Week 4 Reading Reflection

As I was reading the articles about service journalism for this week, I quickly realized that these types of articles are usually the ones I seek out the most. While I wasn’t familiar with the actual term itself, this is the kind of content I am used to finding when I search for whatever interest or concern is top of mind when I open Google Chrome.
I really appreciate how service journalism is meant to serve as something to be useful, and as mentioned in the article about the Philadelphia Inquirer, the information should enable readership for practicality sake. I especially loved the line about connecting the news to readers lives, rather that connecting readers to the news of the day. When the content is framed in a way that readers feel that the information is personally relevant to them, the clicks and readership will grow itself naturally. The “news you can use” approach spans far beyond the pandemic, although the circumstances we all have faced since last March are most certainly a prime example of service journalism at work at its finest. But back to my original point, this is information people are seeking out because they are truly searching for answers to their pressing concerns, needs or interests. It should be people-centered and it should be digestible in a way that suits such needs.
I’d never thought of service journalism working in tandem with elevating underserved voices, but I truly believe that this combination of works truly encapsulates what it means to be a journalist. Of all the examples, my most favorite pieces came from Self’s page about Black Maternal Mortality. This is evidently an under-discussed area of concern, and even the headlines alone made me more aware of this issue as well as steps to take and questions to ask to move toward a place of progress. While this is not an issue that affects me directly, I have a strong appreciation for how these articles have been framed and formatted to make others aware of the issues at stake as well as how to combat them.