Author: Mark Noonan (Page 4 of 5)

Thank you students for your insightful commentary on “The Origin of the News” and the Virtual Print Tours you took.

Some of the key points you noted from “The Origin of the News” included:

1. The constant evolution of the news and news platforms
2. The history of censorship
3. The diversity of print producers across eras and in our own nation (which we also saw in the virtual tours of various printing districts)
4. The incessant curiosity humans have for news of all kinds
5. The very real dangers of “news cycle fatigue”
6. The merits of “the general public becoming more aware of the news”
7. The danger of “bias” in the news and the question of whether “news” coverage has become weaker over time

These are just some of the many media issues we will continue to track across the semester and I look forward to continuing to hear more from you about them.

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This week, we turn to the practice of journalism by examining a news feature that has always fascinated readers: interviews of famous, or otherwise interesting people.

If you end up working in the media, inevitably you will be asked to write a profile on an important person in a field of wide general interest.

In an upcoming assignment, I will be asking you to interview a fellow student. In preparation for your assignment, this week I want you to review two profiles, one on legendary journalist Juan Gonzalez and, the other on Eden Bridgeman Sklenar, editor of the legendary Ebony Magazine.

The first pieces are on Sklenar:

1) “Ebony Returns to Chronicle a New Moment” 

2) “Did I Really Just Buy Ebony?”  Interview with Eden Bridgeman Sklenar

The second profile features Gonzales, now co-host of alternative news site, Democracy Now.

3)  “Street-Beat Confidential”

and the best interview of all (!) is one by Jillian Jorgensen of New York 1 in which she interviews City Tech student Carlos Rodriquez. Carlos was a student in my writing course this summer, where Jorgensen did the filming.

4) City Tech Student Profile on NY1

POST ASSIGNMENT: By Monday, Sept. 18, post a response to what you found interesting about one or two of these pieces (a technique, unique focus, or rhetorical move) that you think will be helpful for a student journalist. Be sure to read the student responses before yours and try to focus on a different point if you can.

Journalism Students:

Welcome back from Labor Day weekend.

Thank you for your creative, exuberant, and informative self-introductions. It’s clear we have a class of diverse talents, experiences, majors, and pet lovers. I expect that we will learn a great deal more about each other and our course topics as the semester progresses.

On the right of the site, you will find a “check your grade” link. You can check on your grades here throughout the semester.

This week I ask that you consider the history of news since it began as well as the important role journalism has played in New York City since our city’s beginnings.

I first ask that you watch this fact-filled video entitled “The Origin of the News”   

As you watch, take notes. Consider the meaning and consequences of terms like “news cycle fatigue” and “censorship” as well as the many reasons people “follow” the news. You might also want to consider the effect of important developments such as the invention of paper, the block press, and movable type as well as the different — and evolving — forms of the media (early newspapers, radio, newsreels, broadcast news, CNN, and today’s social media platforms) as well as new reporting methods.

I also ask that you take a virtual walking tour of one of New York’s famed neighborhoods to learn about local printing history.

In the summers of of 2015 and 2020, I served as Director of the “City of Print” Institute. Owing to the pandemic, the in-person institute of 2015 was transformed to being fully on line. This meant that rather than give walking tours of printing districts in person, I created five virtual tours (of the Seaport, Printing House Square, Union Square, the East Village, and the West Village) to be watched at home.

Choose ONE tour and comment on what interested you most about it.

NYC Seaport Tour

Printing House Square (NYC City Hall/Entrance to Brooklyn Bridge)

Union Square

The East Village

The West Village

Please also take a general look around the full site at City of Print.

One of your options for your final Unit #3 assignment is to write a proposal for an extended journalism project you might like to do in the future. My site was developed using Square-space (with help from Matthew Joseph, a talented City Tech graduate!). The walking tours were taped on “screen-cast-amatic” and uploaded to Vimeo. As our course progresses this semester, think of some of the technology that might help in the production, development, and distribution of your proposed project. I’m happy to advise on this.

Lastly, if you have not yet read Nolan Higdon’s Teaching Media Literacy, please do so.

HOMEWORK (due Monday, Sept. 11 — by the end of the day):

POST a 1 paragraph response to a topic you found particularly interesting in the “Origin of the News” video and, in another paragraph, discuss what you learned (or found interesting) from the virtual walking tour you viewed.  As a substitute for one of these prompts, consider writing a response to Nolan Higdon’s essay “Teaching Media Literacy,” which I assigned last week.

TO POST: GO TO “COMMENTS” ON THE TOP OF MY POST. SCROLL DOWN TO THE TEXT BOX BELOW AND WRITE YOUR RESPONSE. BE SURE TO ALSO “PUBLISH.”