Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

“Equal Opportunity is the Law”- reads a sign (with an accompanying one in Spanish) in the lobby of the Opportunity for a Better Tomorrow (OBT) building. Young men and women crowd near the front desk, waiting for classes to begin. They are dressed in some very good-looking suits, and laugh with each other as they turn off their cell phones. Their school day, and work day, is just beginning.

OBT is a program developed to train youths ages 17-21 with job and life skills. OBT’s two locations in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park and Bushwick neighborhoods provide young adults not only with a productive venue in which to succeed in the work-force, but also hope for a better future, a future of which they most certainly can be proud.

Shawn Fonville, now an OBT employee, is a graduate of the almost 17 week program. Mr. Fonville, 21, admits that not having found this outlet would have left him on the streets, without a higher education, and without motivation to use his intellectual assets to his advantage. Mr. Fonville is a Bushwick native, and entered the program already having his high school degree. Many students who first start out with OBT do not have their high school degrees, and therefore OBT provides them with pre-GED classes, in addition to their other classes.

OBT is a full time commitment; it is not only school. Often times, OBT is the students’ first taste of a job. Students do not have to pay for textbooks, but must come prepared and on time to school in the proper attire (signs throughout the hallways very clearly state and show business dress code).

William Ortiz, OBT’s Bushwick Site Administrator, shared how he felt about working for OBT, and about how gratifying it feels to know he is helping young people not only in his community, but throughout the 5 boroughs.

OBT also provides students with internship opportunities (11 weeks of paid work), tapes its students so that they may self review their interview skills and progress, and also follows up with students with post-graduation counseling. Graduation for students entails celebrating their first hire.

OBT opens doors for students who have the potential to succeed, but not the means. OBT guides them, and by providing them with “transferrable skills” (skills which can help them in any work environment) OBT allows students to make the most out of their lives. OBT is a job, a school, and a family.

His superhero name is Jimmy Justice, a citizen journalist who tapes and uploads videos of NY traffic agents said to be breaking the very same laws they enforce. 

He’s been on national television, such as on ABC’s “i-Caught,” MSNBC’s “Caught on Camera” and the “Star Jones” show.

“I’m an average working class guy with a passion for justice. What makes me different from others is that I am not afraid to walk up to a law enforcement officer and confront them,” he said.

Got that right. He isn’t intimidated by them, but he still rather hide his true identity and not his face, as shown in the following video clips. 

Though NYPD failed to provide a response to me, officials have spoken on television, obviously outraged and calling Justice’s actions harassment.  His response is, “I would not have the conscience to accuse someone of wrongdoing unless I was absolutely certain that according to the law they have done something wrong.”

Some find it refreshing that New York City’s “zero tolerance policy” carried out by cops is extended to include them as well.

Justice started video taping two years ago, when he found an officer parking his vehicle in front of a fire hydrant when it wasn’t an emergency, a move that would cost any other civilian $115.

“I could show the entire scene, and provide empirical proof, such as the officer leaving McDonalds holding a bag of food, and the officer would not have the opportunity to lie. “

Part of his confident stems from reading up on traffic law, along with privacy issues when filming in public.

So the government, specifically Internal Affairs Bureau, does reprimand their own, according to Justice.  The 311 procedure is shown below:

He has not yet been arrested or seriously injured for his “activism.”  However, he has been pushed around, punched, almost run over by a car, spit on, cursed at and had two cameras broken.

Oh, and has a day job, folks, this doesn’t exactly pay the bills.

“I always bring my camera with me to work in case I see something unfold that should be recorded. Manhattan is the busiest borough so therefore I get the most video there.”

Justice claims that he’s making a difference, seeing a reduction in the rate of recidivism in areas where he made a presence.  He even described a “success” story, after revealing the behavior of one highly ranked cop:

Justice receives about 200 emails per week, which range from fan mail, to death threats, to marriage proposals by German girls.  He won’t stop what he’s doing until he’s run out of material.

Last Monday marked the 28th anniversary of John Lennon’s tragic death. The beloved singer and ex-Beatle was shot and killed on December 8th, 1980, as he entered his New York City apartment building, the Dakota at 72nd Street and Central Park West.

Every year, people gather at Central Park’s Strawberry Fields to remember Lennon and his message of peace. Impromptu meetings take place where fans light candles, place flowers on the famous “imagine” mosaic, and sing his songs as a reminder of how much his music meant to so many. This year, New Arts NYC, a non-profit group of artists and volunteers, organized a tribute concert on Sunday, December 7th to add to the commemoration.

The concert, dubbed “For the Love of Lennon,” was held in the park’s Naumburg Bandshell. Professional musicians played Lennon’s songs onstage for fans to enjoy and sing along to.

Central Park was one of Lennon and wife Yoko Ono’s favorite spots in New York City. Before his death, Lennon would take walks with his family through the park, which was right across the street from their apartment.

