Things are really heating up for the Liberty City Link!
Professor Reisner sent us an email over the weekend with links to different blogs which have picked up our recent announcement . There are some as far as Italy talking about us, and even Editor & Publisher is going to be running something about us! All this attention is really very humbling, but it's also extremely intimidating. I feel like everyone has these high expectations for us, and I'm really nervous about meeting them. I want to do the best job possible, but I'm still in the process of learning everything I need to know, so I don't want to let anyone down.
As far as my story goes, I'm heading down to Liberty City this afternoon after class to speak to some students and local teens about their thoughts on the Hot Spot campaign. I think, with these interviews, I should be pretty much done with my story, and hopefully it'll be enough to go in for publishing as soon as Thursday! I'm giving a second draft to Reisner today and hopefully he likes it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Frustration
UGH.
This story is making me all sorts of frustrated. I've been getting the run-around with my sources, and Professor Reisner today (finally) edited my copy. Needless to say, I have a TON of work left to do.
While editing, my classmates asked questions which needed to be addressed in the story... questions a journalist would ask. I think the majority of my frustration is trying to look at things from a journalistic perspective instead of just as a viewer or reader. I even questioned my abilities to make it in this business. I mean, this isn't just any journalism assignment. This is for publication, and I want to do my best. And I can't even think of aspects of a story that any journalist (or journalism student, in my case) would think of.
But, I guess that's why I'm here. I'd much rather make a mistake here and learn from it in a place where I can get a little reprimanded and embarrassed temporarily , rather than learning the hard way at a future job.
I just have to prove to myself that I can pull it off.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Hot Spot
So today was my first big reporting day!
I'm working on a story about the Hot Spot campaign in District 5. The campaign is aimed at residents in the district (which includes Overtown and Liberty City) to report crimes and suspicious activity anonymously. The organization which oversees the distribution of these cards is P.U.L.S.E (People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality). I wanted to know if, after the recent shooting in Liberty City last week and after a number of shootings in the area, if the Hot Spot cards have been used as a way for officials to get tips on the case.
Once I got the assignment, I called the information line which was listed online, and ended up speaking to P.U.L.S.E's Executive Director, Nathaniel Wilcox. I initially thought it would be a relatively quick phone interview, but I wasn't really understanding him (I was on my cell phone and reception was bad). He invited me to the P.U.L.S.E office so that I can take a look at the cards myself.
Once I got off the phone, I made a beeline for Reisner's office. I was going into an interview relatively blind, and I wanted some advice on how to go about it. I called him and caught up with him on campus to fill him in. He was really excited about it and gave me some good pointers which helped me a lot during the interview.
I felt really good during the interview. I listened and asked questions off of what Wilcox had just said, but I also had a framework of what I wanted to ask in mind. He gave me some good info, but I'm not sure it's a story. I need to write out the notes I took to see what I can get from it, and I'm honestly pretty worried because I want this to pan out since it's my first *BIG* story for publishing. Wilcox gave me the name and phone number for Major McGee of the City of Miami police in order to get the # of Hot Spot cards returned from Liberty City. I basically got the runaround until I spoke with someone in the Liberty City NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) office. She told me that info would probably be best kept by PULSE...so it's back to square one I guess. By the time she told me this it was almost 5 p.m., so I'm gonna have to call tomorrow. I'm a little frustrated at the runaround, but not disheartened. One way or another, the story will come together.
I'm working on a story about the Hot Spot campaign in District 5. The campaign is aimed at residents in the district (which includes Overtown and Liberty City) to report crimes and suspicious activity anonymously. The organization which oversees the distribution of these cards is P.U.L.S.E (People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality). I wanted to know if, after the recent shooting in Liberty City last week and after a number of shootings in the area, if the Hot Spot cards have been used as a way for officials to get tips on the case.
Once I got the assignment, I called the information line which was listed online, and ended up speaking to P.U.L.S.E's Executive Director, Nathaniel Wilcox. I initially thought it would be a relatively quick phone interview, but I wasn't really understanding him (I was on my cell phone and reception was bad). He invited me to the P.U.L.S.E office so that I can take a look at the cards myself.
Once I got off the phone, I made a beeline for Reisner's office. I was going into an interview relatively blind, and I wanted some advice on how to go about it. I called him and caught up with him on campus to fill him in. He was really excited about it and gave me some good pointers which helped me a lot during the interview.
I felt really good during the interview. I listened and asked questions off of what Wilcox had just said, but I also had a framework of what I wanted to ask in mind. He gave me some good info, but I'm not sure it's a story. I need to write out the notes I took to see what I can get from it, and I'm honestly pretty worried because I want this to pan out since it's my first *BIG* story for publishing. Wilcox gave me the name and phone number for Major McGee of the City of Miami police in order to get the # of Hot Spot cards returned from Liberty City. I basically got the runaround until I spoke with someone in the Liberty City NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) office. She told me that info would probably be best kept by PULSE...so it's back to square one I guess. By the time she told me this it was almost 5 p.m., so I'm gonna have to call tomorrow. I'm a little frustrated at the runaround, but not disheartened. One way or another, the story will come together.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Experiences
Ok, so I'm pretty comfortable with Liberty City at this point. I can get around, I know all the streets, I know the "city" limits, so to speak.
