KAITLIN REYNOLDS
student journalist
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY
The role of a journalist is to cover the world around them and that includes everyone. Through my coverage I have ensured representation of all groups in our student media publications. Even though I come from a school with a mostly-white population, I actively work to make sure that the content of our publications doesn't exclude the smaller non-white portion of our school. Additionally, the diversity of my coverage goes far beyond just race. I have covered LGBTQ+ and inclusion stories as well.
Black Lives Matter Spread
In the Prowler Yearbook we have a section dedicated specifically for events that happened over the summer. After noticing that the Black Lives Matter(BLM) movement was something that countless students were involved in, I made the decision to incorporate a spread specifically for the movement. I wanted readers to stop and look at the page and soak in the powerful message of BLM. Instead of having a photo with students' faces for the dominant element, we used a single fist fighting for change to captivate readers. The page also commands attention when flipping through the book because of the stark contrast that the dark paper has to the rest of the book's plain white pages.
Inclusion In-depth
Diversity doesn't just stop at race. Since a majority of students in our Alternate Curriculum Program(ACP) are not in inclusion classes we don't hear about the interesting things that go on in their lives as often. During an editor meeting, the other Catalyst editors and myself recognized that our coverage lacked ACP students. For the in-depth of issue two of our print paper we focused on ACP students and actively sought after their stories.
COVERING DIVERSE FILMS
When reviewing movies, I often pick films that incorporate diverse characters and draw attention to that aspect of the film in my written review. I have focused on multiple different areas of diversity such as race and sexual orientation. Below are a few of the reviews that I have published which discuss diversity. Click the images to view the stories.
Opinion stories that support diversity
I am a huge advocate for increasing diversity and I have reflected that through opinion stories I have written for the Catalyst Newspaper. Below are two stories that I wrote. To the left is a story on the need for diverse texts and literature in schools, and to the right is a story over the homophobic guidelines surrounding gay men and blood donations. Click the images to read the stories.
Black History Month Story
In the beginning of February, my school put up a display to teach students about Black history. Below is a story that I wrote over the display. I made sure that one of the students I interviewed was a student of color so that I could provide a closer perspective and handle the story appropriately. Click the image below to go to the story.
