Diversity in Social Media
This past Thursday my roomie invited me to a journalism networking event hosted by the Diverse Social Media Editors and Digital Journalists DC Meetup Group. We enjoyed a great conversation with Gene Demby, Lead Blogger for NPR's Code Switch, on race and culture, and diversity in digital journalism and social media. Social media has had such a huge impact on OUR stories. In a pre-twitter world, stories like Mike Brown wouldn't have gotten the mainstream attention that it has received. Everything is happening in real-time and we are able to capture stories via video and have discussions about it instantly. He gave some great advice for young black journalists, and two things stood out to me. 1.) Find those spaces where you can tell your stories, even if it's not your outlet. 2.) It has to be intentional to include diversity in your coverage and find those voices of color. I think the conversation was great advice for any writer thinking about entering into the social media and digital fields. Although I'm not a journalist, I'm glad I tagged along anyway. I met some great bloggers as well so it was a great opportunity to network and meet new people. You never know who you might run into. :)
xoxo,
Victoria