JSONS students:
You should not pay to attend any event which you are covering for JSONS. Always contact the event organizers as far ahead of the event possible and ask for press access. Talk to Professor Paraschos if you have problems getting access to events.
Carly Rose
We are authorized to use the AP photo datebase of the library–it’s called AP Images and can be found in the library’s “Articles and More” site section. The AP Images database is a bit slow, but has thousands of stock photos. Unless you take your own photos….USE IT.
Also, read your stories when they are posted and read other people’s stories for any typos, etc. If you see anything wrong, let me know ASAP.
OK, so the Dan Pinch story dominated our work last week and it turned out pretty well–except for one major issue: We had no input from Pinch himself. Our story was based on statements from the Senate report and Emerson officials, in short, the “accusers.” Our story did say in the end that we tried, unsuccessfully, to reach him, but in all fairness, this may not be enough.
Our reporters who talked to members of the Emerson community, for example, found out that some people felt that being on these lender advisory boards might have been seen as an “honor” for the College or an “advantage” for Emerson students, etc. Others wondered if college officials knew about Pinch’s association with the lenders and allowed him to be in them because they (the officials) might have thought the relationship was good for the College. We were unable to confirm any of that because, as we said in our stories, Emerson officials did not want to talk with any specificity about the substance of the accusations against Pinch.
Clearly, Pinch remains the only one who can answer some of these questions.
We have let it be known that we are eager to hear from him.
We’ll continue to stay on top of the story….
mp
Here at JSONS we’ve been covering the student loan scandals since NY Attorney General Cuomo’s first investigations last spring. With the release of last week’s senate report, suddenly the story was hitting much closer to home.
We were, of course, very interested in the allegations by the senate report that then acting Dean of Enrollment Dan Pinch had been a paid consultant for a lending company at the same time that company was on the school’s preferred lenders list(PLL).
Despite extensive documentation of the issue the initial evidence released along with the senate report seemed to lack the proof that the lender was on the PLL at the time Pinch was on their payroll. An article in BostonNow by JSONS alum Padraig Shea said screen captures of Emerson’s website during the time period in question provided the link. We asked BostonNow to share those screen shots and were told those had been supplied by Sen. Kennedy’s office. We got in touch with the office and they sent us those screen captures along with payroll documentation..
In examining those screen captures, we here at JSONS recognized the URL. It was of a popular website: The Wayback Machine. Also known as the Internet Archive the site is a tremendous reference for those interested in the history of the Internet or particular websites. It not only records how websites looked on any given day, it actually maintains the functionality of links and navigation.
Although certainly a fascinating site that can fill a visitor with nostalgia for the days of sandbox templates and tiny jpegs taking hours to load, how reliable is the Wayback Machine? Is it reliable enough to use as evidence in a senate investigation? Here at JSONS we included the screen capture we were given in our story as well as links to the actual sites. As the story continues to unfold we’ll see what role this site plays.
-JGA
I’m not sure what’s worse, covering a story you don’t find interesting or covering a story you find very interesting. While working on a story about the Artists Foundation, an organization which has had a lot of success advocating for artists who may be negatively affected by the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, I discovered that sometimes my own interest in a story can work against me. Having worked in the theatre industry for a few years out of undergrad and currently studying at the Health Communication department here at Emerson, the interaction of both fields in this story was very interesting to me. After sitting in on three hours of an Artist Town Meeting where Artist Foundation Executive Director Kathy Bitetti decoded the state’s new health care policy for a room full of actors and then doing an hour interview with Ms. Bitetti, it is safe to say I had more material than I could use. I’m not sure if I over wrote the story or not, but I definitely spent more hours on it than a pro would would have. The most frustrating thing about this work so far is the learning curve. Oh, and the fact that I can’t spell or find typos.
-KG
As the national student financial aid scandal was reaching its peak last week with the release of a U.S. senate committee report mentioning Emerson, among many other colleges, we decided to look into the Emerson angle. After all, the college’s vp for public affairs had told our reporter last March 30 that the college had made about $1300 from one of these “preferred lenders” and that the money had been put in a scholarship fund for needy students. The reporter was also told that the college had reviewed and changed the way in which it was dealing with such contributions.
