Blog Reflection #4 11/24/2025
In finalizing my story, it has been more difficult than anticipated. Despite spending countless hours on it, I have had trouble finalizing everything. Since my topic has the ability to be very broad or to include a lot of parts, it has been hard to shave down the large amount of content and shape a story, although after finishing my audio story things seem to be clearer.
The audio story follows the experience of three different SDSU students' experience with activism and free speech generally. I narrated between their accounts to fill in any blanks but for the most part SDSU: Students Speak is meant to cover the authentic student experience. My interviews with each of these students has really helped fill in the whole picture as I finalize my written format.
Blog Reflection #3 11/12/2025
During the JMS Screening Circle on Nov. 4, the audience members viewed the first episode of a television series called "Muslim Matchmaker". The premise of this show was a lot like some of the shows by the same director that had come before it, "Indian Matchmaker", "Jewish Matchmaker". It was about two Muslim women finding a Muslim partner for Muslim people.
Based on everything I saw in the episode, what they discussed in the Q&A and the other materials, I think what resonated with me most is how much diversity there is in this religion. They actually talked about how it is the most diverse religion. When someone asked about if they prioritized representing an array of different people in the show they said that although that was something they cared about, they didn't have to try because there is just naturally so much variety.
Often times (almost always) in the news and most other western centric media, Muslim people are portrayed as victims or villains and never a main character. In truth, this resulted in my unintentional assumption that the people in this show would seem very foreign. I was a little surprised with how relatable everyone was, yet all being very original. The show centers a very fundamental human struggle of the search for love and the feelings around that. It creates a very even playing field for people who would watch with their own set of presumptions about Muslims. Reflecting on this made me more conscious, as a future journalist, of media representations and how I expect certain people to act.
One takeaway I get from this event as a journalist is that the news' representation of Muslim (and additionally Middle Eastern people) is unforgiving and without context. It is easier to allow Muslim people to seem foreign and weird and unrelatable to American people, than it is to provide context around why they do what they do and other cultural differences. There's a hyper fixation around differences like wearing a hijab and it doesn't allow for room for understanding. The news often uses charged words to present "facts". When journalism is your job, what people take away from it is your responsibility.
Blog Reflection #2 11/3/2025
A month after my last blog post and a lot of progress has been made. I have submitted my first draft of my story including some audio files and social media content I plan to post. My story looks into how young people, specifically the students at San Diego State University, use their freedom of speech in a variety of ways. Some of this is organized protest and donations for a cause, but can also be a petition for something smaller, like new library hours.
The main thing my research is showing is the impact social media has had. Anyone can be a journalist and everyone is becoming an activist. There is a surplus of data and student accounts making it difficult to organize everything, and especially difficult to present it visually or with statistics. Despite this challenge, I look forward to debuting my work on my new website.
Sample Chart 10-22-2025
Blog Reflection #1 10-05-2025
Now that I have chosen a beat to follow, I want to key in on stories I want to pursue and how I will record them. I am looking for news stories related to freedom of speech and I want to pivot it to an SDSU perspective. Over this weekend there have been a few protests. I even saw some protesting to free Palestine at Oktoberfest, which was unexpected.
Most of the activism in display lately has commented on militarization in Gaza and ICE raids. Seeing as San Diego and SDSU have such large Mexican populations, it would make sense that this would be of concern. Despite this, I have heard comments about how for such a tumultuous time, there are few demonstrations on campus. I want to look into the uptick in protests and investigate why SDSU students are taking their activism off campus.