TV?

Yesterday our Broadcast RW1 found out some interesting news. We start TV next weekand our professors said there are some students who are not prepared enough to move on to TV and should will work on print and radio for the rest of the semester. They said we should think seriously about if we were ready to move forward. I'm not sure if the ultimate decision is up to us.

While I understand they've been doing this a long time and know what it takes to handle TV, I wonder if this happens other years or in other sections. I would imagine that had someone known this was a possibility that might change their course of study in the beginning.

SPJ Elections

I know some people on this blog were thinking about running for positions on the SPJ board. The deadline for nominating yourself online is this Friday at 9 a.m. So if you've been vaguely considering it, now is the time to submit your pitch. There still aren't any up for several key positions, including events director, webmaster, secretary, membership director and movie coordinator.

Remember that if you're running for an uncontested position, you will be appointed to the position on Friday, so you don't have to campaign. To see who is running for what, check out the pitches online. For more details, you can also take a look at Sree's original post on elections.

Think this ever happened to Woodward and Bernstein?

Add this to the list of stuff they never tell you in J-School:

Your sources will always, always call back while you're using the bathroom.

spj events.happy hours

What is the best strategy for happy hours?

we have been moving around.

What is most important? Price? location:? drink specials? should we go to the same place every other week (mona lounge, perhaps?) and then alternative around the city?
how many people are comming? do open bars work?--would you pay 35 bucks for 3 hours all you can drink , top shelf?

so far we've been doing this in the dark (big props to Aaron C. and Rubina and Mary Grace), ..just trying to get a feel.

soon we should have formal board (election noms close friday i think), and i think everyone is waiting until the last minute. i'll probably run for something too. any one out there interested in events chair?

Village Voice redux.. courtesy of David Blum

David Blum, currently an adjunct, has been one of my favorite profs. This summer he taught narrative writing, and I finally got an answer to "what is truth?" but I am not telling. besides He lives in the pantheon for coming up with "Brat Pack"

DB was named new editor to the VV, and he really is mining fromn the J-school world.

I just skimmed this weeks issue and found the two lead pieces from Chris Korman (gay rugby: http://villagevoice.com/news/0639,korman,74561,6.html) and current PT-er Lia Araujo http://villagevoice.com/nyclife/0639,araujo,74562,15.html) plus Angela Ashman continues to write there.

the competition?

Coughing and sniffling all day. too must be something going around...too soon for flu season..

I have no problem entering the fray at news events with the general working press.. in fact watch out Sewell Chan.. my elbows are sharpened so step aside.
But today, I covered a photo daybook assignment, and then only other ones there were from NYU and CUNY. .. a battle of NY's J-school titans.. although CUNY is the newcomer, i kept thinking how much less that guy was paying to do what I was doing..... although i am sure i got the better stuff.

This has very little do with journalism...

...and that's how I like it. Last night, I went to a double-header roller derby bout in Long Island -- about which my post on Glamourite should appear this week. On the way home, I was riding everyone's favorite, the M60 bus, back from Queens, when my friend gets a look of shock, confusion and dismay on her face -- not unlike the look on Flavor Flav's face when he realized Sumthin' had pooped on the floor. So I look back to what seems to be transfixing her eyes, and there is a man standing in the bus stairwell, with a distinct stream of urine surging from his midsection. About 10 seconds later, the bus door opens, and he casually steps out and begins a boisterous walk westward on 125th Street.

It's my personal belief that you have not lived in a city until you have seen someone either vomit or urinate on public transportation. I've seen both. Can we officially say I'm a New Yorker now?

Critical Questions

Critical Issues brought up more questions to me than it actually answered on Friday, and I've been thinking about it since. I'm constantly shocked into a stutter when sources turn the tables on me, asking "What do you think? or "Who told you that?" I'm wondering what you guys do in those situations.

On my first RW1 story, I wrote about the first art gallery to open in Sunset Park. I spent two long afternoons at the gallery with its owners and on the second afternoon they had ordered lunch and decided to eat while I was there. They offered me food a few times before I finally accepted. It felt odd to sit with them at the table, but not eat, and also sort of rude to decline their continual offers. Was it wrong to eat a small bowl of Chinese noodle soup? I didn't really think twice about it (I never felt that I owed them anything extra because of the soup) until Critical Issues. Now I'm wondering, was it completely unethical of me to have a bowl of soup? Would the gallery owners have felt betrayed if I wrote an unfavorable piece about them?

I'm anxious to hear about your ethical dilemmas and how you've dealt with them and how you reacted to Critical Issues on Friday. I guess experience is the best way for us to learn, but it's so scary to think we could so easily make the wrong, unethical choice.

Press Shield Law

WHITE HOUSE OPPOSES LAW PROTECTING CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES (From CAP Progress Report): In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said that a bill protecting journalists who refuse to reveal their confidential sources would "significantly weaken" the Justice Department's ability to collect critical national security information. The bill is a response to the recent spate of journalists being threatened or punished with imprisonment for refusing to reveal their anonymous sources. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) rejected the opposition and said he wants to "push forward" with the bill. His sentiment was echoed by Theodore Olson, a former solicitor general in the Bush Administration, who supported the bill because it would "support investigative journalism." The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press calls the bill "the best effort in more than 30 years for Congress to take steps to recognize the importance of providing protection needed by journalists and their confidential sources to fully inform the public."

Monkey Business

Just think of this the next time you read or write a bad review...

The First Amendment is kind of, you know, important

It's drilled into our heads constantly, but a reminder now and then is always helpful.

What happens when the First Amendment no longer applies?

Read on and find out



Thanks to SPJ for the link.

Potential Speaker..Irish Ambassador Burton

He'd like to come to talk to us. Former Irish Prime minster and current ambassador.

thoughts? Although he is not a journalist, I think it is good choice. thoughts?

Future Happy Hours

If anyone of you want to suggest places for future Happy Hours, please let us know. Until we have a formal events committee for SPJ, we're just coming up with different bars that are accommodating to Columbia students (and have good drink specials).

This week, Aaron Cahall suggested we try going uptown a few blocks from campus. The place, Soundz Lounge, is located at 3155 Broadway (about 124th-ish). If you live far from there, you can take the 1 to 125th Street and just walk one block south. All these prices are for students, so remember to bring your Columbia ID!

From 5 to 8 on Friday, here are the specials:

$2 domestic beers (including Yuengling)
$3 specialty beers
$4 well drinks
$4 frozen drinks (appletinis, pina coladas and margaritas)
$6 pitchers

After 8 p.m., domestics are $3, imports are $4, and well and frozen drinks continue to cost $4.

Student Activities/elections

Everyone is invited to be a part of the SPJ, and elections for the officers are comming (go to sree's blog for details--online nominations are open). It will be great to formalize and start up an organized group to promote j-school events and advocacy for us all.

A couple of things. pending.

1.There have been some speaker ideas brewing. I have some that I have looked at, plus some eager students are already on the case. Once a speaker's chair and committee is formed this should be easier. Two of my ideas: folks from the new Al-Jazzera Int'l and Judy Miller (who I met at story i was covering..she said she'd come..but I think she was shining me on). other ideas abound.

2. The university has a new head of environmental stewardship. The administration would love to co-sponsor a lunch to find out what is going on.

3.there is proposal for J-school spin on a Sustainability awareness T-shirt!. Any good designers out there. I know there were a volunteers to design new J-school shirts while we were selling them during orientation.

4. The Lounge. As continuing students know.. WOW what a difference.. The spj furnished a tv and a microwave, and with some hard work from SHEILA and ERYN (and some pressure on the vending vendor), the lounge is transormed. This OUR space, and is OUR responsibility. It would be shame to see the space devolve into the unwelcoming wreck of the past. The SPJ will ultimately responsible for upkeep (including the fridge), but everyone should take part. This is why we have nice things.

5. There are new work spaces on 3rd and 6th floor near the offices.. not 100% yet with phones, but still usable. (I am there now!)



Also, as J-school senator, I have the first university plenary on Friday , and library committee tomorrow. I welcome input on univerisity level issues. So far, the primary issue is establish a ground-breaking policy for university research to lead to cheaper drugs to developing nations.


now on to deadlines.. boy school would be fun without all this reporting and writing b.s.

Community Liaison for Community Boards

Since we now all know so much about Community Boards, maybe someone's interested in getting involved...

