Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

Kids line-up to receive their gift bags from Santa Claus.

The Caribbean American Center of New York spread Holiday Cheer with gifts for over 100 New York’s needy children at its 11^th annual Christmas Holiday Celebration on December 5 at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

“I grew up in poverty and I understand what it means when others make your holidays special,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who spoke at the event. “So it’s almost like it is me. I know the way they feel because I felt that way.”

The Christmas gift bags handed out to the kids at the party.

CACNY Board Members and volunteers prepared 150 of the 4,000 gift bags given at the event with new toys, clothes, books and other items. All the gifts will be distributed before Dec. 23 to disadvantaged children who live in more than 22 homeless shelters in Brooklyn, Queens and Harlem.

“It’s a lot, a lot of work to put this together,” said Jean P. Alexander, executive director of CACNY, “but it is so satisfying to see the kids.”

CACNY will host two more holiday parties to get Santa Claus to continue to help distribute some of the remaining gifts.

“I feel good because it is something minor, but to see the smile on their face is like wow,” said Tiffany Williams, 24, a volunteer from Bed-Stuyvesant.

Miss Brooklyn 2008 Cherelle Gaines, 22, and Miss Brooklyn's Outstanding Teen 2008 KeyAna Williams, 13.

Volunteer Sheila Singleton, whose organization Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. helped to prepare the gifts for the first time, said she was excited to have her Soros participate help children in need.

“We said we will all come down here to help, it is not a problem, you know, it is all Brooklyn,” Singleton said.

Borough President Marty Markowitz addresses the kids at the Caribbean American Center of New York holiday party.

Markowitz ended his remarks with some inspirational advice to the kids.

“In America, you can fly as high as Barack Obama,” Markowitz said, “or you can fly a little lower like Marty Markowitz, but your ability to fly depends upon you. Enjoy your Christmas and enjoy your presents.” 

Lured by modest rents to Central Harlem, new faces are moving in and making long time residents feel that they are being pushed out.

The voices of those newcomers like Joe Friedman, 32, have often gone unheard. But to hear people like him is to listen to the story of a neighborhood undergoing a controversial transition from a different viewpoint.

Friedman, a guitarist that has played on tour with jazz legend Eartha Kitt, moved to New York from St. Louis in 1999. He lived on the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side and Hell’s Kitchen before moving to Harlem a year ago. He said his former landlord in Hell’s Kitchen raised the rent so high to force the tenants to move.

The Beginning
http://www.vimeo.com/2570596

A studio apartment in the SoHo/Tribeca neighborhood runs for at least $2,395 per month, a one-bedroom in the Lower East Side costs about $2,250, while an affordable studio in Harlem for those fleeing more expensive neighborhoods can be found for nearly $1,500 per month, according to data compiled for November by Citi Habitats, a New York City brokerage.

Central Harlem had only a small white population until recently. In 1980, white residents accounted for 1 percent of the population with just 672 people. From 1990 to 2005, the percentage of white residents increased from 1.5 percent to 4.3 percent of the population to a total of about 5,000 residents, according to census data. But many say that number has probably doubled during the past three years.

The Middle
http://www.vimeo.com/2570673

Even as the numbers of white people have increased exponentially in Central Harlem, it remains a symbol of black success and autonomy. The neighborhood has been among those newly gentrified communities most closely watched.

During 1990 to 2005, the percentage of black residents in Central Harlem decreased from 88 percent to 72 percent with a total black population at about 85,000, according to census data.

The End

Although Friedman laments that some Harlemites are not happy with the newcomers moving in to the neighborhood, he hopes that time will change things. Still, some long time residents of Harlem plan to continue their struggle to stop the displacement of families from their community through gentrification.

New York Giant's Plaxico Burress from www.wallpaperpimper.com

The case of New York Giants football star Plaxico Burress, who shot himself in a nightclub last month, has stirred up another type of gun battle in New York City.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushed for a law in New York City requiring mandatory a minimum of three and half years in prison for anyone with an unregistered gun in public. Bloomberg said he would make sure that same law would be put to the test to convict Burress.

