Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

I’ve got no promising internship prospects.  I’ve got an in-box that reminds me each day, that there is an internship requirement. I’m reading about papers crashing and unemployment rising, and this has all been making me think lots about the whole idea of WORKING. Jobs. Employment. I don’t think I’m a particularly lazy person and I hope it doesn’t seem that I’m just whining about doing work and making excuses about why I haven’t secured an internship.  I really think that our generation has it a TON harder than generations before us.

Now we might not all fit snugly under the title Generation Y, but for the purposes of this blog post, and because I don’t know what other term to use to describe our generation, I will refer to all of us in this program and those our age as Generation Y-ers for the remainder of the post.

Generation Y has been getting slammed by the media for the past five years or so. I can’t argue much with what they’re saying. In a USA today article from ‘05, sources said Gen Y-ers were pampered from birth, and therefore not accustomed to shutting up and taking orders. They said Gen Y-ers bounce around from job to job…no loyalty, no consistency, no commitment. Newsweek put out an article in ‘07 that said Gen Y-ers had no qualms about quitting a job and moving back in with mom and pops when the job wasn’t fun anymore. Other articles pointed to flip flops at work, ipods at the desk, facebook chatting on the clock, and this attitude of “I wanna do what I wanna do.”

I’m not going to argue too much. I’m on my second career. I was a teacher and now I’m getting my masters in journalism. And to be honest,  I’m not so sure that I’m going to pursue journalism full time (oh, with the disgusting job market and this idea that I can’t shake: that a job in journalism might mean me working 100 hours a week for a starbucks salary minus the job security).  BUT, in my defense, and in the defense of all generation Y-ers, JOB, EMPLOYMENT, WORK today, is not what it used to be.

We work more hours than ever before. Stakes are higher. Debt is bigger. The clean line that used to divide home and work has been washed away with blackberries and the internet. I just think things used to be much simpler. Finding a job. Keeping a job. Supporting oneself. Supporting a family. I think most families were supported by one breadwinner. Moms stayed home. Weekends were free time. It’s a different world now, and I think Generation Y-ers are searching out something sustainable. Maybe we can bust our asses for a couple years at an intense job. But everyone has a breaking point. We might need to step back and reassess. And reassess again. And maybe again, until we find something we can manage. Something, I don’t believe older folks were faced with. Am I wrong?

New Greater Bethel Ministries has a Soup Kitchen/Food Pantry in Hollis. It is a storefront with a sign in the window that is hard to see from far away, whether driving or walking along Hollis Avenue near Francis Lewis Boulevard.

Mother Ruby Graham, 77, is the coordinator, wearing a sea captain’s hat, and does most of the cooking. Her assistant, Sister Curtis, and volunteers Sister Meebam (wearing a magenta hat and blouse) and a retired military veteran (wearing an “I Love NY” shirt), help Mother Graham run the place.

It wasn’t easy taking photographs because of the dimly lit place with few fluorescent lights illuminating. Additionally, some of the the people who came to get a hot plate might have been convicts who were released from jail and immigrants according to Sister Meebam. So the ISO had to be increased, and the pictures came out brighter.

I neglected to mention that I saw Madonna in concert this past fall, at Madison Square Garden.

A friend of mine had a couple of extra tickets and my partner and I decided that when tickets for Madonna fall in your lap, you take them. Neither of us were motivated enough to go through the hassle of buying them ourselves but couldn’t resist an opportunity to see Madge live.

The show was a spectacle – as her shows usually are. Big video screens dominated the stage – both as set pieces and as a means to see her in the cavernous MSG arena. At times, it was hard not to look to the monitors instead of the actual live show right in front of me. Even with great seats, I’m not a big fan of this type of venue – it’s just too big.

But, as a cultural experience, I had a great time. It’s kind of the urban, gay version of those mega-churches you find in Texas. Everyone at the concert was a member of the cult of Madonna and wanted to see and hear her message to the world. Some of them young enough not to know a world without her. Others old enough to be attending with their teenage kids.

For me, seeing Madonna is a lot like Christmas. It’s always a lot of fun but it’s probably a lot more fun when you’re younger.

On December 10th, Sean Hetherington and Aaron Hartzler organized Day Without A Gay. They asked people to “call in gay” to work and spend the day volunteering for GLBT and/or human rights organizations. The idea was intended to demonstrate the contributions of the GLBT community to the nation’s economy.

The event coincided with the International Human Rights Day and was conceived in response to California’s Proposition 8 initiative which banned gay marriage. According to press reports, the turnout was low.

No word yet on whether or not there will be a repeat next year.

On a recent trip down Wall Street, I came upon a fabulous group called [untitled] Walk Project. This is why I love New York – unexpected discoveries of different thinking.

For anyone heading down to New Orleans, I have three suggestions for some good eating.

Breakfast: There’s a great spot on St. Louis Street called Petunia’s Restaurant. Located in a 19th century Creole townhouse, you’ll find a warm & cozy spot for brunch. I had their absolutely delicious French Toast – which I highly recommend. The service was terrific. They were friendly, fast and attentive to empty coffee cups. Get there early if you want to avoid a line out the door.

Lunch: Take a drive, stroll or bike ride down Magazine Street for nice selection of shopping and dining. When you get to State Street, stop and try some of Reginelli’s tasty pizzas and salads. They have other locations throughout the city but I love the vibe of this area. I felt like I was in the East Village. And the staff is mellow and polite. 

