Thank you journalism

I am grateful that I was able to develop my storytelling skills through this student news column.

This column not only gave me a voice but shared my ideas with an audience that my school newspaper or news site didn’t cover. Something I consider one of my favorite memories from writing for the Daily Journal is one of my columns in the Dec. 10 edition (“Liberal bubble”) received a positive comment in the form of a letter from a reader. As a writer, it’s liberating to not only hear of people reading your work but that it actually made them think and reflect.

I had the opportunity to apply for the Daily Journal internship at the end of my sophomore year when my journalism advisor Justin Raisner first told me there was an opening. Regretfully, I didn’t apply thinking the job didn’t sound glamorous enough.

After having one more year of journalism under my belt, I learned that journalism isn’t glamorous and I didn’t do it to have my classmates recognize my name in the newspaper, but I did it because I believed there were certain stories to tell and I should be the one to do it. Thankfully, I took my newfound appreciation for journalism and did apply for the internship at the end of my junior year.

Aside from getting to write in the student news column, once a week I went to the Daily Journal where I learned how a real newsroom functioned. This was where I learned how professionals did what I think is the hardest part of journalism: research and interviews.

There were times when I would come into work and I was afraid to greet some of the writers because they were doing a phone interview and vigorously typing on the computer the answers to their questions. There was nothing fancy about it, it was just good journalism.

One of the most important journalism lessons I learned from the internship was the importance of local news. Just listening to the conversations between Jon and Austin helped me understand that local news should be emphasized more.

With the election of President Donald Trump taking front stage of every big news organization across America, I was inspired by the Daily Journal’s commitment to local news and brought that commitment to my school’s publication.

Making the change to only cover news that was relevant to the Bay Area actually expanded the demographic of our audience from the students at Carlmont High School to the Belmont Police Department who wouldn’t have known Scot Scoop News existed if it weren’t for our change to focus on covering local news.

Thank you to Jon and the rest of the Daily Journal for teaching me about the importance of local news. I also will never forget the conversations in which Jon taught me facts about gardening or when Austin, Erik and I learned the difference between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving. Thank you Raisner for being so much more than just my journalism advisor but a friend who I know I can always count on for advice or help with anything. Lastly, thank you journalism for making me the person I am today.

Megan Tao is a recent graduate of Carlmont High School in Belmont. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.