In 1981, according the Central Park’s website, the New York City council proposed that this area be officially designated to Lennon’s memory. Yoko Ono donated $1 million to the Central Park Conservancy to help in re-landscaping the area. The result was Strawberry Fields, named after the well-known Beatles song “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 9th, 1985, what would have been Lennon’s 45th birthday. Comprising the West side of the park, from 71st to 74th street, the site is a landscaped garden centered around the “imagine” mosaic, which was donated to the park by the city of Naples, Italy.

Since its creation, Strawberry Fields has served as a sacred place for fans of Lennon who are inspired by the singer’s messages of love and peace. Year-round, people can be found around the mosaic, taking pictures or singing songs. Some are regulars—people who visit the area often and know each other well.

Harvey Newman runs a group on the website meetup.com called the Circle of Peace. The meetings take place every month at Strawberry Fields between members who are devoted to the idea of peace and non-violent resolution, which Newman feels is at the core of Lennon’s message and legacy.

The Republic National Convention posted a video online this Saturday alleging that Obama might not be speaking with complete candor on his relationship to the Blagojevich scandal. The video titled “Questions Remain” is a bit reminiscent of a 1950’s newsreel which is appropriate for a piece of work so explicitly Mccarthy-like.

Cast in all black and white the piece attempts to show Obama’s connection to the governor because Obama helped with Blagojevich’s campaign in 2006. I wonder if the guilt-by-association trick will work better this time around than during the election. But this case is certainly an even more bizarre attempt at a connection – what kind of headline do the Republicans hope to make:
OBAMA HELPED FELLOW STATE DEMOCRAT TO CAMPAIGN FOR REELECTION

Pretty unimpressive stuff.

Mccain is distancing himself from the attack ad (aren’t those over?!) – perhaps uncoincidentally during an interview when he said he might not support a Palin presidential bid. The whole venomous attack thing is something that has hurt Mccain several times. Bush used it on him in 2000 and his own attempts to play those hands might have cost him this past election.

Which makes me rather wonder what the RNC is up to on this. What will de-legitimizing and incoming president during a time of grave crisis do for them? Is it just a reflexive blow from punchers that have trained to hard to miss a small opening?

I would like to see some good analysis on this folks.

Did any one catch the absolutely hilarious (so wrong, but absolutely hilarious!) skit on Saturday Night Live with Fred Armisen portraying New York State Governor David Paterson? Apparently, the faux governor doesn’t New Jersey.

But the real Gov. Paterson’s apparently not into this skit either. He believes his portrayal in last Saturday’s Weekend Update actually did harm to the cause of disabled people. Says the gov, “I can take a joke. But only 37% of disabled people are working and I’m afraid that that kind of third-grade humor certainly adds to this atmosphere.” (Personally, when I saw the broadcast news piece on this issue, I wondered aloud if maybe Paterson could dish it out, but not take it.)

The skit is below.

Another football season done. Another disappointment. For the fifth year in a row, my fantasy football team will not be taking home any championship hardware. I have been to the Jetnuts-Fantasy-Football Superbowl three out of the previous four seasons but came up short in all. This year I didn’t even make the post-season.

I had it after last year’s loss in the finals. The team I assembled in 2007 was arguably the greatest in fantasy football history. The record setting pair of New England Patriots Tom Brady and Randy Moss led the way to a 13-1 regular season. But the list of superstars didn’t end there. Number one overall pick LaDainian Tomlinson led the rushing attack. Top-rated tight end Kellen Winslow sured up the lineup. I also had KC RB Larry Johnson and Chad “before I changed my name to “Ocho-Cinco” Johnson.

I had created a monster. A devastating machine that rolled through the regular season tearing teams apart and crushing owners hopes for playoff glory. The regular season was easy. The early rounds of playoffs a snap. But alas, all that talent couldn’t pull off the big win.

Again, I lost the Superbowl.

I had no choice but to rename my team. The team once known as the Movie-Reatrd (based upon my ridiculous knowledge of cinema trivia) has been renamed the 90’s Bills (referring to the great ability the Buffalo Bills had in the early 1990’s to reach the Superbowl only to be obliterated by whichever team was lucky enough to play them).

The 2008 incarnation of the 90’s Bills never even seemed to have a chance. My first round pick, 2007 MVP Tom Brady, was lost for the season in the very first week. I would have no choice but to turn the team over to Jet castoff Chad Pennington  and rookie QB Joe Flacco. Things were bleak for the Bills and the season was lost or so I thought. 

Something strange began to happen mid-season. I hadn’t realized it but somehow my undermanned team managed to compile points. A lot of points. Despite racking-up losses, I was also scoring enough total points to be in contention for the overall points title. It’s more of an honorary title even though their was a small prize allotted for winning that contest. 

So my hopes at coming away with some sort of consolation came down to last Monday night. Panthers versus Buccaneers. I needed 16 points out of Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams against the highly rated Buc defense. In the end, Mr. Williams hit three milestones.

1) He broke the single game Panther rushing record- 186 yards.

2) He finished the season as the best RB in fantasy football – 207 points.

