MY STORY:

• Women in music: a local look at a larger problem

MY BLOG:

Music has always been my passion. As a kid, I would pore through my parents’ record collection and find music that spoke to me. I grew up playing guitar and writing songs any chance I could get. This love of music transitioned into adulthood as I found myself a musician deeply rooted in the Salt Lake City music scene.

For my enterprise story, I decided to take my love of music and my experience as a woman inside the industry and broaden the scope. I found local artists who are female or who played side by side with women and wrote about their experiences in music.

The hardest part of writing this piece was taking myself out of the equation. Because it is something I am so passionate about and rooted in, I have an emotional tie to the subject matter. News writing demands you are objective which proved to be difficult at times.

Interviewing people about their gendered experience in music helped me remove my own bias by immersing myself in their stories. The focus for my story came through the interview process. I knew I wanted to talk about females in local music but the focus of the piece relied on what my interviewees told me. Marny, Gui and Ben, the three musicians I had the opportunity to interview, gave me incredible insight. They were open, honest and had a lot to say about their experiences in music.

After interviewing and researching the inequalities in the music industry on a national level, the story became easier to write. The biggest challenge I faced during the writing process was formatting the story in a way that flowed well and prompted a greater impact for the reader.

The enterprise story was a challenge but ultimately made me a better writer, giving me experience producing a personal story in a news format. I enjoyed focusing on something that matters to me while also growing as a communicator.

ABOUT ME:

I am currently a strategic communication major at the University of Utah, graduating in the fall of 2018. I plan on pursuing a career in music after graduation, whether that be performing or using my communication degree to work in the music industry. I attended Portland State University my freshman year and recently returned from an internship in San Francisco. These experiences helped me grow as a person and student, finding my passion for learning as well as traveling. Although I think the West Coast is a dreamy place and hope to relocate to the East Coast after graduation, I have a deep love for Salt Lake, the place I call home.