A Voice for the Voiceless
After entering lockdown, as most Americans did during the first wave of the novel coronavirus, Brandon Balayan, 21, found a way to continue his mission as an active journalist while the nation faced a major lockdown and numerous conflicts.
With strong determination, he and his colleague, Kamryn Martell, began their podcast series Beyond Face Value (2020), where they invite guest speakers to weigh in on topics arraying from politics, writing and publishing, racial issues, activism, film, and LGBTQ issues around the world, as well as other journalists who offered insight on reporting during COVID-19. This is a form of entertainment for others but allows Balayan to practice his interviewing skills.
Aside from hosting his own podcast, Balayan also continued to work arduously to document protests as a photojournalist and reporter during the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent Los Angeles protests against the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict, which he then published to his blog (Brandonbalayan.com) and his Instagram account (@BrandonBalayan).
His hopes of becoming a strong journalist and working this hard were never on the table for him after graduating high school. His ideal educational career path was to major in kinesiology, but his shift to journalism can only be recalled as a “slow and steady transition” as the passion for journalism grew.
After working on a video project for the California Campus Compact’s Community Engagement Student Fellowship Program (CESF) in 2019 at the College of the Canyons (COC) in Santa Clarita, where Balayan attended school (2018–2020) and resides, he published a mission statement in his YouTube video where he aims to, “make the invisible, visible.” Since publishing this to his channel, he has stayed true to his word and actively works as a photojournalist and reporter for his own media sites.
After graduating from COC in the spring of 2020, he was admitted to study at San Diego State University (SDSU) where he hoped to have a college experience and create new memories while majoring in his respective field. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Balayan remained in his hometown to complete his virtual studies only urging him to work harder than before.
“The only time I’ve ever been to San Diego, it was on my way to a Dodger game and I was like 8 and I threw up on the way there,” he said, chuckling. “I think the Dodgers lost too so it wasn’t even a good experience. Hopefully, I can create some new memories by the time I’m done graduating from school there.”
His passion for media, specifically photography and video production, excite him as his love for it can be developed more and used in a more professional setting. Ideally, he is open to working for any journalistic multimedia organization, preferably in the local area of San Diego, but his dream job is to be a photojournalist for National Geographic in order to travel and capture moments that remain for a well-respected publisher.
“I have a photography book of (National Geographic) portraits and it's like the best portraits from the last century or something like that,” he said. “Just to see the progression of how, like, racist some of the photographers were back then — and to what it's now. It’s more ethical now and a more structured way of storytelling. That’s absolutely my dream. And on top of that writing as well... National Geographical would be my ultimate dream place to work.”
Although he remains a passionate journalist, due to his family members being affected by the current war in Armenia, Balayan now faces an ethical issue as an advocate and journalist. With more fear from current world affairs, specifically the Armenian-Azerbaijan war, Balayan has found it hard to remain neutral as a journalist during this time of need. He said, “There is a time and place for that. There is a time and place for AP style and staying neutral, but in this case, when you’re going up against racism, bigotry, and possible genocide, you cannot stay neutral.”
“As far as the war in Armenia goes, that one, in particular, it is harder to stay neutral on. I do know the background of Turkey and Azerbaijan and how they’re run by dictators. It is very hard to stay neutral in that sense where you see people back home are getting killed. And these are civilians, by the way. Soldiers are obviously getting killed, but civilians are getting killed as well,” he said. “It’s just me empathizing with what’s going on over there. It’s like a sense of guilt that comes with being over here… I have family in Armenia still.”
He has since written a few opinion pieces on the issue as his concern grows for Armenia but offers a few ways to help bring more awareness to the situation.
“I would say to do your own research,” he said. “I wouldn’t say stay away from the Instagram infographics, but they’re for people with a shorter attention span…The Instagram infographics can only get you so far. There’s not a good depth of information like I said. Look at local organizations on the ground, such as AYF, the Armenian Youth Federation… but do your own research…and I would be very cautious of trusting any, if not all, Azerbaijani and Turkish media outlets, or people from the government.”
Because of the Turkish and Azerbaijani censorship, information being released to the public is heavily biased. “One, they’re not letting individuals leave their own country — to flee. Two, they’re not allowing journalists to enter their country if they entered Armenia without their permission. And (Turkey and Azerbaijan are) both dictatorships… There is really no freedom of the press right now either so we can’t also rely on the media that is coming out of those countries, which is why one must do their own research to really understand the crucial things that are happening in Armenia and Azerbaijan. I’m not saying just read on Armenia, but there are so many facts and information that needs to be taken into consideration right now.”
As of now, with remaining determination, Balayan will continue to publish his own reports on his site and has plans to work on major projects in the San Diego area. He also plans to continue with his podcast although he has taken a month break from his busy schedule to focus on school and will continue to attend protests to capture the powerful moments of those in the crowds as a photojournalist.
For more information on Brandon Balayan, please visit www.Brandonbalayan.com, follow him on Instagram (@BrandonBalayan), or listen to his podcast Beyond Face Value on all major podcast platforms. For any inquiries please email him at brandonbalayan@gmail.com.