Now, mayors in other cities are looking at New York City as an example to find a way to deal with illegal guns. The Mayors in Greater Cleveland recently joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group organized less than three years ago by Mayor Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to help create local, state and Federal laws to keep illegal guns out off the streets.

The New York City Police Department said the number of murders and shootings this year have increased by over 10 percent compared to 2007. NYPD reported there have been 377 murders in September 2008 compared to 344 during the same period last year. Shootings are up from 1,324 incidents last year to 1,420 this year.

An estimated 66 percent of the 16,137 murders in 2004 were committed with firearms, according to the FBI’s Crime in the United States, a Web publication of its annual uniform crime report. Nine percent of the 4.7 million victims of violent crimes in 2005 stated that they faced an offender with a firearm, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Homicides of teens and young adults are more likely to be committed with a gun than homicides of persons of other ages, according to the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports from 1976 to 2005.

The NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office tried to find a solution to the city’s gun violence problem with the $100,000 program known as “Cash for Guns.” Research shows that government gun-buyback program take out about three million guns out of circulation each year from the 200 million to 350 million privately owned guns in the United States, with at least 4 million more added annually, according to the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California-Davis. However, other studies show that the pool of guns that are used in homicides and suicides are different than the guns turned in, according to the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Firearm Injury Center.

Although big city mayors like Bloomberg are trying to find ways to keep illegal guns off the streets, they couldn’t deter those people from around the country who ran out to buy legal firearms after the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Georgie Kovacs tries to live healthy. The thirty-four-year-old works out five to six times a week in midtown. She also recently started paying more attention to what she eats.

“I am trying to be much more aware of what the calories are in foods,” Georgie said. “Sometimes it is hard to tell what the calories are in foods and we might make assumptions.”

But since July, Georgie and other consumers don’t always have to guess. The New York City Health Department began enforcing a regulation requiring chain restaurants with more than fifteen locations to post calorie information on their menu boards. The regulation is part of an effort by the city to curb the nationwide obesity epidemic.

“We like to think of New Yorkers needing 1,800 calories a day,” said Arlene Sparks, a nutrition professor at Hunter College.

Health Department surveys found people consume one hundred fewer calories per meal when they have access to calorie information. The department estimates this could reduce the number of obese people by one hundred and fifty thousand in the next five years, and prevent thirty thousand cases of diabetes.

“What we do know is there’s a lot of obesity in New York and certainly other places as well,” Sparks said. “Health-wise probably the first problem is diabetes.”

Over 400 high school students, college students and working professionals stared at me as I gave a speech during the New York Women in Communications Student Career Conference luncheon at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42^nd Street on November 15.  

I spent the afternoon riding in a car with Craig Schley, who ran under the slate Voices of the Everyday People for Change (VOTE People), and with his volunteer as he campaigned on Election Day. Schley yelled out of a bullhorn as he drove pass local residents standing at bus stops and walking down the streets of Central and East Harlem.

Schley found himself running as an underdog against U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel, the 38-year Democratic incumbent from Harlem. Rangel, 78, has represented the 15th Congressional District since he defeated Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in 1970, making him the fourth longest serving Democratic member of the House. The district, which has nearly 400,000 registered voters, stretches from the Upper West Side to Washington Heights/Inwood, Rikers Island, and includes a part of northwestern Queens and the Bronx.

Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, is under scrutiny by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for failing to report taxable income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic and for living in four rent-stabilized apartments in Manhattan. Still, some constituents were obviously not concerned with the accusations about Rangel.

From the beginning, Schley’s candidacy against Rangel had been an uphill battle. At noon, Schley returned to the polling site where he voted to address complaints that two of the five machines at P.S. 144 on East 122 Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard were broken by 11:30 a.m. More than anything Rangel benefitted from being in a heavily Democratic district with loyal party voters. Even those who know Schley and live in his district told him they unknowingly voted for Rangel.

