Featured, On Campus - Friday, April 24, 2009 11:25 - 4 Comments
As Expected, Last Night’s Panel Proves That the Future of Journalism Remains (Surprisingly!) Uncertain
Last night a gaggle of journalism geeks gathered on the 11th floor of the Kaufman Management Center to lob grand, earnest questions at each other in an attempt to seriously parse the ever-looming Future of Journalism. So what was the outcome? Well, nothing new, of course.
The panelists each spoke to their experience with investigative reporting, and how, with print journalism on the inevitable decline, new business models need to be developed to continue the necessary funding of investigative reporting. Tom Casciato, a PBS filmmaker, started off by saying that if he was a CEO of a company or some other shady individual with a nefarious goal in mind, he would most certainly take this time to enact his sketchy plans. Why? Because the arm of democracy that holds people accountable to the public for their behavior—investigative journalists!—is on the decline. Jennifer LaFleur and Stephen Engelberg of ProPublica discussed how their nonprofit fits into the new, moneyless model. Private investors fund their reporting, which is all under Creative Commons and can be adopted by any newspaper free of charge. Continue…
On Campus - Tuesday, April 7, 2009 0:25 - 1 Comment
J-Schools Laugh At People Still Applying
Forbes ran an article yesterday titled – presumably by some sobbing editor – Journalism Bust, J-School Boom, about the increase in applications to J-Schools in spite of the death of the industry. Apparently, “Columbia, Stanford and NYU applications increased 38%, 20% and 6%, respectively, from the previous year,” and NYU Journalism Professor Stephen Solomon expresses his shock: “I’m amazed that enrollment continues to be so healthy.” Translation: “WTF ARE YOU DOING???”
Can’t actually get a job in journalism? “Old media expatriates looking for a life after layoffs and buyouts are flooding schools looking for work. Brooke Kroeger, director of the Carter Journalism Institute at NYU, says interest in teaching has tripled in the last five years.”
But the article does offer a vague glimmer of hope for those that have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the noble endeavor: “Some may actually get jobs in journalism.” Thanks.
Photo by Kaela Rae Jensen
Featured, On Campus - Tuesday, March 24, 2009 10:43 - 2 Comments
Soledad O’Brien Speaks About Twitter, Idiots at Kimmel
Last night CNN journalist and anchor Soledad O’Brien addressed a smattering of about 150 people in Kimmel concerning women and diversity issues, as part of the Women as Changemakers series spurred on by Women’s History Month. Though it seemed that few NYU students were actually in attendance, and the majority of the audience was comprised of NYU alums and community members, O’Brien addressed women’s issues in the workplace, as well as expounded upon the importance of “thinking differently.” If you can cut through the Hallmark-y inspirational BS, O’Brien had some pretty interesting things to say.
On Campus - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:47 - 2 Comments
“Journalists Are the Only Group That Can Make Lawyers Look Good”
Bernard Goldberg, author of Bias, criticized the “fabric of journalism” in a phone interview with the Foundations of Journalism class on Tuesday morning. Calling journalists out for their alleged arrogance and lack of accountability, Goldberg warned the 300-person class to think twice before joining a group with such a bad reputation.
“The election showed the media in a worse light than ever before,” said Goldberg before returning to drilling in his main point: “its not the media’s role to affect change in society… even when it’s a noble cause.” His reasoning was that journalists shouldn’t push for change because people have different definitions of change. Perhaps the problem is that the “different definitions of change” are not evenly represented. If the liberals are overtaking the media, where have the conservatives gone?
Continue…
On Campus - Tuesday, November 11, 2008 8:00 - 0 Comments
Entertainment Weekly Writer Teaches NYU J-Class How to Talk to George Clooney
“My editor wanted me to ask Angelina Jolie if she was still having sex with Brad Pitt while she was pregnant,” said Dave Karger to Jill Grossman’s journalistic inquiry class.
After 13 years of interviewing celebrities for Entertainment Weekly, Karger’s a master of getting good quotes and asking potentially awkward questions. “I don’t ask questions. I make observations,” Karger said. “Its like, I said something and now its your turn.”
Karger’s candid stories about driving George Clooney to lunch in a white Chevy Avalon, about Steve Martin’s surprisingly absent sense of humor, about getting yelled at by an interviewee caught in a lie, revealed something of a paradox in Karger. Despite regularly interacting with some of America’s biggest celebrities, he clearly identified with the rookie questions of 20-year old journalism students.
Want to be a better journalist? Learn from those who have already done it.
Oh, and check out the article on Jolie. Apparently Karger fulfilled his editor’s request without actually asking the awkward question.
Photo: Screen shot from EW.com
On Campus - Wednesday, October 8, 2008 16:54 - 7 Comments
NYT’s Failure To Credit Original Writer Raises Some Questions
10/9: Update Below
On Monday, Corey Kilgannon, a blogger for the New York Times City Room, wrote about a hearing for Jason Nicholas, a 38-year-old freelance photographer who was arrested for violating his parole. Though the blog cited the Times 2007 article of Mr. Nicholas, it failed to recognize that Mr. Nicholas, an NYU graduate, was previously profiled in the Washington Square News by Andrew Nusca.
Mr. Nusca, who blogs at The Editorialiste, wrote that “it’s frustrating when a Times blogger makes mention of the Times’ previous story (”Look! We’ve covered him before!”) without also giving credit to the person who originally discovered the story and broke it.”
City - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 13:34 - 2 Comments
New York Sun Newest Casualty of Print vs. Online Journalism War
Since a lot of you who read this blog are journalists/journalism students, and since journalists love to talk about how their profession is dying, you should know that the New York Sun announced yesterday that it will close after today’s issue. Gawker has an unsurprisingly snarky piece about it, and the NY Times has a more factual article. Either way, you can go tell your Stern friends that your job prospects after college are looking just as bad as theirs.
