Diversity

Publications have the responsibility of accurately representing the diverse voices of its consumers.

Why

We want our Braswell Media publications to represent our diverse student body. Our photography and copy should reflect the reality that our high school has no majority race or ethnicity.

To do so means taking a step back, looking beyond the camera lens, and asking whose story has not been told yet?

From the mariachi band to the step team to waterpolo, the Bengals are a diverse group of people with diverse interests. Our work should reflect that.

How

Diverse staff

In the gap between the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 publication years, only two people remained on The Ambush staff. As I rebuilt our staff, I focused on two criteria: 1) they were willing to work, and 2) they brought a unique perspective to the publication. Our diverse roster today truly reflects the student body we serve.

The Ambush 2022-2023 staff.

Coverage Ladder

At the beginning of each school year, my adviser and I sit down and write out the year's coverage plan. This plan, represented visually by a laminated poster, depicts how many spreads (or sets of two pages) we as a publication will allot for each activity (or time frame, in the case of our chronological section). We do this to make sure we allot the appropriate amount of coverage to all of Braswell's athletic, artistic, and cultural organziations.

For example, in order to increase representation of more non-athletics extracurriculars, I made the decision to include a fine arts section for the first time in The Ambush Yearbook history.

The 2022-2023 coverage ladder hangs on the Ambush goals and announcements board in the Braswell Media classroom. Reagan Netherland, editor-in-chief, and Daniel Carr, adviser, drafted this plan in August 2022.

Principal's Committee

Every first Thursday of the month, the student leads and sponsors of each extracurricular organization meet with our principal, DeCorian Hailey, to discuss and implement ways to improve communication between each of the different groups.

I (lead ofThe Ambush and BHS Now) along with Diego Gonzalez and Myrical Roberts (leads of The Bengal Beat) represent Braswell Media at these meetings. Our primary objective at every meeting is to build rapport and consistent streams of communication with other extracurriculars in order to improve our representation of all athletic, academic, artistic, and cultural extracurriculars in all of our publications.

The gist.

Principal's Committee

Reflecting the diversity of the population that a publication serves fosters trust between the publication and its audience.
Diverse perspectives build a richer publication.