A couple of weeks ago, our class took a "field trip" to Jumbo's to meet Bobby Flam, the only white business owner who stayed in Liberty City after the infamous riots that brought the neighborhood national infamy. He inherited the place from his father, who bought it in 1955. In the beginning the joint was segregated, like most places in Miami at the time. But when Bobby took over in the late '60s, he decided to integrate. He was the first business owner to do so.
I hitched a ride with my classmate and when we turned the corner on 75th Street, we both looked at the group of big black men on the corner across from the restaurant, hanging around their cars and glancing at the two white girls who pulled up next to them. I think we both thought, "what have we signed up for?" All that fear faded the moment Bobby approached us. He was so welcoming, and when we entered the restaurant, I think just about every employee greeted us with a warm smile and a peppy, "Welcome to Jumbo's!"
This experience was made that much more awesome when we found out that the South Florida Times will be publishing our newspaper as a special section in theirs. This is real! Our work won't just be classwork; now, it can truly and officially make a difference. I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of all of this! Great things are in store....
A couple of weeks ago, our class took a "field trip" to Jumbo's to meet Bobby Flam, the only white business owner who stayed in Liberty City after the infamous riots that brought the neighborhood national infamy. He inherited the place from his father, who bought it in 1955. In the beginning the joint was segregated, like most places in Miami at the time. But when Bobby took over in the late '60s, he decided to integrate. He was the first business owner to do so.
I hitched a ride with my classmate and when we turned the corner on 75th Street, we both looked at the group of big black men on the corner across from the restaurant, hanging around their cars and glancing at the two white girls who pulled up next to them. I think we both thought, "what have we signed up for?" All that fear faded the moment Bobby approached us. He was so welcoming, and when we entered the restaurant, I think just about every employee greeted us with a warm smile and a peppy, "Welcome to Jumbo's!"
This experience was made that much more awesome when we found out that the South Florida Times will be publishing our newspaper as a special section in theirs. This is real! Our work won't just be classwork; now, it can truly and officially make a difference. I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of all of this! Great things are in store....
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
First Thoughts...
When Professor Reisner threw out the idea last semester of starting an online newspaper focusing on Liberty City, I gotta be honest, I was incredibly nervous and unsettled. How would a sheltered, white (hispanic), suburban girl survive the mean streets of "the hood"? The fear gave way to excitement when I considered all the good things this paper could possibly bring about in a community that, for years, has been largely lost in the fast-paced media city of Miami.
I was more nervous than anything on the first day in class. I just didn't know what to expect, but Reisner's excitement for the endeavor was contagious. I couldn't help but be excited about what we were about to do!
My first venture into Liberty City was for the Martin Luther King Day Parade on January 18. It was the complete opposite of everything and anything I had expected. Contrary to popular belief, Liberty City is not just a town of gang shootouts and drive-bys. It's a place where small business owners, community organizers, civil rights activists and a passionate community volunteer nicknamed Sistah Souljar are trying their hardest to get the youth off the streets of the Model City and into more nurturing and positive environments. It's a place where Liberty City Elementary School went from an "F" to an "A" in just one school year, and where members of the local NAACP are trying to inform residents on the importance of filling out the 2010 Census.
Liberty City was nothing I had expected.
The neighborhood is full of so many multi-faceted, enthusiastic people who are really trying to make a difference in a community which is often neglected by the media and sometimes its own representatives. They're regular people with the same problems many Americans face, but they just have a few more obstacles to overcome than the next guy.
I can't wait to tell their stories.
I was more nervous than anything on the first day in class. I just didn't know what to expect, but Reisner's excitement for the endeavor was contagious. I couldn't help but be excited about what we were about to do!
My first venture into Liberty City was for the Martin Luther King Day Parade on January 18. It was the complete opposite of everything and anything I had expected. Contrary to popular belief, Liberty City is not just a town of gang shootouts and drive-bys. It's a place where small business owners, community organizers, civil rights activists and a passionate community volunteer nicknamed Sistah Souljar are trying their hardest to get the youth off the streets of the Model City and into more nurturing and positive environments. It's a place where Liberty City Elementary School went from an "F" to an "A" in just one school year, and where members of the local NAACP are trying to inform residents on the importance of filling out the 2010 Census.
Liberty City was nothing I had expected.
The neighborhood is full of so many multi-faceted, enthusiastic people who are really trying to make a difference in a community which is often neglected by the media and sometimes its own representatives. They're regular people with the same problems many Americans face, but they just have a few more obstacles to overcome than the next guy.
I can't wait to tell their stories.
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