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I have been involved with Weave News in varying capacities since my freshman year at St. Lawrence in Fall 2018. Assuming the Editorial Coordinator role through this internship was a great way to transition from my ongoing student role within the organization to a more full-fledged, multi-faceted position in the world of grassroots journalism.
I was fortunately able to shape my experience and tailor it to my own interests and professional development journey given that the requirements of my position were flexible. I was able to develop my skills as an investigative journalist through taking on the task of writing an article about a recently proposed law in Guatemala that would give the federal government control over historic and spiritual sites that have long belonged to the Indigenous Maya of Guatemala. While writing and researching the piece, I was able to connect with several contacts doing important work in the area, including Tat Jose Baudilio Sis, a Mayan spiritual leader belonging to one of the many thriving Indigenous communities in Guatemala. I conducted our interview in Spanish, which was also a great learning experience for me that improved my cross-cultural communication skills and expanded my comfort zone.
During my internship I was also able to virtually attend the 2022 Allied Media Conference along with another Weave News intern, Camila. This four day conference featured many different panels and workshops all centered around producing and engaging with media focused on social justice and liberation. The conference featured different "tracks," which helped participants attend workshops catered toward a specific theme. I attended many sessions that were focused on abolition, since one of my other major projects during my internship was to research and develop a new series for Weave News about abolition and transformative justice. Through these sessions I learned a lot about current abolitionist work, was inspired by new and creative uses of media, and connected with many contacts and organizations that Weave News could learn from and/or collaborate with in the future.
Designing the new series on abolition with one of Weave's contributing editors, Chloe, was a great introduction to editorial work and the broad skillset required to produce a series and effectively collaborate with contributors and editors. While my internship has officially ended, I am looking forward to continue working on this project with Chloe and hopefully produce a finished product in the near future!