(Disclosure: Both Lily Q and I are involved in the following NYT-NYU collaboration project) NYU and The New York Times have signed a deal allowing selected students from the Studio 20 Journalism Masters program to plan, launch and oversee the production of a hyperlocal blog catering to the East Village. The blog will boast the Times URL, but be developed by Studio 20 students, in collaboration with NYU faculty and Times editors. Rich Jones, a former Times reporter, will be the editor of the site and he will teach part time at NYU. “The idea of Studio 20 is to teach and learn by running projects that involve innovation and problem solving in journalism, and do it with media partners so that everything we do is done for real. That is why we are collaborating with the New York Times,” said NYU professor Jay Rosen, who is helping to head the project. While the site will function in a similar way to the hyperlocal sites the Times already has running in Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill and Maplewood, this will be the first time journalism students will be heavily involved in the site’s content and design process before the launch. The Times recently allowed CUNY students to take over the Ft. Green Local after it had been up and running for a number of months.
The East Village Local aims to provide news by, for and about the residents of the East Village, focusing heavily on collecting contributions of all kinds from EV Local readers. “We’re going to try to turn this site into a learning lab for local journalism, but also take advantage of what makes the East Village a cultural magnet,” said Rosen. “At the same time this will be a community site, and NYU and NYU students are part of, not apart from the community.”
Both Lily and I are incredibly excited about this project, and have been waiting for quite some time for the press release to go public. Hopefully, the NYU and East Village communities will share our enthusiasm. Once launched around March, the blog will be looking for contributing writers and interns to create content over the summer. We’ll be updating Local with more info about the project as it comes in.
Since noticing the BK and Maplewood locals, I’ve been looking forward to something like this. Very, very cool.
Besides this being awesome (I’m sure others will say the same), I’m super excited about the last paragraph. Seeing as how I’m hoping to move into the East Village this summer, this would be a perfect internship.
HINT HINT COUGH COUGH
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE INEXPERIENCED RABBLE RABBLE JOURNALISM SCHOOL SUCKS RABBLE RABBLE THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!
-Early response from established meta-journos.
What happens if/when the NYT moves their blogs behind a paywall as recently rumored? Have you negotiated an exception for the East Village blog?
@Jim It’s possible the faculty/NYT have discussed this, but I’m unaware of any discussions surrounding it yet. I actually just heard about the paywall+blogs thing from Jay yesterday.
So awesome. Good luck to you both!
Though I too, wonder what will happen when the paywall goes up. There’s going to have to be some excellent content to make it worth paying for.
NYU (and its students) is not, has not, nor will ever be an accepted member of the Village community, East, West or South.
NYU and its students are a blight on our landscape. We cherish the months of June, July and August when the school is mostly closed and the students go home to mommy and daddy in some burg, and we get our community back.
@Bob: Sorry to burst your elitist, geopolitical landscape-bequeathing bubble, but I plan to be here ALL. SUMMER. LONG.
@Bob I live in the East Village in a tiny apartment, which I pay rent for to a small local real estate company. I work 2+ jobs and pay New York City taxes. I vote in local NYC elections. I read/tip off EV Grieve (and am editor of a blog that covers local EV news fairly regularly). I shop at and buy from local businesses. But somehow being an NYU student means that none of these things count as me being a ‘part of the community?’
[...] Post launches "College" section (featuring content from around 60 campus publications. Also the New York Times teams with NYU journalism students to run a hyperlocal [...]
There’s already a “hyperlocal” publication covering the Village. It’s called THE VILLAGER, it does fantastic journalism with mature reporters rooted in the community, and it doesn’t have an umbilical cord leading back to one of the Village’s most abusive entities: NYU.
@Annie — God it’s just ADORABLE when college students, ensconced in privilege, feel embattled. You go girl! You go be a rebel on the coat tails of the New York Times and NYU, Let us know how the journalism goes, between SXSW and watching Gossip Girl. Hey I heard Gawker is hiring!
@Bob Jess is absolutely right. New York is beautiful because like no other city it is made up mostly of people who chose to come here, be they immigrants or students from Jersey. I suppose you’d prefer it be a city filled with those united solely because they were born here arbitrarily. That’s definitely what that little statue out in the bay stands for.
Wish I could be a part of this, A New York native but study in LA (hell). Maybe you would like it here Bob!
I didn’t expect this, but it seems that Village residents actually spend more time complaining than we do
[...] NYU and New York Times Collaborate on East Village Local Blog (NYU Local) [...]
I was just interviewed for the NYU LOCAL. The young woman who interviewed me did a thorough job and I actually think she will make a good journalist. Please do not censor her work. I think it would be a good thing for NYU to read what I said. No more dorms please and how about coming up with some funding for me to finish archiving the priceless photo collection I donated to Tamiment Library. Attention NY Times hire my friend who is still freelancing for you for many years now [you know who I mean] you hired all the other freelancers I worked with for you Andrew Jacobs, Michael Cooper and Jesse McKinley to name a few and the other guy is just as good a journalist as they are. LES Old Skool Forever !
Mr. Penley,
Thanks for contributing to the discussion about the LEV. I’m the summer managing editor of NYU Local. We are not planning an upcoming post on the LEV, and as such have not been conducting interviews. The LEV and NYU Local are two different organizations, and it is most likely the LEV that interviewed you. Please contact me by email (kas578@nyu.edu) if you wish to talk further about this.