*Community Liaison for **Manhattan** Community Boards 9 and 10*
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer seeks a Community Liaison to be part of his
collaborative, energetic, and innovative team. The prospective staff member must be committed to seeking out new and better ways for the Office to connect with, and deliver for, Manhattan's diverse neighborhoods, communities, and constituents. The Community Liaison would represent the Borough President's Office in Community Boards 9 and 10 (Central Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Manhattanville and Morningside Heights) and work under the supervision of the Director of the Borough President's Northern Manhattan Office.

Specific responsibilities include:
* Work in the Borough President's Northern Manhattan Office handling
constituent and community issues;
* Act as an office liaison to the public while attending community
meetings and events within Community Boards 9 and 10; and
* Assist with planning and implementation of Town Hall meetings and
other Office-sponsored forums
Specific job requirements include:
* Familiarity with Manhattan communities and neighborhoods and
extensive knowledge of the areas included in Community Boards 9
and 10;
* Flexibility with regard to work hours;
* Strong communication, interpersonal and organizational skills; and
* Ability to work well under pressure and deadlines.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. New York City residency required. Interested candidates should send a resume and cover letter in single word or pdf document to dbillings@manhattanbp.org. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Individuals with bilingual skills are encouraged to apply.

NYC Deadline club event next week

I SPJ elections are coming soon, one office is the DEADLINE CLUB liason..who most likely will be dealing with these types of events. good for socializing and networking..

A Night Out with the Deadline Club, Wednesday, Sept. 20

Join the Deadline Club for a night out! Meet us at O’Reilly’s Restaurant and Tavern in Midtown Manhattan to catch up with colleagues and network (and yes, have an all-around good time).

What: Social mixer with the Deadline Club. Free hot & cold hors d’oeuvres, cash bar.
When: Wednesday, Sept. 20, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Where: O’Reilly’s Restaurant and Tavern, 21 W. 35th St., between 5th and 6th Aves.
Price: $15 per person. Pay by cash or check at the door. Checks payable to the Deadline Club.

RSVP to rsvp@deadlineclub.org.


I contact me at dlr2113 with more questions...

The images you didn't see of 9/11

The photo below caused an uproar after Frank Rich wrote a New York Times column entitled, "Whatever Happened to the America of 9/12?" The photographer, Thomas Hoepker, didn't release the picture until this year because he felt it didn't reflect the mood of the day. In it, five young people appear to be enjoying a sunny September day in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, while the twin towers smoke just two miles behind them. In a Slate article, Hoepker talks about the experience of taking the photo and why he didn't immediately release it.


"I Took That 9/11 Photo"
Photographer Thomas Hoepker on Frank Rich's column, and why he thought his picture was too "confusing" to publish in 2001.
Thomas Hoepker

Now that a broad discussion has opened up about a photograph that I took on Sept. 11, 2001, on the waterfront in Brooklyn, I think I should add my voice and view of the event.

This image happened, in passing, so to speak, when I tried to make my way down to southern Manhattan on the morning of 9/11. I live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and, being a seasoned photojournalist, I followed my professional instinct, trying hard to get as close as possible to the horrendous event. When I heard that the subway had stopped running I took out the car, only to get stuck immediately in traffic on Second Avenue. I took my chances by crossing the Queensborough Bridge. Then, turning south into Queens and Brooklyn, I stayed close to the East River, stopping here and there to shoot views of the distant catastrophe, which unfolded on the horizon to my right. The car radio provided horrific news, nonstop. The second tower of the World Trade Center had just imploded; estimates of more than 20,000 deaths were quoted and later discredited.

Somewhere in Williamsburg I saw, out of the corner of my eye, an almost idyllic scene near a restaurant—flowers, cypress trees, a group of young people sitting in the bright sunshine of this splendid late summer day while the dark, thick plume of smoke was rising in the background. I got out of the car, shot three frames of the seemingly peaceful setting and drove on hastily, hoping/fearing to get closer to the unimaginable horrors at the tip of Manhattan.

The next day I went to the office of my agency, Magnum Photos. There, on the light tables and computer screens, were hundreds of touching, shocking, and moving images that my colleagues had taken at or near Ground Zero. We quickly decided to publish a book, and I took boxes of pictures home to start working on a selection and a first layout. I choose three of my own shots that I had taken from the Manhattan Bridge but set the images from that idyllic scene in Williamsburg aside, feeling that they did not reflect at all what had transpired on that day. The picture, I felt, was ambiguous and confusing: Publishing it might distort the reality as we had felt it on that historic day. I had seen and read about the outpouring of compassion of New Yorkers toward the stricken families, the acts of heroism by firefighters, police, and anonymous helpers. This shot didn't "feel right" at this moment and I put it in the "B" box of rejected images. Now, in 2006, David Friend, in his book Watching the World Change, wrote that I had self-censored the picture.

Read the rest of the article.

Practical Lessons

Today was the first day I found myself wondering what I'm doing here.

I sat in on a counseling session for recent rape survivors, and a couple of the participants were gracious enough to talk to me afterward. And don't you know, since then I've been walking around with a feeling like somebody punched me in the gut.

I've never had to interview someone crying over a lost child or spouse. I've never had to ask someone to drag up painful memories, just so I could get a quote. But I recognize that someday, and probably someday soon, I'm going to have to.

I wonder, will it get any easier? And more importantly, do I want it to? When the day comes when I'm no longer fazed by death or grief or loss, will it mean I've finally become a good reporter? Or will it mean I've lost my humanity?

CUARTS: UPCOMING ARTS INITIATIVE EVENTS:

- Sat, Sept 16 @ 12PM: Art Train
FREE tours of different NYC art gallery neighborhoods lead by expert
docents.
5 consecutive Saturdays @ 12pm leaving from 116th and Broadway.

- Sun, Sept 17 @ 6PM: <>Campus Arts Networking
Looking to meet like-minded artists and art afficionados on campus?
Here's the place to meet your next director, editor, webmaster, drummer,
gallery buddy, actor, dance fanatic etc!

- Tue, Sept 19 @ 7:30PM: Václav Havel: Acts of
Courage
The former President of the Czech Republic will be on campus for 7
weeks. Come hear Havel lecturer and biographer Carol Rocamora tell all in a
dynamic slide show presentation.

On-campus International Development Group

CUPID--Columbia University Partnnership for International Development is having a kickoff event

J-School Professor Josh Friedman will be speaking among Professor discussing
the University’s research, activities, and resources in international development.
Learn how you can get involved

Thursday, September 14, 2006
5:00 – 6:30 pm
Jerome Greene Hall (Law School) Rm. 103
116th & Amsterdam
HAPPY HOUR TO FOLLOW!

or click link above

May all your wildest questions be answered

So tonight I'm going to the New York Television Festival premiere of the new fall series, Kidnapped. Because I'm hot shit, I got red carpet access, so now is all of your chance to send me some gonzo questions to ask the stars, including Dana Delany, Timothy Hutton, Delroy Lindo,
Jeremy Sisto and Mykelti "Bubba Gump" Williamson. These questions can either be about kidnapping, the stars themselves or none of the above. I just want to make a splash because being all "Isn't this premiere so awesome?!" ain't gonna cut it. E-mail me with your suggestions ASAP. Happy primary day!

The first 'real' week of class are kicking in.

Last night, I had first RW2 class, and law and critical issues are coming. Plus it really has that fall back-to-school feel in the air.

To keep the momentum alive, SPJ elections will coming soon. It would be great getting started on events, etc. The elections will be on-line, and there will be a night for candidates to speak beforehand. In addition, I was hoping to have an informal get together--introduce some more veterans from last year (who are now off-campus or in M.A. program).

Some things are happening. Like some pro-social ideas that people have suggested.Also, speaker ideas, that myself and others have done some preliminary work. Once we have a formal org. all this will be easier.

On that note. I met Judy Miller at a story i was covering, she said she'd come but no promise yet. I will begin to nag. Also, I we have chance to host Mary Mapes (with some $ strings..that might get worked out) Do you think She would be a good choice as big fall speaker? I am not sure,She was the producer of the Dan Rather piece regarding President Bush's services in the military with the questionable "Killian" documents.
Other speakers have popped up, and popped in people's minds, .most not on this order of magnitude.

just some thoughts. I'd love some input.

Jon Stewart as president?

I would absolutely vote for Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert as the next leader of the free world. Now a new movie proposes that the rest of America would too. Check out the trailer for Man of the Year, starring Robin Williams as Jon Stewart. It's made by the same people who brought us another great political satire, Wag the Dog.

Couric's Critics

So the critics have weighed in on Katie Couric's introductory broadcast... and the results are overwhelmingly negative or mixed.