3) He won me the points title – $150

In the end, it wasn’t enough. I missed the playoffs. But I vow to you now I will return to my rightful place of finishing second. It’s a pity too and I’ll tell you why. I had the best team – again. I’m just bitter.

In both of those cities there are many many more women – and therefore more single women – than men. The supply and demand of this means that men are able to be either more selective or much more poorly groomed and do quite well for themselves. It means that we can be slack and indulgent in a land of plenty while the other team gets vicious on a barren gaming field.

In both cities the reason might have to do with migration patterns. American women who are better educated these day then their male counterparts, flock to cities for jobs and husbands. They want guys of comparable education and earning potential, say Richard Florida, author of the Creative Class. According to Florida’s singles map there are 210,000 thousand more single girls than guys in the New York-Northern Jersey area.

When their are fewer options those options start looking a lot better. Some people will even eat at Mcdonald’s when that’s the only thing open.

In Bangkok this situation is even more wonderful (from a guy’s perspective). There are 547,000 more women than men in the marriage year between 20 and 44 – that’s a huge number when the group we are talking about has less than 3 million.

This enormous gap (500,000!) is due to a massive in-migration of women into the city and a flight out of BKK by the men according to a report from the Economic Institute at Kobe University. Bangkok is a service economy of finance, hotels, and restaurants – all areas where women are thought to better employees in Thai eyes.

Bangkok’s men (who like American men are less educated than their female peers) often leave the city to work in heavy industry and manufacturing.

This leaves the city incredibly gender lopsided – walking around Bangkok ourists often wonder – where did all the men go? The images of the protests were so female dominated that it felt like you were looking at a women’s liberation movement instead of an anti-goverment rally.

But that’s just Bangkok.

Did I come to the wrong rally?

And its for that reason that you hear the same complaint from women there that you do here in big NYC – all the good ones are taken and the rest aren’t too good.

It’s the holiday season, but luckily for us there’s enough judgment to go around for everybody!

Author’s note: any words in italics in this post are sarcastic. Also, if you are my mom or dad who decided to google me, or a future boss even, you might not want to read ahead. Some of my more, um, forward-thinking opinions are about to follow.

Breaking news: young people have sex! And they make the decision to do so themselves, and don’t regret it afterward, even if it means said sex will not lead to a serious relationship and/or marriage!

OMG! I’m shocked!

(more…)

Attention Brooklyn hipsters: your next soiree could play host to an unlikely party guest. Page Six reports that 57-year-old actor/comedian Bill Murray has been crashing house parties and hitting up bars that generally cater to the 20-something set. In October, Murray strolled into a Halloween party at an East Williamsburg loft, to the shock and delight of party guests. Apparently he had been party-hopping with musical duo MGMT after one of their shows. 

This Bill sighting is just one of many unusual appearances the actor has made on the nightlife scene recently. According to the Post, Bill was spotted a few weeks before at a bar in West Chelsea, where he joined a table of 22-year-old girls and bought them rounds of champagne. Last year, Murray earned the title of most helpful party guest after showing up at a bash in St. Andrews, Scotland, and offering to do the dishes after hosts realized they were out of clean glasses. 

Oh, and then there was a small incident involving Swedish police, DUI and a golf cart. 

Many are saying Bill’s behavior is a sign of an obvious midlife crisis following the actor’s public and messy divorce last spring from Jennifer Butler Murray, his wife of 11 years.

“I suppose he was slightly flirtatious, but really, it was more like he obviously wanted a bit of a chat. He seemed a little lonely,” one of the party-goers said. 

Whatever the reason, the man can do no wrong in my eyes. I absolutely adore Bill. So if any of you happen to cross paths with Murray, or spot him at one of your parties, sulking in the corner with a can of PBR-please, please invite me!

With an army of tasks mounting an all out siege, I have decided to seek out productivity tools. Is it to late to avert disaster? Like coming to temple only once a year on Yom Kippur I try find remedy for my sins of omission far after the fact.

Google launched last week a Task application within Gmail. Its essentially  a to-do list with some handy functions like a scheduler a tool that can pull tasks directly from emails.

I am trying to combine this system with David Allen’s Getting Thing’s Done methods which has a massive, nearly cultish, following.

Allen’s system is based around that all the “stuff” in our life – be it classes or bills to pay or dates to go on – need to be organized in essentially same manner.

The trick to the system is a monk-like commitment to a mundane method of handling incoming tasks:

All things to do – both big and small get collected; you then process the tasks – and figure out the next immediate tasks associated with them. Immediate action items are described in full concrete detail – a step that GTD users say prevents procrastination.

There is a once a week review ritual where outstanding tasks are reprocessed and either dismissed or set into action.

A whole nerdy culture has evolved around GTD – with productivity blogs and even associated gear – think specials folders and notebooks.

Below you can see one guy showing off his filing system and desk organization – he apparently doesn’t have the whole meet women thing on his task list.

But maybe it is worth being as lonely as this man for the bit of calm that comes with knowing that things are getting done.