My goal for this semester is....

My goal for this semester is to try to look at my community and those living elsewhere throughout South Florida a little differently. My goal is to analyze neighborhoods from the bottom up rather than starting from the top. Our class discussion really helped me realize that the people reporters should interview are those directly affected by the issues we're covering. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, actually it isn't, or at least we don't practice this as much as we should. We always go for the obvious sources, i.e. city officials, rather than talk to the locals themselves. They are the ones who can help us report what's actually going on in our communities. Our job is to tell their story, not  go into a neighborhood with a story already in our heads. That's when reporters get into trouble. That's when reporters end up writing stories that reinforce stereotypes we should be trying to avoid.


As we discussed in class, Robert Samuels' article about the mass shooting in Liberty City is a great example of a potentially great story gone wrong. The stereotypes are all there: the run down establishments, young girls with babies, spray paint, the works. As Reisner pointed out, Samuels didn't interview the people who actually know the most about Liberty City and the problems residents are having. These reservoirs of knowledge are the church women, who many consider to be the "back bone of the back bone" of Liberty City, the back bone being the church itself. 


We can learn from Samuels' article. Though I know it's easier said than done, we need to do our best to interview a variety of sources, not only to get different points of view but to also avoid perpetuating the same stereotypes that have been with us for decades. 

Exhibit A: