Special event on Friday: backpack journalist Alphonso Van Marsh, formerly of CNN

Thursday, February 28, 2013 4:09 PM

Hello all:

 

Former CNN Reporter Alphonso Van Marsh, who broke the capture of Saddam Hussein near Tikrit, Iraq in 2003, will be on campus Friday, March 1 at 11a.m. in the Sterling Student Life Center, room 237.  I wanted to invite you and or your students to listen to his riveting story of how he did it. The ‘one man band’ or multiplatform journalist’s work has been featured on PBS and NBC Nightly News too. 

Alphonso will also talk about:

-how multimedia journalists, or “one man band’ reporters, as well as citizen journalists have changed how news and public affairs are covered.

-pursuing a career in international journalism and the importance of knowing all aspects of media production/newsgathering.

-in the context of Iraq reporting, detailing the cognitive and analytical skills required to produce reports that are ethical, clear, complete, compelling and accurate.

-the challenges of war zone/hazardous environments reporting

and possibly

-having spent the last year working in a communications position for a multi-lateral development institution, offer insight into the non-profit/development communications industry.

 

Clips: http://vimeo.com/alphonsovanmarsh

 

Online CV: www.linkedin.com/in/alphonsovanmarsh

 

Hope to see you tomorrow,

 

Serbino,

Current events

Three major Supreme Court stories going on this week and some terms come with them: the 15th Amendment, preclearance, Voting Rights act, eavesdropping Check out the NY Times. Effects of sequestration.   A man named Koop. Three cabinet votes are in the news: defense, treasury and CIA. Some Republicans endorse gay marriage. Italy’s economy. Yahoo’s new workplace rules.

By March 8 (mid-term)

Three-paragraph opening from a published article

Three-paragraph opening for a student profile

Story (seven to 12 paragraphs) on Max Soffar

Second story of your choosing (but cleared with me)

Go ahead and post your resume in the side bar of your blog)

 

Important reading by literary journalist

Isabel Wilkerson is a wonderful public speaker and a fine writer who knows how to tell a story. I highly recommend her and her book. She would make a great story for your blogs. I know this is a Saturday, but give her a chance. You’ll be glad you did.

 

An Afternoon with Isabel Wilkerson

Saturday, February 23 | 2 PM
Julia Ideson Building | Auditorium
550 McKinney St., 77002 | 832-393-1662

Presented in partnership with the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), join us as Houston Public Library hosts the annual HMAAC Spring Literary Lecture, featuring Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson discusses The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.

About the Book: In the tradition of works by Taylor Branch and J. Anthony Lukas, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson chronicles a watershed event in American history: the decades-long migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West, from World War I through the 1970s—through the stories of three individuals and their families. Over a decade in the writing and research, and drawing on archival materials and over 1,200 interviews, The Warmth of Other Suns traces the lives of Ida Mae Gladney, George Starling and Robert Foster, from their difficult beginnings in the South, to their critical decisions to leave behind all they know and look for a better life in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

 

Photo by Joe Henson

About the Author: Isabel Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her work as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times in 1994, making her the first black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize and the first African American to win for individual reporting. Wilkerson also won a George Polk Award, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for her research into the Great Migration, and she was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. She has lectured on narrative writing at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University and has served as Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and as the James M. Cox Jr. Professor at Emory University. She is currently Professor of Journalism and Director of Narrative Nonfiction at Boston University. During the Great Migration, her parents journeyed from Georgia and southern Virginia to Washington, D.C., where she was born and reared. The Warmth of Other Suns is her first book.

Current events hints

Pistorius, Brussels, Carnival, Keystone, soybeans, Oscars, hackers, sequestration, horsemeat, BP, wrestling,Heinz, North Korea, Jesse Jackson Jr., Obama and golf, All-Star game,

Current events radar

Dell computers, “House of Cards,” Texas cancer agency, Texas school funding, drone strikes, Lindsey Vonn, gun control, immigration…

Current events answers and how to psych out the tests

Looking for big international and national stories. In cases where high government officials are involved, figure out who is who. Same with elected officials who lead the Congress. One way you can tell a story is big is that it pops up everywhere you turn: on tv, on radio and in the newspapers and websites. The Middle East is going to continue to be big news. The state legislalature is going to start voting on bills soon.

What happened in Aleppo, Syria that was so shocking?

Bodies of 65 men found executed, shot in the head, their hands tied behind them. Each side is blaming the other.

A fire at a nightclub killed 245 people in what city?

Santa Maria. Not a town most of us have heard of.

What was the Pentagon announcement about women in the Army and Marines?

Women are now eligible for front-line combat roles.

What policy are the Boy Scouts considering changing? 

Barring homosexuals. At one time the Boy Scouts were not racially integrated.

Several states are talking about changing the electoral college.  How?

By allocating the electoral college votes according to who wins the 435  congressional districts.

What position do these people hold in the U.S. Congress?

Harry Reid: Senate majority leader from Nevada (Democrat)

Mitch McConnell: Senate minority leader from Kentucky (Republican)

John Boehner: Speaker of the House from Ohio (Republican)

Nancy Pelosi: Minority leader of the House from California (Democrat)

Eight U.S. senators are talking about a bipartisan effort to reform what?

Immigration. Talk about a story with legs. We’ll follow this all semester

Who will be running for the seat of the late state senator,  Mario Gallegos?

Former county commissioner Sylvia Garcia and State Rep. Carol Alvarado

Which Houston Rocket has been selected for the NBA all-star game?

James Harden

How have the Lady Tigers been doing in basketball so far?

7-1

What’s unique about the two coaches who will face off in the Super Bowl?

They’re brothers.

Generally speaking, how has the stock market been doing lately –or where was the Dow Jones average at any time during the day today?

Generally speaking, the Dow Jones average is near 14,000. Check out the Wikipedia article on the Dow Jones average. Get some background on where the numbers have been during the last fifty years. You can create a google alert to the Dow Jones:

Who are these people, or how have they figured in the news of late?

Katie Couric ABC journalist snagged the first big interview with Manti T’eo.

Dianne Feinstein California senator who has called for a ban on assault rifles.

Bobby Jindal  Governor of Louisiana said the Republicans were in danger of being the part of the “stupid” and called for the party to change its tone.

Kim Jong Un  Ruler of North Korea has ambitious missile program

Wayne LaPierre Head of NRA denies there is any need for new gun control regulations.

Mohammad Morsi President of Egypt is dealing with major rebellions in cities outside Cairo because of his authoritarian tactics/

Leon Panetta Outgoing Secretary of Defense called for combat roles for women.

Write and answer a current events question of your own.

Don’t make this a sports trivia question. Watch the news. Plan a question. Make it about something or somebody important. For example, this week I failed to ask a question about the Israeli air raid in Syria. We’re certain to hear about it in the days to come.