How Long Is Your Goulet?
October 23, 2007
It’s Halloween and I’ve got a story to cover at the Beacon Theater. Zappa Plays Zappa, son of Frank sings pop’s tunes and there should be a freak show suitable for a gonzo piece of observation. Of course, gonzo is sort of unreliable as it is heavily subjective. It may [...]
The bees’ needs
October 21, 2007
Feature articles have a structure distinct from the standard news article. Features have more texture and sense of place; they offer the reader a photographic glimpse of the subject, rather than a straightforward recounting of events. My feature article this week is on Patrick Gannon, a scientist, professor and beekeeper.
The article is about [...]
Bring it on
October 17, 2007
Discussion abounds about the amount of work at the school.
I say there’s not enough.
In RW1 (Reporting and Writing, the nuts and bolts of writing in the journalistic style) we have an ‘enterprise’ story due just about every ten days, give or take. An enterprise piece is a story whose topic the writer finds [...]
Just More Questions
October 2, 2007
I’ve got mixed feelings.It’s too short. Nine and a half months for this program. I want more time to synch the theory of our lectures with the real world of reporting.
It can’t be any longer. I wouldn’t want to have two years of this kind of slapdash schedule.
My keyboard misses letters; I’m developing [...]
My Man Mahmoud
September 24, 2007
Protests are like carnivals without the fried food. Festivities of theoretical argument perfume air with the smell of heated exhalations. Today at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, the lawns were plush from last night’s rain. The sky was a crystal dome and the sun shone like God’s unblinking eye. And in that glorious bowl, [...]
Walk in the Park
September 17, 2007
Morning finds me walking down the slim paths of Prospect Park, where the trees tower above and the pastures are verdant and everlasting. I am here to cover an event outlined in the AP Day Book, a daily posting of events by the Associated Press, with basic information regarding the event, like [...]
Ahmadinejad is coming
The Iranian president is coming to Columbia and I heard about it from the New York Post. For all I can tell, I don’t think the Journalism School was involved in the administrative levels of this event. I delay posting an opinion because I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. [...]
Unfinished business
September 16, 2007
This is how the schedule breaks down. Monday and Tuesday are reporting days, and belong to the class, RWI, which is Reporting and Writing I. This course holds the majority of credits and represents the most intense workload for the first semester. It takes at least three days a week, [...]
Eared Grebe Waddling
September 10, 2007
The pedagogy at the J-School is directed towards personal development rather than rote. There is no firm direction, like “do this” and “do that.” Rather, the focus is on the negative space, the borders of appropriate journalistic practices, ethical behavior and accurate writing. We had a lecture the other week, delivered by Dean [...]
Seagull Guano Blues
September 5, 2007
Labor Day was weird. Like the dull silence before the deluge. Classes begin in their full glory next week. Our second story assignment is to be “pitched” to our RWI professors tomorrow (Thursday, the 6th). This is the genesis of a sellable story, and a necessary function of anybody seeking to write for [...]