The War on Terror As Reported by …

January 10th, 2010

Unable to work through the rumblings and exaggerations and distortions in the recent tsunami of news stories catalyzed by 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s failed attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane over Detroit. In need of good sources for news and commentaries and analysis. Need to be able to assess independently and wisely. Clarity important. So, embarking on the search for the path to veraciousness, the search begins.

An Idiot’s Guide to the War on Terror?

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Eunji Jang Redux

January 1st, 2010
Eunji Jang on assignment.

File Photo: On assignment for a story.

For her journalistic work with New York Times Reporter Kirk Semple for “Suicides Soar Among New York Koreans,” Jang, who speaks and writes fluent Korean, and interns for New America Media, earned a Contributing Tag at the end of the story.

NYT news lead for the double suicide of Yongho and Soonhee Kim, February 25, 2008:

They had navigated the move from South Korea and opened a nail salon on Long Island, but by last winter, Yongho and Soonhee Kim were in debt and deeply unhappy. They were fighting a lawsuit over nonpayment of rent on the Long Beach salon and were months behind on rent payments for their apartment in Oakland Gardens, Queens. The bank had repossessed their car.

Courtesy The Korean Times

Soonhee, left, and Yongho Kim.

At dawn on Feb. 25, the couple left a note for their 20-year-old daughter outside their apartment door, doused themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire, the police said. The blaze killed them and destroyed their home.

“They 100 percent lost hope,” said Mr. Kim’s brother-in-law, Chi Kun Park.

An earlier story was published/broadcast by NAM in July. NAM’s Odette Keely interviewed Jang about a piece that the Korean Times in NYC wrote about Korean suicides in America.

A Flurry of Posts in the Waiting While I Finish Off Final Grades for This Semester – Part II

December 30th, 2009

Rushing to get final grades completed but, again, it’s SOS no matter how much or how little of class assignments: The A’s get A, the B’s get B, the C’s get C and the F’s get F. D is rare.

SPJ Raps NBC for Checkbook $$$ Journalism

December 30th, 2009

Says NBC was ethically wrong for providing the plane for David Goldman and his son for their trip from Brazil to the United States.

“The news media’s duty is to report news, not help create it. The race to be first should not involve buying — directly or indirectly — interviews, an unseemly practice that raises questions of neutrality, integrity and credibility,” the Society of Professional Journalists said in a statement released December 28.

Read full statement here.

I Get This Chill …

December 26th, 2009

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Down Memory Lane: First National Ethnic Media Network to Cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention

December 25th, 2009

This historic moment included three WORD senior editors: Jonathan Mena, Jacqueline Fernandez and Kisha Allison. Read about it here.

A Flurry of Posts in the Waiting While I Finish Off Final Grades for This Semester

December 23rd, 2009

Hoping for this weekend to get started. Lots and lots and lots. Meanwhile, this latest phishing is an interesting snack though not imaginative.

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How I Learned to Bite the Bullet and Let Them Eat the “F” Without So Much As a Blink of an Eye – Sort Of

December 15th, 2009

Several years in the making.

If institutions of higher learning desire academic honesty, they must be institutions of obvious integrity, places where students, faculty, and administrators seek truth and wisdom and technical expertise in an environment marked by trust, honesty, respect, fairness, responsibility, and courage. — Peg Hogan, Former President, The Center for Academic Integrity

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Eunji Jang

December 9th, 2009
Eunji Jang on assignment.

File Photo: On assignment for a story.

Interns for New America Media. Has made a connection with a New York Times reporter who is drawing on her skills and talent so that he can write and report about the Korean community in metropolitan NYC. A Times immigration beat. This is not a freebie. She does translation and interpretation and is getting valuable field and professional experience and making serious career connections.

She also has been getting write-ups in Korean news media [like this one] for her work with New America Media.

Sandy Close, the Executive Director of NAM, has said more than once that Eunji Jang is vital to NAM’s goals to develop better coordination with Korean news media in the United States. Jang travels the country for NAM when slaving over a full-time course load and, of course, publishing in the WORD.

Savvy Journalism Advice for Savvy Journalism Students – Intro

December 7th, 2009

I’m working on grad recommendations but wanted to know what to tell undergraduate students who don’t graduate for a year or two. So, I contacted former WORD writers and asked if  grad-j programs were worth the money and what undergrad students should be doing now if they are interested in j-careers in this period when journalism is undergoing revolutionary change and the job market sucks.

The responses are just beginning to pour in from around the world and will be showing up in the WORD and WORD blog very soon.