Medley, Spring 2011

Slowly but surely, I will update this blog.

I almost decided not to return to Medley for the spring semester. Working for both Medley and The Onondagan proved to be tougher than I ever expected and by winter break I was a little burnt out. But I decided to stick with it, and am so glad I did. My schedule wasn't as hectic so I was able to devote time to both publications and my classes without feeling overwhelmed. We changed things up a bit by hiring assistant editors to help the senior editors and it really made all the difference. Luis, our fantastic art director, pulled through yet again. I'm so grateful for him! He helped us not only redesign the way the magazine looks but how it reads. He suggested dividing the magazine into sections and was persistent & unrelenting in his decisions; Kirsten and I were originally opposed to the Aid Across the Map vertical layout, but he convinced us it would work and now I absolutely love it. I learned so much from his constructive criticism, insight, and talent. Our spring 2011 issue is the best-looking to date, in my opinion.

There were still quite a few bumps along the road (one was for the best--our cover/photo story about SU Korean drumming group Cheon Ji In is the result of a writer dropping her story. And the complimentary back photo = phenomenal!), but we managed to overcome them and produce a beautiful issue with great content, great photos. The two features, Somewhere I Belong, and The Kids Are All Right are so representative of Medley's theme. It's all there in those two pieces. For Somewhere I Belong, Kirsten profiled Alanah, a Hispanic girl who was born in Kenya and lived in several other countries during her life, finally settling (for now) in Syracuse. The piece discusses both the benefits and the struggles Alanah has experienced because of her nomadic life. The Kids Are All Right discusses gay parenting through the lens of two Syracuse students who have gay parents. It's such a great piece, even though it's already slightly outdated! Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York! I also contributed another short piece about Verbal Blend, this time choosing to focus on their newly formed p-board (poets' executive board) and the direction they hope to take in the future.

Medley was a great experience and I wish I had more time with it! Sometimes I feel I could have done more. Fortunately, we've left the magazine in great hands. Medley is young but I feel so strongly about the content we cover and can't wait for more people to take notice and to see how it will grow.

Keep up with Medley on Issuu.

Nearly Naked Mile

Despite what I said in a previous post about disliking event coverage, I covered another event for my Web Journalism class. Each week, several people in my class are "Newshouse reporters," so we pick from stories available that week and do them. When I received the list of the week, most were events, and I chose the one I thought I'd have the most fun with. It was really between an academic lecture and the Nearly Naked Mile run at SU. I chose the latter. The event was the first-ever at SU (though other universities have held them in the past), hosted by the SU Triathlon club to raise money for themselves and the community. Read: "Runners Strip Down for a Good Cause." The event started at 8, ended at about 8:30, came home, transcribed all the interviews I had and then went to bed, woke up early, and wrote the story. It takes me so long to write! I really need to improve. Also, I need to realize when writing for the Newshouse, that it's still very much news. I spent so much time trying to capture the feel of the event and trying to be creative, and then my editor shortened my piece to reveal only the most important information about the event.

Well, it was wild. I arrived at about 7:15 to the registration table to talk to people and only the members of the club were there. All really friendly people. Joseph Prosnitz, who I mention in the story, was one of the first people I interviewed (I had interviewed Dan Larkin, who was also there, earlier in the day, and Paul Knepley via phone the day before). When I met him, he was jumping up and down and talking extremely fast. He's hyper and he talks a lot. For the record, I interviewed him for about 10 minutes and he was jumping THE WHOLE TIME. Not exaggerating, I was pretty dizzy after our interview ended. But he's a funny kid, and I thought the perfect person to lead my story with. Members weren't sure about the turnout because it was cold and raining--not hard, but enough to possibly discourage participants. But half hour before the event started, people started showing up. Some included older women from the community wearing bunny ears, Mike Collins (mentioned in story) in his orange suit, and girls with painted faces dressed to win the race's SU Spirit contest. Fun crowd, I'd say.

The transition from quiet crowd of few, mostly clothed, people to a LOUD, large crowd of nearly naked, people happened so fast. Next thing you know, Dan is standing on the bus stop yelling from a megaphone, vying for everyone's attention. Everyone just seemed so excited, but also really cold and anxious for the event to start. But for the most part, I think a lot of people felt thrilled to say that they participated in such an event. Honestly, most students probably just wanted an excuse to be able to strip and run around campus. Actually, I'm pretty sure of it, haha.

Anyway, after a while my hands were numb and I could barely take my recorder out of my pocket, let alone take notes. I always underestimate the way my body will react to the weather when I'm out on an assignment. Journalists on TV make it look so effortless. Luckily, I also managed to take a few photographs because the photographer the Newshouse sent had "technical difficulties." My photos aren't great by ANY means and I was bummed to hear that the photographer couldn't capture anything because I think there was opportunity to take some really great shots. I just sort of took mine for proof that the event happened, haha. But it shows I need to stay on top of these things and, in the future, take as many good photos as I can, even if I'm not assigned to.

