Journalists hitting the Lifestyle Beat

Photo Credit: Holly Martin

Holly Martin has been in broadcast journalism for over five years. You can catch her on the radio in Philly and Atlantic City. She loves the fall, and all things spooky. When she’s not in Philadelphia, Holly spends most of her time on the beach. She will be graduating in May of 2019, but plans attend Temple University for her master’s program.

 

Daryl Matthews has been in broadcasting for several years. Originally from Philly, he is the host of a segment called “The Feed” which is a entertainment social media segment on Philadelphia Neighborhoods On TV, which is in it’s fourth episode. His ideal goal job is to work on E T.v as an entertainment reporter and anchor. He will be graduating in May of 2018.

 

Brian Maiorana has been interested in Journalism since 2010 when reading gaming magazines and thinking “I can do that”. Though since that time, he’s only dabbled in a personal blog and a Youtube channel. With his love for games, he wishes to find work as a reviewer once he’s finished with school. He hopes to graduate in May of 2018.

 

Lifestyle Coverage in Philadelphia and why it needs more

Other than news sites like Philly.com, the occasional story that will appear on NBC10, or or an article in the Inquirer, there doesn’t seem to be too much coverage about everyday life in Philadelphia. And those that do cover it, tend to keep them separate such as those with fashion blogs or food blogs that depict those singular topics around the city. The more menial is left at the wayside, either getting minimal or no coverage.

Why are we the right people to cover this?

In my research, I found that there is only coverage when there’s a story that is, for lack of a better way to phrase it, either extremely negative or vice versa. It’s as though we only care about everyday people when they are either at their best or their worst. Life itself is made up of more than just tragedies and triumphs. Our everyday thoughts can be just as important as those moments, be it on something as important as the current political turmoil in our country or as menial as asking why the hell SEPTA’s service so slow. That’s the kind of stuff I want to cover. Seriously though, I’ve been standing here for the past half hour and 5 other buses I can’t take have passed by…

Some ideas for what we can cover

There are so many topics that can be covered under lifestyle that will not only be entertaining for the interviewer to ask and write up about, but the interviewee as well. I always notice that when I ask someone if they wouldn’t mind being interviewed, they tend to stiffen, as if I were to expose a deep dark secret of theirs for the world to see. Imagine how they’ll relax when I ask “So what’s your opinion on the Pumpkin Spice craze that’s been going on the past couple of years?” Or I could talk to those who work at the Eastern State Penitentiary every Halloween about their job and their favorite part about working there. Perhaps I could even include stories from them about any unique experiences they had. Then there’s the topic of Black Friday: will you go out and face the hordes of manic shoppers who are leaping on any deal they can find and strip them clean like piranhas? Or maybe they choose to stay at home where it’s safe and find deals on Cyber Monday? It could be they do something entirely different. That is the fun of lifestyles: we as people experience things so similarly yet differently from one another.