It’s pretty rare to hear the name Maayan on the American airwaves, and WUWM’s Maayan Silver was very excited to hear — and meet — lead statehouse reporter for South Carolina Public Radio, Maayan Schechter. Schechter is a political reporter and wrote for and edited South Carolina newspapers for a decade until she joined public radio last year.
The two Maayans sat down for Lake Effect to talk about their similar names and careers. “I feel like I'm having that — you've seen Parent Trap where the sisters [meet], I feel like I'm having that situation right now,” laughs Schechter.
“That is the greatest explanation,” replies Silver. “So, I almost feel like we should be the same person.”
“Oh, people tell me all the time, they're like, ‘Oh, I heard you on the radio. But in Wisconsin?’ I'm like, no, no. I've been in South Carolina my whole career,” recounts Schechter.
The name Maayan means “a spring of water” in Hebrew and technically has three syllables. Maayan Silver has been wrestling with how it should be pronounced in the U.S. and, at times, has agreed with Schechter’s two-syllable pronunciation: “My-yahn.”
"I feel like especially here in South Carolina, people usually gravitate towards like Megans and Marys or whatever," says Schechter, "and My-yahn is just frankly, it's as easy as it can get." Shechter puts the pronouncer on her email, on her Twitter, "on any kind of platform I have. Because it's a tough name here in South Carolina."
Schechter is originally from Atlanta. “My parents lived in Israel for some time working for CNN, and then moved to the bureau in Atlanta, which is where I'm from,” she explains. “And they decided to just give all their kids very Israeli Hebrew names.”
She says journalism is in her blood. “It also kind of fits all my weirdo passions. I ask a lot of questions. I'm nosy. I love gossip. And it's one of those career paths where it fits all those kinds of weird traits that I that I have.”
Entering public radio last June has been a big shift. “I can tell stories in a way that I wasn't totally able to do in print,” she says. “And as you know, there's something about listening to somebody's voice, interviewing somebody, hearing that personal story, that really kind of makes the story telling different or that much more impactful.”
Schechter says one of the things that has been nice about public radio and about covering the recent South Carolina primary is that there was such a renewed focus on including voters in reporting.
“Because really, at the end of the day, the national reporters who come down, they're gonna get the headlines off of this policy or this scoop, whatever,” she explains. “What's really nice is we can tell the stories on the ground in a much more authoritative way. ‘This is how South Carolinians feel. Listen to them. These are the issues, they're much more nuanced than just, you know, a little talking point here and there.’”
She says that made covering the recent South Carolina presidential primary more enjoyable. But, in general, Schechter loves sticking with state politics. In fact, she says she's fallen in love with the South Carolina State House. “To me, it's one of the best jobs that I've ever had. Because you get to really, I mean, it's kind of nerdy, right? You get to really see the lawmaking process, the things that people mostly do not get to see at home.”
It's the kind of nerdiness well represented by a Maayan. Just try not to confuse her with the one in Wisconsin.
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