By the end, I was freezing (literally had to stop in a building on my way home so my feet could defrost) but happy I went. The one thing I want to end this event coverage post with is an observation about myself. I think I've alluded to this in the past but journalism, in many ways, has been my excuse--an excuse for my shy self to step out into the world and ask the many questions that exist in my mind that I'd otherwise be afraid to ask. I'm not saying journalism is the only reason, but it's definitely been a great factor in helping me conquer that timidness, and fear. I'm still not the most outgoing person you'll ever meet. It still takes me a lot of courage to be the first to speak, or the first to walk up to someone and introduce myself, and I usually don't do it unless I have to. But that's my point. Because of journalism I've had to. Friday was a challenge because there was a lot of down time and I couldn't just sit there and observe, so I walked up to a bunch of people, introduced myself and asked questions. Because I haven't really covered events, I haven't had to do interviews in that way. (I don't mind talking to people--I love it--it's the approaching that's difficult). But I knew I couldn't just stand there and watch. What if that one person has a great story? A great anecdote? The quote that will make the piece? An angle I never thought of? The fear of missing something combined with the pressure of the impending deadline and the desire to do good work forces me to brave myself and walk up to someone, extend my arm, shake their hand, and start a conversation.

I'm extremely grateful to journalism for that.

Jack's team

For our first video assignment in Web Journalism, our professors paired us with one other person in the class and told us to find a story, any story, related to the Syracuse Men's Lacrosse season opener on February 20. My partner, Marie Claudet, and I wanted to do something about a young passionate lacrosse fan, a child, because we thought that would be more fun. While researching, she found that the team adopted 5-year-old Jack Tweedy last year through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, which pairs college teams with children who have pediatric brain tumors. We decided to pursue the story and immediately contacted his father, who agreed to participate. On Sunday morning before the game, we drove out to his house 30 min. from campus in Brewertown, N.Y., to conduct an interview (since it would be difficult to do during the game), and then drove back to meet them at the game. As part of the program, the Tweedy family sits in the first row (unaccessible to anyone else), right behind the team's bench. After the game, Jack gets to run on the field with the other players and follow them into the locker room (we weren't allowed to follow him in there). I really loved this assignment. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially since I was nervous we wouldn't get back in time to film enough of them at the game. Luckily, the Tweedy family only makes it to the second half of the game anyway. Afterwards, we had to race around and try to get an interview with Jack's favorite player, Jovan Miller. The whole process was hectic, but a lot of fun. In the week and a half after, Marie and I met frequently to sit down and edit together--a process not always so easy. Good thing Marie and I got along really well and we more or less had the same vision. Filming is difficult, and I imagine the more I do it the better I will become, but I really enjoy the editing process, merging video and pictures and sound to tell a story. It's a process tons different than writing, in that you think about what you want to do, and once you know, you just do it, and it's not as taxing on the mind. If that makes sense. In the end, our professors really liked our work, and I'm extremely proud. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I would really love to experiment with multimedia in the future, and I'm glad this course is giving me that opportunity.

To use some of the photos we used in the video, Gregg (Jack's father), asked that we sign up at Carepages to have access to Jack's personal page, where they were posted. Now that the project is over, I still receive Gregg's updates about Jack's life and progress. I didn't expect to keep my Carepages account after we finished the project, but every time I receive an update in my e-mail, I can't ignore it; I have to check to see what Gregg will say. If you want me to be really honest? I think a part of me opens them to just make sure that he's...okay. That the news Gregg imparts is good news. When we met Jack, his condition was pretty stable but, most recently, his condition raised concern. They rushed him to Children's Hospital Boston again and this morning he will undergo another surgery to remove a cyst (which looks like it may contain another tumor). He is so, so young, and it just boggles my mind that any 5-year-old should have to go through what Jack has gone through.

Our package.

My final story: Verbal Blend

Verbal Blend is a spoken-word/poetry program on campus and the subject of my final story for my MAG 406: Magazine Article Writing course. I absolutely love Verbal Blend. The poets teem with talent and I look forward to every interview, meeting, or event. I am continuously blown away by each person's devotion to the words, the careful ability in which they craft them to convey a message. When I'm in their presence, I'm always pleasantly surprised by the community and camaraderie that exists among them.

The story is supposed to be 1,700 words. But I could write so much more! I could write a profile on each member, I'm sure. I could write about the events that they host and have hosted. I could write about the first ever Verbal Blend learning community in Boland Hall that started this fall. I could write about the efforts Verbal Blend makes to improve the poor education system in Syracuse. I hoped to update this as I conducted each interview and attended each event this month, but, as has become the norm this semester, time slipped away. So, I'm starting now.

The above clip is of a Verbal Blend poet named Christiona performing her poem, "A Warrior Out of Us," at Verbal Blend's 'Ayo Technology' Skype Open Mic on Nov. 17. (More on that in another post). I think I'm leaning towards focusing on Verbal Blend's work off campus, educating and inspiring young students in the city of Syracuse. Christiona will probably be one of my main faces. She's a sophomore who is in the process of creating a literary magazine for high school students in the community.

"We want the high school students to think about pursuing any level of post-secondary education. We feel that publishing them in a college publication with other college writers and artists will boost their confidence in themselves and get them thinking about college in a positive aspect."

Verbal Blend is a special group, so I'm excited to post more about them in the near future.

Till next time.