Blog Post 1 - October 6, 2025:
For my story idea, I decided to write about the dying local music scene in San Diego. The reason I wanted to write a story on this topic is because I feel like I have been involved in a music scene for long enough to see some pretty drastic changes. Some of those changes I have seen over time are lack of all aged venues, community, and support, which I will be covering in my story. But another reason I wanted to write this story is to hopefully get people inspired enough to be a part of their own music scene, whether it be picking up an instrument and joining a band or even just attending shows more frequently.
For my story idea, I wanted to get angles from individuals who have also seen drastic changes within their music scene to have more perspective. I am also going to be gathering data on all aged local venues that have closed down or are not active anymore within the past five or ten years. I feel like when I was playing shows around seven years ago, there was always something happening every weekend to the point where it was hard to decide what show to attend. Nowadays, local shows are usually at dive bars or play to play venues like Soma. I don’t want to discredit the venues that have remained open and the hard work people still put in, but I also want to bring light to the fact that the lack of infrastructure and support have made the local music very stale as of late.
SAMPLE CHART:
SAMPLE MAP:
Blog Post 2 - November 3, 2025:
I finished my digital story and one thing I wanted to talk about during this was the documentary I made for it. I made a 20 minute long documentary to fulfill the social media aspect for the project. My intention was not to create that long of a video, but I got so into that I kept wanting to make more. I had such a great time driving around the city in search of venues that had been shut down and interviewing all of my guests to the point where I might have spent more time creating that than the story itself. I really enjoyed using the documentary as my voice and being able to incorporate humor and funny edits just made it all the more fun.
One thing that I tried to do a lot was use some tips and tricks that I learned in JMS 430. For example there was a couple of B-Roll shots that I took where I incorporated the rule of thirds, which I learned from class. Another thing I learned was how the camera angle should be placed when interviewing a guest on film which I tried to incorporate the best that I could. I got really inspired by the mini documentaries that we watched in class which is what led to me creating mine. It could have been shorter so it's easier to watch, but I think I had such a fun time creating it that I didn't want to stop. I might end up taking some career paths that would hopefully lead to creating documentaries once I graduate, but who knows.
Blog Post 3 - November 12, 2025:
One thing that resonated with me the most about the screening circle and the new show Muslim Matchmaking was how film and television are able to convey different cultures and their societal norms to people who might not fully understand them. I really enjoyed watching what muslims find in their partners, it gave me some perspective on dating lives through different cultures. I also really enjoy the Q&A portion after the screening circle. The two hosts of the show provided a lot of information on how muslims face a lot of backlash through media, but shows like this can shed light on who muslims actually are.
One particular thing that was brought up during the Q&A was the fears of creating this show because of backlash. When this was first brought up, I didn’t really understand why because I personally have no bias towards muslim culture and religion, but they explained how the Muslims are usually represented in the news and media which gave me a better understanding. I didn’t really grasp the full context of media portrayal, but hearing the hosts, creator, and producer of the show talk about them was eye-opening.
A lot of muslim culture has been represented very poorly on the news. After 9/11, I feel like the muslim identity has been tied to that singular event. It hasn’t really changed my perception of the muslim community. I have always respected everyone and their religious beliefs regardless of the past. As a future journalist, I always remain open minded and optimistic of others and their differences, but the media hasn’t always done so. I believe that as a journalist it is important to understand those differences and remain unbiased towards them.
Based on the screening circle, I feel like the news could represent muslim culture a lot more. I feel like the problem is that people have a hard time accepting and fully understanding the muslim culture. If people could watch this show and the news represented muslim people more, they would gain a deeper understanding of their culture. I think their identity could be represented in a better light and there would be less stigmas and bias against them.
Blog Post 3 - November 12, 2025:
I really enjoyed learning how to make my own Google map. I made my own map to showcase the number of venues that have shut down across San Diego for my digital story, and I think it is a really helpful digital tool to showcase research. Another digital tool I really enjoyed learning about was Google Sheets. We learned about Google Sheets in October but I ended up using one for my research to create the map and it was very helpful. I think it’s really cool how you can transfer all of the data from a Google sheet that contains all your research into a map that you're creating.
I think it’s important that journalists know about these digital tools. I think the last time I touched Google sheets was in high school, and even then I didn’t really understand how they worked. Anything that can help a journalist show their research or aid the research process is important to know. When I began my education in journalism I thought the only thing I was going to be focused on was writing. After transferring to SDSU and learning that journalism is an evolving field with technology and media, I am actually enjoying it a lot more than I already did.