“[People] are not confused about the ballot,” Schley said. “The problem is that they are voting straight democrat.”

After a long reporting day in East Harlem, I returned to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism newsroom to wait to be edited. Although I was not completely happy with my edits, I eventually surrendered since I knew I could not win the battle. I went to BBQ’s where I watched MSNBC as they reported that Barack Obama would be the first African-American and 44th president of the United States.

I headed to 42 Street and Times Square where thousands of people cheered, yelled, cried and smiled with joy that Obama had won. I had never seen such a spontaneous street celebration. The feeling was surreal. That’s when it hit me that a black man had finally been elected president. There is no doubt that last week’s historic presidential election instilled hope for change in America.  

Barack Obama faced harsh criticism because his middle name is Hussein, and people assumed that he could secretly be a Muslim with ties to terrorists, even though he is Christian.

Like Obama, my name would never provide any hints that I was born in the Republic of Panama and I was baptized as a Catholic. My mother’s friend named Mualam Weiz Al-Muslim, who had converted into a Muslim, legally recognized me as his daughter and I acquired his last name, which means “the Muslim.” My first name, which means “alive” in Arabic and was the name of Prophet Muhammad’s third wife, was chosen by another friend of my mother who was also a Muslim.

The allegations about Obama sparked my interest about the Muslim vote during this presidential election. I visited the Islamic Cultural Center of New York located 96 Street and Third Avenue to interview mosque goers about their vote for president on Election Day.

During my visit, I knew that as I introduced myself they would assume that I am Muslim too. I felt that by telling them my name, it would make them feel more comfortable because they thought I was one of them. Still, I made sure that I explained that I was not Muslim. I didn’t feel comfortable misleading anyone into thinking I was Muslim. Although I made it clear that I was very proud of my name.

Senegalese Rougui Sall sat outside the entrance of the mosque wearing a headdress as she tried to sell CD’s and DVD’s of verses from the Quran. As I approached a yellow taxi driver to interview him, I shook his hand. Sall yelled that I should not shake his hand because according to Islamic law men and women shouldn’t touch unless it is a family member. Her comment automatically made me become more careful as I spoke to Muslim men.

When I entered the mosque, I walked into the main office to ask for a headscarf to assure that I would not be disrespecting their religious belief by not covering my hair.

Unlike many non-Muslims that think Muslim women are oppressed because they wear veils or burqas, I understand that for many Muslim women living in America it is their choice to continue to wear traditional Islamic clothing.

On television, the message is clear: Fair skin. Light eyes. Soft hair. I have seen these images all my life. To me, they say this is what a Hispanic should look like. It makes me feel invisible — even among my own people.

My skin is less cocoa and more mocha brown.

Professor John Schiumo listens as I read the teleprompter at the NY1 News Studios.

As a graduate student in New York, I want to see my face on television, because, growing up there have been far too few who looked like me. I hope to join the future ranks of broadcast journalists in the United States.

The TV messages reflect a larger struggle to define what it means to be Hispanic.

In terms of nationality and race, I identify myself as an Afro-Panamanian. When it comes to my racial and ethnic group, I am a black Hispanic. In my native Panama, I am called “negra.” The term “Hispanic” initially sounded foreign to me when I came to the U.S. at age 11.

Ivan Roman, executive direction of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, describes himself as a black Puerto Rican or black Latino. He knows he stands out among Hispanics because of his appearance.

I understand Roman’s experience. At times, I feel uncomfortable in a room full of Hispanics. I feel I have to prove that I am Hispanic by speaking Spanish.

There are just not enough Hispanic journalists of different racial backgrounds on the air to break down myths and stereotypes about what it means to be Hispanic.

Anchors Patsi Arias and Jorge Ramos on Telemundo 47 newscast.

Patsi Arias of Telemundo in New York is of the few to break the mold. She is Afro-Dominican. I first saw her on television in 2004. Finally, I thought, someone is doing exactly what I want to do. She has become my role model even though I don’t plan to work on Spanish television news.

