In the world of social media that we live in today, how people are viewed through social media can be completely opposite than how one personally feels. A unique point of view came from the words of ESPN reporter Kate Fagan when she spoke Thursday regarding her viral report, Split Image, on the suicide of Ivy League college track athlete, Madison Holleran, and what role social media played in the aftermath of this moment.
Fagan spoke to about 80 UMass students and professors in the Ziff Gallery at the journalism department on October 1, 2015. “This is the highlights, not the whole story.” Fagan said, when discussing the use of social media today.
This realization of the limitation that social media has on our lives led Fagan to realize the “privilege of mental heath” that she did not know that she holds. social media often masks the true nature of ones mental health.
A writer focusing on gender equality and issues of social importance in sport and participant on shows such as First Take and Around the Horn on ESPN, Fagan took this story personally and it has changed her life as well as her reader’s lives.
Fagan’s overall point is for all of us to “notice the world.” She meant this in a professional and emotional level. Not everything you are going to write will come to you at a moments notice, it takes time to notice the little things in life.
To view the Fagan’s feature “Split Image” and learn more about Madison’s story, click here: http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12833146/instagram-account-university-pennsylvania-runner-showed-only-part-story
UMass Journalism 300 