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.”