Items

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  2020-09-01

  Meet The Rattler Staff

  These photos are introductions of The Rattler (St. Mary's University school newspaper) staff to the campus. Typically students interested in working on staff can meet the current editors at one of the many in person meetings, but since all meetings are held over Zoom and students can pick up more stories through a simple email putting names the faces of the section editors can be a bit hard. These introduction photos can help writers connect with the staff they will work with so closely, and understand who may be best to contact if they have any questions.
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  2020-04-20

  The Committee to Protect Journalists Advises Protection Strategies for Protest Events

  This redacted photo from the Associated Press covers anti-lockdown protests in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on April 20, 2020. I redacted the original to protect the identities of the protestors. The crowd demanded the reopening of their state’s economy. Their demonstrations came on the heels of new social distancing measures to help diminish the spread of Covid-19. The article that accompanies this photo should be essential reading for both journalists’ safety and the public’s safety. The tips on protecting oneself in a violent crowd are widely applicable.
• 
  2020-10-16

  Table showing media bias

  Experiencing coronavirus in the age of 24/7 news coverage, I imagine most people have become far more conscious of where they choose to get their news. I've been brought up an ABC @ 7 operator, and I count myself lucky. Throughout the storm of rating battles, exclusive reports and breaking news I have been confident that I could trust the ABC and my paper choice The Age. Trust might be naive but it seems like the only option. Every now and again I'll flick onto a commercial channel and find myself wondering, is this news? My mates have also become more conscious of their sources too, one of them got me onto 'Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty' on iView, making me even more skeptical about anything I read. I feel like the media almost have an almost more important responsibility to people than politicians. I wonder a lot, at the moment especially, whether news outlets are fulfilling their responsibility or is shock and clickbait bringing in the money that really talks.
• 2020-10-06

  Anchoring the news through a pandemic

  In January of 2020 I was a wide eyed Junior at Arizona State University, trying out for an anchor position on Cronkite News, which airs on Arizona PBS. I had heard that typically Juniors were not selected and neither were sports journalism majors, like myself, who the faculty did not know as well, so I wasn't expecting to get one of the 10 spots. Somehow of the 60+ people to tryout I was selected and thus began my news anchoring experience. From the first time the red light on the camera turned on I was hooked, hooked to the feeling in my stomach unlike anything I had ever felt before knowing that messing up was not an option. My co-anchor was amazing and we built a great friendship that made every show even more fun, I was having the time of my life every Monday for two hours. Then, Spring Break came and with it the cancellation of basically everything due to the Coronavirus, including anchoring. I had other things cancelled like an internship and covering the Olympics in Tokyo that are much bigger deals in the journalism world, but for some inexplicable reason this one hurt the most. A few weeks later and we were doing our newscast from home; suit on the top, pajamas on the bottom and while it was good to feel productive, that feeling in my stomach was gone. That irreplaceable adrenaline rush of confidence and nerves that only came with someone counting down and a red light turning on, was gone for the foreseeable future. Summer passed and there was nothing to do. I knew I would be returning to school again in the Fall of 2020, but would they really let me anchor twice in two semesters? It seemed unlikely. A few weeks into the semester and I was playing it off, telling friends it was not a big deal and I, again, was not expecting to get one of the spots. The audition went well and then we waited. Suddenly I got a notification from Slack. It was a list of the anchors. I've never skimmed something so fast in my life. I found my name and a sigh of relief was mixed with pure joy, we were back. The pandemic tried to take something away from me, and I know it's nothing big, and I know millions and millions of people went through something that truly hurt or killed, but it felt good in that moment to beat it in my own way. Now, we're three shows in to semester number two and that feeling in my stomach is back every Thursday, as the floor director counts down 5, 4, 3, 2...
• 
  2020-08-26

  Reflection on contributing to the Archive

  After working on stories that would appear on this archive, I reflected what it was like report during this pandemic.
• 
  2020-04-22

  Humans of Covid-19 AU: Adam Yip

  “At the moment, the news industries are scraping just to find stuff! There isn’t much happening. A lot of my shifts have been ‘Go down to Bondi and see if there’s social distancing happening’, which isn’t really an inventive role, and I stand there scratching my head. I wonder when people will stop wanting to see those images. On the other hand, if we didn’t have the media the pandemic could have been a lot worse, they scared a lot of people into staying home (but also scared a lot of people into panic buying). I’d like to think that next pandemic we have, because there will certainly be more, the government will be more active in the beginning, and have everything ready to go. Also, I hope that people will stop panic buying and being so selfish. The scenes of people fighting over toilet paper are horrible. I’m lucky to be in photojournalism though because a lot of other freelance photographers are really suffering at the moment. I used to do lots of portrait shots, but haven’t done one in a while.” Instagram post on Adam Yip, photojournalist, and his experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.
• 
  2020-03-22

