PointsSouth: Articles 2007

Wonder Woman.

That's what I e-mailed to Kenny Irby when he asked us to think about what we wanted to become or learn over the fellowship. I said I wanted to become this woman of the newsroom. I want to know and do everything.

I sent the e-mail out and it went to everyone on the Poynter listserv.

How embarrassing.

Why did I choose that analogy? It just popped up. After all, Wonder Woman can do it all. She can battle evildoers and capture the truth with her lasso, which is another metaphor for the Photoshop tool and journalism.

Nearly 16 years ago, I was an avid fan of comic books. My dad would take me to this huge warehouse in Orlando. We would spend hours in the hot Florida heat scouring for cool comics and collectibles. I collected everything from The Crow to "Xanadu," but I always related to strong female characters such as Wonder Woman from the Justice League or Rogue from X-Men. It was about that time that I also took a serious interest in drawing. Comic books became a creative outlet. Drawing became a way for me to reinterpret the world I was living in.

My dad saw my interest and hoped he could inspire me by drawing. He knew that I was competitive and performed better under pressure. I would show him my work and he would show me his: his was always better. I continued to draw, hoping that one day I would be a famous comic book illustrator. I wanted to be the next Joe Kubert (The Flash, Batman and more), James O'Barr (creator of The Crow) or Vicki Wyman (creator of "Xanadu").

Dad also encouraged me to try other aspects of art such as pottery and mixed media. But I always felt as if something was missing. I was afraid my message and artwork would go unheard during my life. And that's exactly what happened.

Over time I sketched less as I took jobs that required less creative thinking and more management and organizational skills. I was unhappy with that, too.

In college I was drawn deeper into the world of journalism and saw that I wouldn't have to lead a pointless life of narcissistic creation. I could meld various forms of expression: writing, research and illustration. I was about to embark on a journey where there was an opportunity to explore myself creatively.

In 2006, Poynter accepted me into the summer fellowship because of an illustration and its content. I wondered how I could bring my skills to the fellowship and how they would be used. Would I be doing illustrations? Graphics? Reporting?

When I arrived at Poynter, I realized how much I had yet to learn. I thought I had a pretty good understanding of it all, until we were asked to try new forms of storytelling: audio, video and Web designs. I watched other fellows soak it up. I felt a little daunted. I had classes on this sort of thing, even dabbled briefly in them for school assignments, but on the average day I wasn't expected to produce the sort of things Poynter expected. Steve Dorsey gave us sketchbooks and told us to explore ideas in the blank pages. I found freedom and power in the pages and I didn't care who saw them. I grabbed massive amounts of paper and threw my ideas on them.

Once at Poynter, I started to ask myself how I could merge my background into a new style of storytelling. I wanted to examine how journalism, technology and art combined to help explain the human experience and communities. I was still intimidated and overwhelmed by the technology and the things I needed to learn. I set out to harness my fear by grabbing Flash books and other fellows and asked them to help me in the creative process.

This illustration, "Downpour of Information," began much as the fellowship did: a sprinkle, which became a shower and ultimately a downpour. It is who I want to be, unguarded and unprotected from the rain of information. I want to be able to run through a newsroom as a kid in a storm, splashing in puddles and laughing the whole time. I want to be able to put my umbrella down and embrace change. The illustration evokes a sudden feeling of being caught in a rainstorm. You can try and run from it, try to not get wet, or you can surrender, embrace and enjoy the beauty of the downfall.

The experience at Poynter has allowed me to understand that in the future newsroom I will have to continue to be fluid, artistically and technologically. I will be expected to do it all. I can do it all.

I can be Wonder Woman.