As Hispanics, we struggle with so many issues and changes. At NAHJ, we fight for diversity in newsrooms.

But before we can get others to embrace diversity, we have to embrace the racial differences within our own community. We need to adjust our own mentality. And what’s on television.

The media has the power to chronicle American history by using journalism as a tool to break down stereotypes, help educate, present the truth and influence the public. The media also can educate people about other cultures and create bridges between people that would otherwise have nothing in common.

Journalists have the ability to change people’s lives every day, but how they use their power to influence is crucial. Congressman John Lewis remark about John McCain and Sarah Palin made me think about the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the impact it left on the nation.

Although I was not born in the United States, I feel I can relate to the struggles that African-Americans have endured. During the Civil Rights Movement, the media helped to show the whole country and the world the racial chaos in the South, and people began to demand changes in the laws.

Jack Nelson, a Los Angeles Times’ chief Washington correspondent who covered civil rights in the South for The New York Times, said in an article for Human Rights magazine that before the civil rights movement, the way blacks were treated by the law and most news organizations contradicted the principles lawyers and journalists claimed they believed in.

Nelson said that eventually the news media helped to influence changes in the laws to end injustices in society. Nelson complained that not enough credit has been given to the press for the coverage of the Civil Rights Movement, but plenty has been said about how the media helped end the Vietnam War by showing the public the results of the war.

Nelson also stated that except for The New York Times, the national media hardly paid attention to civil rights issues; that is until 1954 when the Supreme Court’s decision was made in Brown v. Board of Education about school segregation. Nelson said that The New York Times reported about social problems that caused injustices in the black community, but that most of the media had no interest in covering those kind of issues in the South. He claimed that the press would cover civil rights only as breaking news stories and would not consider them as stories that could expose the injustices and social problems blacks faced.

In the book “The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History,” Steven Kasher explained that before the Civil Rights Movement, the white news press did not report positive stories about the way blacks lived and their political movement. Kasher pointed out that press of civil rights changed after the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955, which received extensive media coverage.

Emmett Till was a fourteen-year-old black schoolboy, who was visiting relatives in Mississippi. Till was brutally beaten and shot because he had flirted with a white shopkeeper. His body was later found in the Tallahatchie River with a barbwire around his neck. His body was shipped back home to Chicago, where it was displayed in an open coffin for four days. More than a hundred thousand blacks stood in line to view his body.

Emmett Till before and after he was murdered.

Kasher explained that the black press, including Jet magazine and The Chicago Defender, showed photographs of Till in shirt and tie next to the picture of his bashed and bloated face. He added that Till’s story gained sympathy even by the white press.

Kasher also said that the Civil Rights Movement “flourished in the age of television.” Kasher added that in 1956, over 83 percent of American households had televisions and that the Telstar I communications satellite was able to provide worldwide television linkups in 1962. Kasher pointed out that the March on Washington of 1963 was the first event to be broadcast live around the world. He disclosed that on March 7, 1965, ABC interrupted the film “Judgment at Nuremberg” with footage from Selma of state troopers stampeding and beating peaceful marchers, which caused a heavy impression on Americans about the civil rights situation.

The media helped to chronicle the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Journalists during the Civil Rights Movement had the ability to change the way blacks in the United States lived because they were able use their power to influence the public to demand change. This is what journalism should really be about and this is why I want to pursue a career as a journalist. I hope that my work will one day change the way people view themselves and other cultures.

For more information about the media coverage of the Civil Rights Movement visit:

Jack Nelson’s article “The Civil Rights Movement: A Press Perspective”

Steven Kasher’s book “The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History”

Young blacks living in New York City discuss the meaning of the term African-American and its relationship to them in a multicultural world.

They say that ethnic and racial definitions can be completely misguided based on their own personal history and experiences. They point out that there needs to be an acknowledgment that blacks are living all over the world and that the term African-American should be used carefully to describe black people. 

They think that black people who move to the United States to settle down would more than likely avoid using the term African-Americans to describe themselves.