A masters in social journalism as a first generation digital marketer, week one

Mekdela Maskal
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

~weekly class post~

The beginning of Social Journalism classes at Newmark School of Journalism has continued my investigation into my interests in community engagement, unveiling of truths, and the technologies that support these functions. Before discussing theories with classmates and professors, we introduce ourselves and our histories. We’re a small cohort of the same sixteen students in every class. Thus, each repeated introduction has been a practice in defining what brought us to the classroom.

I’ve continued to come back to the conclusion that growing up with a curiosity and avid use of the internet allowed me to precariously straddle unfamiliar communities, bringing connection with me from one to another. I would find belonging in social media when I couldn’t locate the sensation in my real surroundings, and I would research my own views that opposed those of my peers, and bring them back into conversations. As I grew older I became more confident in my perspectives and started sharing them on social media. Conversation easily sparked and I started to find a community online. A community that wasn’t interested in the opinions of big name publications. They didn’t see themselves and their families represented in the coverage.

One of the major indicators of this was when I started sharing my old family photos online. I received both sentimental and surprised reactions. The sentimental, from folks with a similar background to mine, first generation American or east African. And, the surprised from American’s and African Americans. It occurred to me that if not for my parent’s dedication to preserving these images through political asylum and many moves, I wouldn’t have known about the nuance of our history. My schooling and much of the mainstream movies and TV shows only described black bodies in relationship to slavery, incarceration, or sports. I learned about the tones and gazes that are applied to stories and images, and how they may completely shift a narrative.

I realized I had taken our thousands of photos and frequent slideshow nights for granted. I started to think about and document other aspects of my life that were encouraged by my family. Skiing, archery, hiking. Without them I may have never felt welcome into the white-only American outdoors. I also started to better document my journeys home to Ethiopia. Through journaling and photography, I investigated my communities and shared snapshots of a reality unlike the one shared by big name media outlets. The myth of objectivity was becoming ever present.

All the while I was getting paychecks from various digital marketing roles at agencies and brands. I think I always knew I would move on, unsure about where, but also knew that understanding the back-end algorithms, strategies, and business methodologies of marketing would serve me well in my future work. As I am transitioning out of marketing and into grad school, I am also finishing a media residency with an advocacy organization called Mama Hope. Within my first week at Newark, I learned that I’d better know my audience before mentioning advocacy and journalism in the same sentence. The gatekeepers would rather continue to think that their form of journalism is objective and evenhanded.

I look forward to further dismantling the gate, and creating new paradigms of journalism as a public service, with the innovation of a digital business.

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