I spent five months as the story editor of a capstone project, Traces – The realities surrounding the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. Traces was a finalist for the David Teeuwen Student Journalism award of OJA.
I organized and established relationships with community stakeholders as well as helped reporter and photographer teams work efficiently and productively together.
I played a key roll in editing the stories as well as bringing guest speakers into the class. We established mental health resources and discussed the impact of reporting on traumatic stories with student reporters. I was a leader in the class dynamic and worked well with my fellow peer and photo editor to coordinate logistics for 10 reporters and photojournalists.
I also wrote the introduction and interviewed Annita Lucchesi, the executive director of the Sovereign Bodies Institute to give the project greater context. We produced stories that led to a more nuanced understanding of this crisis in a culturally appropriate, inclusive and sensitive manner.
LJ Dawson 