[Our Feature Spotlight focuses this week on Citizen Journalism]

Working as a correspondent for the Los Angeles bureau of Youth Radio, I felt that it was my duty to engage with the student- and teacher-led protests against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). As a high school senior, I’m definitely a part of that community, so having the tools of media at my disposal, I thought I should let people know what the community was trying to accomplish.

My own involvement in the protests helped push me to keep following the story, which I, with help from my bureau, covered over a series of four blog posts: “Los Angeles Mayor Denies the Public He Represents,” “Teachers and Students Speak Truth to Power,” “L.A. Youth Continue to Send the Message to LAUSD,” and “L.A. Unified Schools' Superintendent Gives Broader Context to Budget Cuts.” In the course of covering these stories, I encountered a couple of surprises. For instance, in preparation for an interview with LAUSD Superintendent Ray Cortines I was curious, and a bit nervous, as to what he would say because he was one of the major people whom we (the teachers and students involved in the protests) kept blaming for the budget cuts given his power to dictate the terms of the budget to the School Board. In asking the questions I had to try hard not to betray my allegiances and, in doing so, I learned quite a bit and saw the issue of the teacher layoffs from his perspective as well. On a personal note, he also didn’t seem to be as much as a bogeyman as we were making him out to be. But I still disagreed with his ultimate decision to lay teachers off. Overall, the interview went well because although he helped me see the other side of the issue, his answers strengthened my resolve about my own views.

What drove me the most to keep going with the coverage was the response I got from someone who wasn’t even from Los Angeles. A woman from Bakersfield read up on what my community was doing and was very interested. I was surprised that I had managed to get the word out to some people I hadn’t expected to reach, which showed me the true significance of citizen journalism: that even if people can’t join in a movement or a cause, through my stories, I could help them spread the word about those events, and, ultimately, help them see why they should care.

 

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