Blogs at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Archive for September, 2008

September 20 – 26, 2008

September 28th, 2008 by Collin Orcutt

It was a great week for clips – and our News Service. Check these out:

  • Vinita Singla and Megan McGibney’s News Service story about an email warning to Obama supporters to leave the T-shirts and buttons home on Election Day — or face problems at the polls — got big pickup. The New York Observer’s Politicker blog, Off The Bus and the Daily News’ Mouth of the Potomac blog linked to our piece. Similar stories have popped up online and in print in Pennsylvania, Alabama and Kentucky. This story, as we say in the business, may have legs. Our part of it started when Prof. Williston got one of the emails and handed a copy to Vinita and Megan with the three words that have spurred so much great journalism: “Check it out.”
  • Everything old again is new again. There’s a push to rechristen the Crown Heights-Prospect Heights border Crow Hill, which was the area’s 19th Century moniker. You’ll find Steve Pacer’s TV report detailing the neighborhood name game and Franklin Avenue’s revival on the News Service.
  • Dwindling supplies at city food pantries have prompted one Bronx man to ride his bicycle from pantry to pantry in search of nourishment. You’ll find Cristiana Oliveira and Adeola Oladele’s TV report on the News Service.
  • Jessica Simeone wrote about the opening of a new teen center in a Jersey City library for the Jersey Journal.
  • Francesca Levy put together some great news-you-can-use articles and slideshows for two major media outlets. Her analysis of 20 business school websites can be found at BusinessWeek.com. She also put together a package about the U.S. cities with the most- and least-expensive rents for Forbes.com.
  • Speaking of Forbes, Eliot Caroom wrote about the continuing fallout from the travails of America’s least-favorite couple: Fannie and Freddie.
  • Mathew Warren shared a byline on this New York Times story about a couple’s mysterious rooftop plunge.
  • Rebecca Harshbarger wrote about the screening of a documentary chronicling the post-9/11 violence against — and the resilience of — South Asian-Americans and Arab-Americans  for Queens Tribune.
  • There’s a definite Yankees theme this week, much as it pains me to say (you’ll find me at Shea tomorrow, hopefully not weeping in my beer.): Collin Orcutt wrote about the unhappy October coming up for Bronx business owners who had been hoping for a post-season boost. His story made the Highbridge Horizon.
  • Fritzie Andrade produced a video about the last game at Yankee Stadium for nytimes.com.
  • Barry Paddock and Matt Townsend contributed to the Daily News’ coverage of the last game at the Babe’s  House.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

September 13 – 19, 2008

September 28th, 2008 by Collin Orcutt

There’s no “I” in team — but there is one in “clip.” I’m not even sure exactly what I mean by that, but I happily noticed that teamwork played a role in some of this week’s work. Here’s a sampling:

  • Dan Macht found a great local angle to the story of the week (and likely beyond). He wrote a piece for Crain’s  New York Business about the impact Lehman Brothers’ fall could have on charities and foundations. Dan gave himself a head start: he began researching and pitched his article before the bankruptcy was official. Rosaleen Ortiz snapped an eerie nighttime photo of Lehman’s headquarters to go with Dan’s story.
  • Barry Paddock and Matt Townsend also worked the Lehman story, talking to shell-shocked employees for the Daily News.
  • Matt contributed to a local primary story package for City Hall that also included pieces by Joshua Cinelli and our Class of ‘07 pal Andrew Hawkins.
  • Francesca Levy shows — and tells — what kind of digs a million bucks will get you in cities around the world in this story/slideshow package she put together for Forbes.
  • Mathew Warren scored a solo byline and some prime real estate in the Times’ Metro Section with his fun takeout on circus and sideshow performers who bring their acts to clubs and private parties.
  • Walking along 41st Street just isn’t the same anymore. Valerie Lapinski captured that spirit and more in her radio story about the closing of “Rent.” Her piece was featured on WNYC.
  • Rebecca Harshbarger weaves some great information and images into her first-person piece for The New Vision about the Seven Wonders of Kampala.
  • Here are some amazing numbers: One man, 20 cannoli, six minutes. Megan McGibney hit Little Italy for this fun nypost.com video piece on the annual cannoli-eating contest
  • Sarah Trefethen witnessed lots of pie eating when she headed upstate to cover a boating festival. She focused, of course, on the local angle: The South Street Seaport Museum’s W.O. Decker took Tugboat of the Year honors. Her story and photo made Downtown Express.
  • On his first day out for the Daily News, Stephen Bronner covered a dramatic rescue story.
  • Speaking of the Daily News, Lee Hernandez scored a clip with his interview of actress Dania Ramirez, who spoke about the upcoming season of “Heroes.”

Congrats to all — and keep ‘em coming!