Where has the time gone? Zenith round 2 comes to a close…
Another season of Zenith has come and gone.
I can’t believe how quickly time goes. This was our second year mentoring emerging media workers and putting on virtual events, and it’s been such a joy and labor of love. Our mentorship season will come to a close in March, and applications for the next round will open up in summer 2023. Stay tuned for that announcement on the site!
We’re honored and humbled to keep building solidarity and skill-sharing.
In solidarity,
Elly Belle, Zenith newsletter editor, and the Zenith Cooperative
Mentee Spotlight: Amber X. Chen
Q&A:
Who is your mentor?
My mentor is Gabe Schneider.
What's something significant you've learned from him so far this year?
That it’s okay to slow down and take time for yourself. We are not content machines (even though the media world does treat journalists like content machines a lot of the time).
Why did you want to join Zenith?
I wanted to join Zenith to connect with aspiring journalists and young professionals in the industry. Media seems like such a cutthroat and isolating place at times and I was searching for a collaborative community of journalists to join.
Who are some writers you look up to in media? Which writers, journalists, and editors are shaping your work or the work you want to do?
Sabrina Imbler, Yessenia Funes, Willow Defebaugh, Jia Tolentino, Laura Pitcher, Terry Nguyen, Brian Kahn, Frida Garza, Adam Mahoney, Hua Hsu, Anna Wiener, also everyone at Defector, Inside Climate News, and Grist.
What topics/beats are you invested in and why?
Environmental justice is my main beat, but I am also invested in topics like youth culture, social media, the Internet, political organizing, and feminism. However, I think that environmental justice will always be my main beat. My pursuit of journalism in the first place was informed by my involvement in the youth climate movement. As the effects of the climate crisis grow increasingly imminent, it is important that newsrooms commit to more climate coverage in general, but especially with regards to environmental justice. Telling environmental justice stories is an essential aspect of ensuring that the climate solutions we pursue are equitable, sustainable, and community-informed.
What is your writing/reporting process?
If this is regarding a pitch of mine that has been accepted, I have already done some preliminary research and have identified some potential sources in order to craft that pitch in the first place. I then do more research and solidify a list of sources that I feel could speak to all angles of my story. Because I typically cover environmental justice, I try hard to make sure that I interview affected community members, and to do so I will ask local organizers for recommendations and scour Facebook groups, Instagram comments, and Twitter hashtags. I then compose an outline of the questions I want to ask my sources, leaving it open to new questions that may arise during our conversation. I record and transcribe all of my interviews and compile them into a Google Doc. On a separate Google Doc, I start outlining my story. Before I start writing, I always try to pin down my nut graf and the main points I want to hit. And then I start writing!
What are you passionate about besides writing and journalism?
Listening to music in cars late at night, spending time with my friends, going to the beach, “your mom” and “that’s what she said” jokes, the Rose Bowl, “West Coast Best Coast” (California is 100% the best U.S. state), plain tart frozen yogurt, and psychedelics!
What is Zenith writing about lately?
Found: An 80-Year-Old Wedding Cake With a Tragic Past
Natasha explores a mystery cake from the summer of 1943, and cuts into its ties to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II for Atlas Obscura.
Where’s the End of Hawai’i’s Water Crisis?
For the Frontline, Amber spoke with water protectors in O’ahu, Hawai’i, who are sounding the alarm over growing threats to their precious water.
Hometown Humbling: Delia Cai’s Central Places
Anson navigates the Midwestern Asian experience in a review of Delia Cai's new book.
The Movement to Close Singapore’s Death Row
For the Nation, Meerie unravels how Singapore tries to keep foreigners out of its politics but not out of death row. While politicians spin "Western influence" as a bogeyman, the reality is that many people impacted by Singapore's carceral system are not citizens.
Teachers and Students Respond to Black History Bans
In a full circle moment, Aina interviewed her teachers and peers at her school to discuss how race and discrimination is being taught during Black history month in a CRT-restrictive state like Texas.
Sierra Pettengill’s Riotsville U.S.A.
For Brooklyn Rail, Matene reviewed the documentary-essay film, Riotsville U.S.A. She examines the ways in which the film debunks mythologies around carceral expansion by using archival footage made by the state. By critically looking at recent history, the docu-essay helps to explain how places like Cop Cityin Atlanta and other police militarization facilities have developed.
What else are we creating?
Xavier Lopez:
Xavier is one of the main producers of the latest season of Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. This season they're looking at the impact that social media and technology is having on all of us.
Sarah Vitak:
Sarah has been working on a new podcast for Outside Magazine. The Daily Rally tells stories about overcoming challenges, like a sweet inspirational daily pep talk. Their first episode to go live is here.
Elly Belle:
Feelings Soup, Elly’s new podcast with their friend Sam Slupski, has finally dropped its first episode and will continue to drop episodes bi-weekly. First guests, whose episodes will come out soon, include poet Arielle Estoria and the Internet’s Big Sister Frankie Simmons. Conversations on the pod will explore how our emotions affect us and our relationships, and how we communicate about them.
What’s inspiring us?
Anson Tong:
The specificity and emotion of Samia's new album Honey, how The Old Place by Bobby Finger portrays a small town, and laughing very hard while rewatching The Nanny.
Sarah Vitak:
My friend Claire and I entered into a super badass off-road navigation rally called the Rebelle Rally. Even just getting to the starting line is a huge undertaking and kind of a part time job in and of itself. You can follow our journey on Instagram!
Lexi McMenamin:
Renaissance is basically keeping me alive while basically every politician blows off the manufactured attack on trans and queer people. Relatedly: all the organizing going on over improving journalistic standards in mainstream media around trans life!