Dinner: When you’re looking for a more upscale option, I recommend a trip back to the French Quarter for Bayona. Give yourself some time to browse the extensive wine options. Their menu changes daily and my only criticism is one that applies to all the restaurants of New Orleans – not enough vegetarian options. But if you do fish, there’s always some delicious blackened something or other. Dinner for two will set you back at least $100 – depending on your appetizer and wine choices. This is the place to splurge.

Bon Appetit!

I want to throw down my gauntlet in the future of journalism debate and I will do so making a falsifiable statement (a rarity in these discussions): Journalism will not become profitable again until the industry figures out how to charge people for online content.

Recently I went to yet another hyperbolic panel discussions on internet journalism. The CEO of Slate.com Jacob Weisberg spoke in triumphant tones of how the time for coexistence between print and online was over now that the internet guys had bigger “armies”. It sounded a bit like a declaration of war from some newly empowered ethnic nationalist movement whose glee over a fresh shipment of arms stripped away any facade of caution or diplomacy. This guy was ready to march on Rome and he didn’t mind saying so.

Some of his hot air was sucked out when an audience member asked him, “Is Slate.com profitable?”

His enfeebled response drifted from something about lawyers to an awkward silence.

And that is the point – behind all the rhetoric and triumphalism it is very hard to think of any free ad-based content that has proven profitable. Google – the king maker of adbased revenue – has not been able to monetize there  most user-centric web 2.0, journalism for the people, ethno-everything magic tool: youtube.

And folks if Google can’t create big ad based profits on user generated content that ought to be telling us something.

The theory is that people are unwilling to pay for content now that anyone can publish stuff online. There is no scarcity, according to this reasoning and people will not pay for something that is not scarce. You or I can put up a movie review according to this argument and it can compete with the best.

This is wrong.

Scarcity of news is actually increasing not decreasing. Its true that anyone can publish online for free – and there are certainly more opinion makers than ever before – but that does not mean that you can do reporting for free and we actually are seeing a shrinking core of new coverage.

The media adopted a false economy online. When one newspaper decided to offer free ad-based content  they all had to jump in or face being left behind. For awhile the public adapted to this free, unsustainable model and the newspapers and magazines – bloated from decades of plenty – could afford to try out this new idea of giving it all away. It failed.

Ad revenues were never able to deliver up the goods. All the sources of news that we have relied on for decades are going under. And they are not being replaced. A million  opinion writers blogging on a million other opinion writers cannot fulfill the one vital function of journalism: to gather news.

We have  gotten into thinking that this is a service we can get for free because we jumped on board with the news media’s failing experiment in something for nothing over the past eight years. And once a certain amount of news media and consumers decided to invest in this experiment the rest had to. But now it is coming to an end.

The audience will not come to paying for content out of a love for the product but out of a neccesity. The failure of the free model is going to leave us with very few quality media outlets. That means there will once again be scarcity.

When quality, free content dwindles past a certain point people will once again be willing to pay for news, just as they always were before these past eight years of illusion. The industry, for its part will need to work out a pricing structure that leverages the ease of payment and low cost of publication that online offers.

Lots of people thought that noone would ever buy music again but Itunes found  price structure that worked – as of June 2008 the store has sold 5 billion songs. The trick was knowing to do it 99 cents at a time.

On Monday, for the first time in a long time, I watched NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams from start to finish at its scheduled time, complete with commercials.

I’m turned off by most advertising to begin with, but I think that the lack of interest among young people in network news can at least partially be attributed to the ads. (more…)

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.” 

Photo: Nick Loomis

The most time-consuming, enjoyable and rewarding project I completed this first semester in journalism school was a package for Broadcast class about growlers. If you don’t know what growlers are, or even if you do, watch the video on the New York City News Service, then come back and read the rest of the post.

When we initially pitched ideas in class, my classmates and teacher John Schiumo seemed to like the two I’d come up with: “Life on a tugboat” and a recycling exposé. I liked them too, but I thought they might be logistically tough to pull off. When it came time to request the story we wanted to work on, I put ego aside and chose the idea proposed by this guy. I had never heard of growlers before, but after learning that they’re a vessel for carrying beer I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Even if the story turned out to be uninteresting or the people we interviewed were jerks, I would still get to drink beer while reporting. You can’t beat that.

Things turned out much better than the worst-case scenario. Not only did I get to drink beer, I learned a lot and got to meet some really great people. I also became a believer. The first time we filmed at Bierkraft, I bought a growler of Hop Obama. Now I’ve added another growler to my collection, acquired last Friday on a trip to the Captain Lawrence Brewery in Pleasantville, NY.

The inside of my fridge

The brewery is open to the public on Friday evenings and Saturdays for free tastings. I’d had their Freshchester Pale Ale before, but the other offerings on tap were new to me. When I first saw “Espresso Stout,” I had doubts. I’m not a serious coffee drinker and I wondered if the taste would be overpowering. To my pleasant surprise, it was subtle and smooth. I couldn’t resist getting 64 ounces to bring home.

I’m hopeful that after I’m done with J school the media landscape will be less dire and the skills I’ve learned will be impressive enough to land me a decent job. But whatever happens a year from now, I’ll always have beer.