporting. I learned the code of ethics in journalism and how to be an ethical interviewer. In relation to interviewing, I learned some techniques to be a better interviewer, such as maintaining a casual yet professional manner and observing and listening to your subject. These techniques helped me with my digital story assignment. I also learned about domain names and digital terminology such as scraping, ISP, and more.
Developing the Story
While working on my story, I followed the SPJ code of ethics. This means I made sure I was responsible for the accuracy of the work I was doing. I used data from the Pew Research Center and ensured that the information in my story was accurate, without including any incorrect data. I also identified my sources and ensured they gave me full permission to record them and use any photos I took while in their studios.. I also identified my sources and ensured they gave me full permission to record them and use any photos I took while in their studios. I attributed it to anyone I needed to, and all the words in my story are from me and not another outside source (unless attributed). It is important to be ethical and truthful as a journalist. As a journalist, you are someone the public gets information and opinions from, so it is important to me to have a good image.
Some of the challenges I faced while working on my story was obtaining multiple interview sources and capturing enough images. I reached out to multiple tattoo artists, and the ones who got back to me were all incredibly kind and accommodating. However, I found it a little difficult to find artists who would follow up, as many would stop responding. Using adobe portfolio for this story was a little frustrating at times with the format and the need to update the live site after making any edits. The formatting of inputting images and videos into the website was also a little finicky, so I had to really work with the website to put it how I liked.
Some of the opportunities I encountered while working on this story were getting to see behind the scenes of a tattoo studio. This was really cool and something different that I got to experience. Most of the interviews I did in the past for other projects or stories have been very professional or over zoom. Because of the nature of the interviews and the setting, it was a different kind of interview than I am used to, which I enjoyed. Getting the opportunity to talk to different tattoo artists about their backgrounds and what inspired them was also extremely eye-opening. They gave me some great insight into what being an artist, specifically a female artist, in today’s society is like.
Digital Media Experience
This experience has helped me better understand digital journalism by allowing me the chance to create a story completely on an online platform. I used the digital tools we learned about in class to combine research, personal stories, and multimedia, which all helped me with my story. These digital tools helped me understand how journalism can be told completely online and how it differs from traditional media and journalism. This experience also taught me how it is very important to remain an ethical and accurate journalist, specifically digitally. When working with digital journalism, it is very easy for misinformation and other privacy challenges to arise, so it is essential to remember the code of ethics as a journalist.
My experience using data in digital journalism was interesting and a new experience, as I have never really worked with a lot of data in my past stories. For my story, I created a survey to incorporate into my infographic with the responses of the public regarding tattoo culture. This was a pretty easy and enjoyable way for me to gather data. With the data, I created three different pie charts, which I made through Google Sheets. Creating pie charts through Google Sheets was something I had never done before, so that was a new experience and very useful for me. Working with sheets made me realize just how many things you can make and create to back up your research. Overall, my experience was very positive, and I enjoyed working with data and databases, which isn’t something I would say I would have thought I would enjoy.
Some of the most enjoyable moments in working on my story were doing my interviews with the tattoo artists. Both of the artists I interviewed were young women who were very inspiring and kind, and gave me a lot of detail and insight into their lives. It is always enjoyable to talk to people who are passionate about what they do, and I have found artists to be some of my favorite people to talk to when doing interviews or conducting research. Tattoos are an interesting subject to me, and I feel like the tattoo and art culture is pretty popular here in San Diego, which is something I noticed since moving here. I enjoyed creating my website and customizing it to something I felt represented me. I enjoy being creative and getting the chance to do something I find passion and fun in as well.