According to a survey by the Project of Excellence in Journalism, 79 percent of the reviews, taken mostly from daily newspapers, were either mixed or mostly negative. Out of 43 columns and commentaries evaluating Couric's first broadcast, 20 were mixed, 14 negative and nine positive.


"After an unprecedented buildup, the early verdict is in. A sampling of the nation’s television critics and online commentators finds that there is more criticism than praise - and more mixed reviews than anything - for Katie Couric’s feverishly anticipated debut as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” yesterday.
...

In fairness to Couric, a good deal of the criticism was aimed less at her and more at the content – or lack thereof – in a program that included pictures of Tom Cruise’s and Katie Holmes’s baby daughter Suri and a segment in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock railed against political polarization while using Hulk Hogan video to make his point.(On a more superficial note, Couric’s wardrobe, a white blazer over a black skirt and top, also attracted its share of comment.)

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Storm wrote that “her presence actually gave weight to a blab-filled report that threatened to float away on a cloud of tepid air.”Writing for the online publication Salon, Heather Havrilesky asserted that “the broadcast hit its low point when Couric gushed over the first published pictures of Suri Cruise” and accused the new anchor of “sounding far more like Mary Hart than Tom Brokaw.”

Summing up the general sense among reviewers that Couric herself provided no particularly memorable or distinctive moments, Robert Bianco of USA Today ventured that “It’s hard to see how anything she did on the newscast could possibly have earned a strong reaction either way.” The Boston Globe’s Joanna Weiss echoed those sentiments, declaring the newscast to be largely “competent and safe.”

In a bad sign for network, the name of CBS news icon Edward Murrow – whose signature signoff was used to help close Couric’s first show – was invoked in some unflattering reviews. The Washington Post’s Tom Shales wrote that “Some people will say that including the image of Murrow on such a frothy, funsy broadcast as the Couric premier was sacrilege, and that Murrow is spinning in his grave.” Added Matt Zoller Seitz of the Newark Star-Ledger: “Now would normally be the time to evoke the ghost of Edward R. Murrow, but I won’t. He’s suffered enough.”

Read more

Taste of the real thing

So I was involved in my first reporters scrum today.

For our back to school story, I covered the Urban Assembly for Careers in Sports in the South Bronx. I had chosen the school ahead of time and, when I went to do background on the school, the principal told me there would be a Daily News reporter there all day and that Joel Klein would be stopping by around 1 p.m.

Erin Einhorn, one of the Daily News' reporters, was the one covering it. She was nice but I tried to avoid asking too many questions since she did have a job to do.

At 1 p.m., the rest of the crew showed up -- ABC, NBC, Telemundo, WNYC, the Times and the Post. They had been following Klein around the boroughs as he touted his new empowerment schools.

The building where the Urban Assembly school also houses two other schools that I wasn't reporting on, after talking to students all day at the school, one of the chancellor's entourage yelled at me when I tried to cover something other than where they were shepherding the press from classroom to classroom.

I hopped on board and shoved my microphone (I was doing a radio piece) in the scrum as the TV stations questioned Klein. I didn't get a question in, but I think my sound came out all right. Of course much of it was staged, but it was a good experience. And I made friends with the Post education reporter (who went to Newhouse incidentally and praised journalism education), Dave Andreatta. All in all, not a bad day.

The New Lounge and Work areas!

The student lounge looks like the lobby of a chain motel! Spanky new Ikea-ish furniture, and the SPJ's TV finally receives more that one channel!

One thing lost--the telephones, and work space. But, the design committee planned for this, and there are a work stations with desk space and telephones on the sixth floor and third floor in the corridor of faculty offices.

Tom Freston "Resigns"

Exactly six years ago on Labor Day, Viacom acquired CBS creating one of the most consolidated of the media titans. Synergy was the catchphrase as among other things, the merger created the largest TV stations group, the second largest radio group and further reduction in the importance of news and public affairs.

The upshot six years later, the two parties have divorced, Viacom is underperforming, 83-year old Sumner Redstone (still the controlling interest in both companies) is having a public spat with Tom Cruise and he has returned the same management to Viacom from before the merger.

This erases six years of history-except of course, for the lost productivity, wasted capital, continued reduction of public service in media, and so on-- and of course, all those that lost their jobs. (in full disclosure that included me!)