Clips of the Week

Some more great news this week: The NYCity News Service took Best News Site honors at the first annual eduStyle Awards ceremony. The recognition is particularly gratifying because we didn’t enter this contest — they found us. We also beat out some quality competition: Virginia Tech and Boston University were the other finalists.

The award is another tribute to your fine work. Here are some of the latest examples:

• Claudia Cruz traveled to the Dominican town of Sánchez where she found that the government has yet to provide promised new housing for many folks who lost their homes to devastating landslides.

• Matt Townsend reports on a ban on voter registration drives at VA facilities for Pro Publica.

• WARNING: This video contains footage of people eating live octopus. If you’re brave enough, check out this unforgettable food piece Fritzie Andrade helped produce for nytimes.com.

• Allison Esposito has been working with young journalists from Children’s Press Line. She helped shape this story about a Little League for children with autism. The article made the Daily News.

• Some Queens homeowners may lose part of their backyards to a city-owned nature trail, Barry Paddock reports for the Daily News.

• Danny Teigman, reporting for Newsday, talked to Long Island golfers about Greg Norman’s flirtation with history.

• The Real World is coming to Red Hook, Jessica Firger reports for The Brooklyn Paper.

• Speaking of reality TV, Craig Thompson talked to some participants in the controversial new show The Baby Borrowers for this babble.com piece.

• Elephants let their feet do the talking, Shuka Kalantari reports for Quest, a mutli-media science site put together by Northern California Public TV and Radio station KQED. Shuka also has been working for KPFA radio. She did a segment for Voices of the Middle East and North African about a photo exhibit called, “Not Given: Talking of and Around Photographs of Arab Women.”

• Clark Merrefield reports on a deal to preserve a 582-acre ranch in this Point Reyes Light article.

• Think New York rents are bad? Check out Carl Winfield’s businessweek.com slide show about the world’s most expensive cities.

• Damian Ghigliotty shows the value of follow up in this Crain’s New York Business article about the debut of a new law requiring owners of large stores to provide a recycling bin for plastic bags.

• Linnea Covington wrote about a band that’s bringing the Balkans to Brooklyn. Check out her profile of Slavic Soul Party in New York Press.

• Dan Macht assembled a slide show for the telegraph.co.uk showing a recreation of the Battle of Waterloo. He also did some rewrite on a story about a battle of another sort: Madonna’s alleged marital woes.

• In our alumni corner, Sebastian Bednarski produce a video for the nypost.com about well-traveled soccer superstar David Beckham.

Prescription for a steamy July day: Dress in loose clothes, drink plenty of liquids and check out these cool clips:

• Fritzie Andrade pulled together this nytimes.com video interview of All-Star Texas Ranger teammates Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton just before Hamiliton’s Home Run Derby show.

• Barry Paddock made it into The Boss’ private suite (The Boss, in this case, meaning Steinbrenner — Springsteen doesn’t hit town until next week) as part of the Daily News’ All-Star coverage. But I’m partial to this very sweet story Barry wrote this week about a retiring postal worker.

• High oil prices mean trouble for jelly-bean eaters. Carl Winfield explains in BusinessWeek.

• Mathew Warren scored a solo byline in the Times with this story about the campaign to stop the “stop snitching” campaign.

• Lots of proof this week that all news is local. Claudia Cruz covered a news conference by Dominican President Fernandez for Diario Libre — and found a New York angle involving Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat.

• Clark Merrefield packed quite a bit of detail into this story about a vicious beating in Point Reyes, Calif.

• Back on this coast, Stephen Bronner wrote a piece about convicted sex offenders living in Queens for the Queens Courier — and included a map.

• He was joined in the Courier by AnnMarie Costella, who penned a feature on a “green” pet store.

• Jessica Firger’s story in The Brooklyn Paper about a homeless man in Park Slope got some notice from authorities, who promised to help the man get his Social Security checks.

• Danny Teigman wrote this very timely story for Newsday about steps being taken by Hempstead officials to battle the heat.

• In our alumni corner, Kate Pastor interviewed Tiki Barber for an amNY story about how the former football star and other celebrities are doing public service announcements promoting affordable housing.

• In our faculty corner, Prof. Trudy Lieberman took to our TV studio to host the debut edition of Talking Health, a new series of health-related Webcasts for journalists.

• The J-School made a nice showing in the Sunday papers on June 29. Damian Ghigliotty’s feature on dying funeral homes in Queens got great play in the Times’ City section. Meanwhile, Barry Paddock’s first-person piece story about his newsworthy landlord woes merited a whole page in the Daily News.
• Stephen Bronner’s been very busy for the Queens Courier. His latest clip is a city sidewalks piece that had its origins in Prof. Diaz’ class.
• Claudia Cruz got the quote of the week when she asked actress Michelle Rodriguez about her troubled past. “No soy una muchacha rastrera!” (”I am not a lowlife!”) Rodriguez told Claudia — giving the editors at Diaro Libre their headline.
• Matt Townsend shared a byline in this Pro Publica piece about a political fundraising firm whose practices have draw questions.
• Abi Ishola’s audio story on budget retailers’ forays into high fashion made the News Service.
• A sweet tooth trumps a sour economy, Joshua Cinelli found for the Daily News in a story sure to bring smiles to the faces of candy store owners — and dentists — everywhere.
• Danny Teigman has a more sobering economic story for Newsday about how the Midwest floods could lead to food cost hikes in New York.
• Before you spend your hard-earned $11 to see Diminished Capacity, check out Henry Stewart’s review in The L Magazine.
• You can see the Waterfalls installation for free. For a preview, check out a slideshow produced by Linnea Covington for New York Press.
• While New York has the Waterfalls, Point Reyes, Calif. has the Sun Festival baby blessing. Clark Merrefield has the details in the Point Reyes Light.
• Francesca Levy’s story about a GMAT cheating scandal made BusinessWeek.com’s homepage.
• Carl Winfield also has been busy for BusinessWeek. Check out his slideshow on how rising oil prices are having an impact on costs of various petroleum-based products — everything from asphalt to plastic bags.
• It’s also proving a productive summer for our alumni: Dan Carty’s exclusive on J. Edgar Hoover’s hatred for columnist Art Buchwald made cbsnews.com, and was picked up in many places — including The Washing Post, Buchwald’s old paper. Dan put in his request for Buchwald’s FBI file when he started the story in Prof. Lehren’s Investigative Reporting class.
• Never let it be said that Dmitry Kiper doesn’t suffer for his art. He turned an unexpected punch in the face into a first-person piece for NY Press.
• Brigid Bergin’s multi-media package about Lower East Side artists who are using their creativity to stay in the changing neighborhood made WNYC.