In an effort to find out what the college had changed, we assigned reporter Somsavath Phanthady to talk to the head of our student administrative services Dan Pinch, to whom the Emerson student financial aid head reports. The interview took place at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. By the end of the day, the college was announcing that Pinch was being put on an administrative leave because of the allegations included in the senate report. The story turned out to be by far more substantive than we had anticipated.
The college community is shocked and eager to learn more about what went on. We’ll stay on top of it.
mp
I made my way down to the State House basement Wednesday to cover a hearing on new bike safety bill that is going to the state legislature. I thought as soon as the meeting was brought to session they would break into the bike safety issue. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The first issue to be taken up was for seat belt safety laws. Interrupted only sporadically to hear testimony from state senators and representatives on other bills, the seat belt supporters took nearly 3 and a half hour. After sitting through their speeches, I though they would run up to the end of the meeting time, which was one o’clock. I couldn’t quite understand their arguments, as I was pretty certain that everyone knew to wear their seat belts and Massachusetts already had mandatory seatbelt laws.
While this took up the major portion of the meeting I knew there was no story there. The majority of the speakers related the horror stories of accident victims who weren’t buckled up. There was no opposition to the bill. The only thing detracting from it, at least that I could see, was the potential for police to pull people over on the basis of unbuckled seat belts.
When the supporters of the bike safety bill took the floor I was eagerly looking at my watch. I had class at one o’clock and it was already 20 after noon.
Each was very brief in their testimony, having delivered pre-written statements for the members of the committee. About 20 minutes after they had started they were done.There was no opposition to the bill present to give testimony. ‘
-SPH3
As already posted, Matt and I were down at the State House covering the gay marriage vote. As we were making our way up Park Street you could already hear the crowds cheering. The scene as we made it up to Beacon Street was not what I expected.
Both sides of the argument were divided by the street. Each had a line of supporters, carrying signs and chanting, that stretched down as far as I could see. Each sidewalk was almost impassible.
Matt instantly took out his camera and ran down the street to get coverage of the crowd. I had my notebook out before and I started taking in the scene. As soon as I started writing people came past shouting things for me to write down, but none would stick around long enough for me to get any questions in.
What awaited us inside was nothing compared to the scene outside. Matt and I made are way up stairs to jack into the live feed from inside the senate chambers. As we crossed the velvet rope that held the media members, it was obvious that every news outlet in the state had someone there covering the event.
I soon came to realize that most people in the working press have no sense of personal space. They all jostled over each other for position. Fox 25’s own political editor, Joe Battenfeld, blindsided me as I stood at the ropes scribbling on my note pad, nearly knocking me off my feet.
The hustle and bustle of everything was a bit overwhelming. The vote itself was over before I think most people in the hallways even realized it began. After that it was a mass exodus from the press area into the main steps leading from the senate chambers.
-SPH3
I went to the State House to find out about the voting’s outcome of gay marriage today. There were many people carrying signs, either opposing or supporting gay marriage in front of the State House.
At the rally, there was a middle age man carrying an anti-gay marriage sign. The reason that I point him out is that the word marriage on his sign was spelled “marrige.” His opponents made fun of him and about the sign. I found it funny too, but sad that he was mocked at. He must have felt like hell. If I were him, I would dig a hole in the ground and hide myself in it. So he had to take the sign down and fixed it.
It’s a very good lesson for me and others as well that make sure you have everything correct before you put your work out there. Once it’s out, you have no control of it. People are not so nice and understanding. They always look for your mistakes and use them to make fun of you or destroy you.
My advice is: it’s better to be late than be first and laughed at.
PS
JSONS reporters Matt and Steve have just been assigned to cover the Gay Marriage debate at the State House this afternoon. Matt pointed out (correctly) that he is not dressed for the occasion–he is wearing cutoff shorts and flipflops. But he has his press pass and the right attitude. They’ll be fine. mp
