Clips of the Week

Hard to believe we’re entering the final month of the semester. Here are some of the latest results of our reporters’ continuing hard work:

• Joshua Cinelli wrote an article for City Hall about local efforts to boost the economy by luring more foreign investment.
• We all know quitting smoking saves lives and money – Francesca Levy offers a state-by-state look at the dollars kept by kicking the habit in this article-and-slideshow package for Forbes.
• Heather Chin reaped the benefits of hopping on a breaking story with her video piece about the New York Times hoax edition distributed last week. Her video accompanies an article put together in short order by the News Service class.
• Joe Filippazzo’s News Service story about Bobby Fischer’s FBI file was picked up by El Nuevo Herald, and got many blog links.
• Karina Ioffee profiled a popular sari tailor for the Queens Courier. (Note: as of this writing, the link seems to be broken. I’ll check into it.)
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote about incumbent Assemblymember Marge Markey’s reelection for the Queens Tribune (I have a copy in my office – feel free to come by for a look.)
• If you missed our latest podcasts during the week, check them out here: Health Pods, produced by Loren Bonner, Shuka Kalantari, and Djenny Passe-Rodriguez; and This Place Called Home, produced by Linnea Covington, Celina Fang, and Tyler Mitter.
• Collin (Hoops) Orcutt predicts great things for the Lakers in his latest Men’s Fitness blog post.
• Busy Barry Paddock shared a byline on this Daily News story about a drunk driving tragedy.

Not surprisingly, there’s a strong election theme this week – a sign of much more to come. Here are some of our reporters’ latest pieces:

• Rima Abdelkader’s story about the challenge foreign-language journalists are having translating “maverick,” “Joe Sixpack,” and other colloquial campaign phrases made Off The Bus. The article became our latest election piece to get big pickup, and drove a large amount of traffic to our News Service.
• Maya J. Pope-Chappell wrote about Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for the Amsterdam News. You’ll have to register to gain access to the site, but it’s well worth the effort.
• Adeola Oladele profiled a Kenyan woman who can’t vote in the U.S. election, but is trying to make an impact by joining a Harlem-based group that traveled to Pennsylvania to register voters. Adeola’s broadcast piece can be found on the News Service.
• Ria Julien and Sandra Roa exhibited great planning and timing with this News Service broadcast story in which they covered a swearing-in ceremony for naturalized U.S. citizens on Oct. 10 – just in time for the new Americans to make the New York voter registration deadline.
• If you missed the live This Place Called Home podcast, produced by Tyler Mitter, Linnea Covington, and Celina Fang, you’ll find it here.
• Just call Sergey Kadinsky Mr. Queens. He put a fun lede on this Queens Courier short about some teens’ sewer-diving misadventure. He wrote a piece for the Queens Tribune about a schoolyard reconstruction project – and he recently was profiled by the paper (by the Class of ‘07’s Joe Orovic). The Trib pieces aren’t on-line – I have copies in my office. Come on by for a look.
• Karina Ioffee’s powerful story about the parents of a murder victim who attended the killer’s sentencing was featured in the Queens Chronicle.
• Collin Orcutt played Friday afternoon quarterback, offering football predictions for the Men’s Fitness blog.
• Matt Townsend scored a solo byline in the Daily News with his article about the return of the Concorde – as a museum piece.
• Stephen Bronner contributed to a Daily News story about pedestrian fatalities in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
• Barry Paddock covered a fire that killed a great-grandmother for the News.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming.

Even with the recent holidays, our newsroom has been buzzing. Here are some of the latest rewards of your hard work:

• Rosaleen Ortiz reported for the AP from Chile about a document-preservation effort to help tell the full story of those who “disappeared” during the murderous Pinochet era. Her story was picked up by MSNBC, among numerous other outlets.

• Damiano Beltrami covered the first annual New Italian American Cinema festival for i-italy.org.

• Some ethnic radio outlets fear that new Arbitron “People Meters” will lead to an unfair undercounting of listeners, Karina Ioffee reported for New American Media.

• Francesca Levy put together a story and slideshow for Forbes.com about the hardest and easiest places to sell a home in the  U.S.

• Lee Hernandez interviewed actor Laz Alonso, star of Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna,” for the Daily News.

• Barry Paddock is learning the art of covering the “perp walk.” He managed to get the Daily News a (denial) quote from a suspect in a vicious beating.

• Matt Townsend covered the seventh annual Tunnel to Towers Run, which commemorates the life of Firefighter Stephen Siller, who sprinted through the Battery Tunnel on 9/11. Matt interviewed Siller’s widow, who participated in the run for the first time.

Our News Service benefited from some fine work this week, as well:

• Check out Jennifer Saavedra’s TV piece about Borough Park residents’ fight against a construction project many fear will overwhelm the neighborhood.

• Jessica Firger and Emily Mayer teamed on a TV-and-print package about The Waterfalls public art exhibition.

• Steve Pacer exhibited good timing with his TV piece about the battle to preserve an East Village synagogue.

• Barry Paddock and Maureen Ker teamed on a fun article and slideshow that says a lot about kids and the presidential election.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming.