Web and Social Media
Our website has improved quite a lot from 2019 to now. We have expanded our series of "The Humans of Huron" and redesigned the website, with updated polls, graphics and better coverage. The pieces for the website were not great content. They were for pieces that were too long for in-print or pieces that we just posted to post. This year, I trained, who our now our online EIC's, Anna Esper and Maya Fu. I'm glad they stepped up and took over online. They are posting consistently and striving to post good coverage.
When it comes to breaking news and COVID-19-related coverage, I am the point person to report. Since the beginning of 2021, when Ann Arbor Public Schools planned on instilling a hybrid plan. Every Wednesday from March 11, 2021, I would attend the board of education meetings. These meetings would be three to four hours long. I would simultaneously write the news -- if there is any and post on our Instagram.
Here are a few of the COVID-19 coverage stories click on photos to view.
BREAKING NEWS AND COVID-19 COVERAGE
Writing so many COVID-19 breaking news stories and attending every AAPS board meeting, I felt like I have developed a "journalistic sense." I am able to intuitively find a good story. I constantly generate new story ideas and assign them to underclassmen or share them with my adviser.
Studying Superintendent Jeanice Swift and her decisions, I am able to predict the board's decisions. In addition, I am able to write breaking news stories fairly quickly
Below you can find me sending a story idea to my adviser and predicting there is a snow day, this year, five hours before the communication was sent out. The next day I thought the superintendent would send an email early in the morning canceling school and she did. Click images and then 'Go to link' to view the stories. Also, click "story idea spreadsheet" to view how I spontaneously update it. This is shared with all staff members.
JOURNALISTIC SENSE
In my freshman year, Emery started off with about 100 followers. Now as a senior, we have reached 1,333 followers. Watching Emery's platform grow has been very special. In the beginning, I noticed that we were not reposting our content to our stories. Instagram Stories is how most of our audience sees our posts. So I took it upon myself to do so consistently.
We even became the source of news for some AAPS families. We were consistent with posting breaking news on both our website and social media while also developing themed posts for our Instagram and recurring series like "In my shoes" and "Hot Seat."
BEFORE
AFTER
On Dec.9, 2022, Huron had a lockout due to a hoax threat. Only parents received the emails. I gathered the emails and reported them on social media during the lockout. Within minutes of when the emails from admin were sent. Click on the images below to see the Instagram stories. For Instagram posts, click 'go to link' at the bottom.
Describe your image
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With this reporting, we gained 144 followers within a span of three hours -- which is how long we were stuck in the same room. In fact, this first post is our most-liked photo on our Instagram with 844 likes
I had the idea of "One Year Later," since COVID had happened. I remember the last day, March 13, 2020, we were all supposed to go home and return after spring break. Obviously, that didn't happen. On that day, I took several stock photos and a time-lapse of the infamous 6200 hallways, which you'll read more about in the Adobe Spark. In case we needed to report on something, we had photos to utilize for coverage purposes.
This was my first time using and even creating a spark. I created the layout of the spark and conducted interviews via email. This could not have turned out as well as it did -- or as informative -- without the help of Maya Kogulan.
Before we posted it, we went through the entire adobe spark and copy editing. While this was happening, I was also participating in a virtual Mock Trial state competition.
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1st place MIPA Multimedia Story Package (2021)
This also happened on Feb.7, when the Ann Arbor Police received hoax calls about a shooting at Huron. I quickly wrote up the story based on the email sent by the administration. Everyone saw police officers walk into the building. I began researching more into the situation and not just at Huron but high schools across the state received similar hoax calls. Some ven went into lockdown. With the help of sports editor Quinn Newhouse, I was able to get a quote from someone who attends Okemos High School. I reported on this, whenever I got breaks in classes. and finished writing an accurate story.
We have also transformed our Twitter account by consistently tweeting at almost all sports games and have been the most active this year. This also includes any breaking news. This past year I reported on an alleged locker room assault that occurred at Huron. I also reported on the Superintendent of AAPS subbing in and substituting at Huron.
I wanted to continue with the "SPOTTED" theme, inspired by Gossip Girl. It's not every day the Superintendent guest teachers and subs in for a teacher. The second time Swift came into the sub, the article I wrote also published on the Ann Arbor Public Schools District News. Click the images to go to the story. Similar posts have also been posted on our Instagram and Facebook. Our goal is to inform the public and gain as much traction as we can.
MORE RECENT BREAKING NEWS
With Michigan weather, comes quite a lot of school closures. It can be sunny one day and snowing the next day. For the past two months I, alongside our social media editor-in-chief Sandra Fu, reported on a series of snow day posts.
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While Sandra made her beautiful photo illustrations, I would add to the skeleton of breaking news I had already written before our superintendent would announce there was "no school." The "skeleton" would have information coming from the National Weather Service's storm advisories or warnings. We wanted to have a story planned beforehand, so we could inform our audience as soon as possible, because, at the end of the day, it's about the people. Many of our audience only view The Emery as their main news source. Here is a video of the skeleton of each breaking news I wrote and the after product:
On the left is Satvika's breaking news piece that I worked on her with. Click the photo to view it. On the right is a pdf of the breaking news I reported on. I also trained the new point person for breaking news, Website managing editor Satvika Ramanathan, to write a story about the uncertainty there was following the power outage. I am glad to pass on the torch to her.