  “We Need to Protect Ourselves:” A Voice from China

  "Faye Dai is an NYU Shanghai senior who stayed quarantined in her housing-estate apartment in Shanghai between January and March 2020. Here she talks to Journalism 225 professor Ellen Berkovitch about why Chinese elected to stay home and self-quarantine when the pandemic got under way in Wuhan." This article page includes an audio recording of an interview between Ellen Berkovitch and Faye Dai, a senior journalism student, about quarantine in Wuhan, which was developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-05-14

  Pandemic-Induced Anxiety

  "Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications increased a full 34 percent in one month between February and March this year according to an Express Scripts report." This article describes the impact of the pandemic on individual's mental health and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-05-11

  Pratt Sports Corner Podcast – The NCAA

  This article page includes an episode of the Pratt Sports Corner Podcast discussing college sports and the impact of Covid-19 and the author's own sports career. It was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-05-08

  Why I Write About Design: A Beat Statement

  "When I first began thinking of my beat, I wanted it to be something that I actively participate in creating. Being a graphic design major, I thought that a design beat would be appropriate." This article describes the author's beat and why they chose this topic and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-05-07

  Covid-19 Impact Portraits: A Beat Statement

  "When I started my final semester at Pratt I never could have imagined we were about to witness the most deadly pandemic in 100 years. Looking back, I politely discussed journalism theory in the first half of the semester, whereas today I tread water amid a journalism tsunami (More than 33,000 jobs furloughed or lost in the U.S. since March.)" This article describes the author's beat for the class and progress they made so far in the semester and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-04-30

  Reporting on Health: A Beat Statement

  "Before the coronavirus lockdown, I was on a mission to inform readers about healthcare treatments, alternatives, and the systems surrounding them. I sought to provide solutions that would, in turn, foster self-advocacy for underfunded and under-researched chronic illnesses. " This article describes the author's change in their beat due to the pandemic and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-04-30

  From Riots to Lockdown, Hong Kong to Coney Island

  "The political climate of “One Country, Two Systems” of my mother’s home country of Hong Kong hit home for me as a first-generation American. A part of me resonates with student protestors resisting a communist regime such as China." This article describes the abrupt change from writing about Hong Kong and China and its protests to writing about the Covid-19 pandemic, written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-04-30

  There’s a New Thief In Town, and Her Name is COVID-19

  "Lucy Borden is a graduating senior at FIT in New York City and despite claiming to have had an amazing three and a half years, and says she’s excited to wrap up her undergraduate college career, she is unsatisfied and disappointed with how its coming to an end." This article describes the impact of the pandemic on senior art student's showcases which were to be shown to the public and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-04-30

  CBD: How New Well-being Enterprises Capitalize on your Anxiety

  "Ten years ago the only public displays of cannabis related usage would have been PSA’s warning against its harmful effects or perhaps a subway advertisement looking for people who are willing to participate in a study for addiction." This article describes CBD and cannabis use for health issues and concerns within NYC and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-04-23

  Responding to a Story of Rape and Abortion in Mexico (Rewire News)

  "Sixteen-year-old Patricia discovered she was pregnant after a taxi driver in her city of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico, raped her." This article is responding to an article from Rewire News on a story of rape and abortion in Mexico, and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-04-23

  Virtual Wellness Offers “Spiritual Protection” from COVID-19

  "In March of 2020, the entire world stands still as anxiety relating to coronavirus grows widespread." This article describes wellness companies and their push for "spiritual" or natural healthcare during the pandemic and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-03-12

  Evaluating Government COVID-19 Responses in Mid-March (from Brooklyn)

  "After the initial spread of the COVID-19 from its epicenter its Wuhan, China, government officials from around the world are faced with making important decisions that affect the wellbeing of their nation. " This article describes the federal and state government responses to COVID-19 from Brooklyn and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
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  2020-05-15

  Editor's Note: The Metro Third

  The Metro Third: Pratt's Virtual Dispatch from NY, NJ and CT Spring semester of 2020 was my first one teaching at Pratt. HMS chair Arlene Keizer asked me last fall to re-envision a curriculum for Introduction to Journalism. Clearly, no one could have envisioned the novel coronavirus crisis. And this website gives testament to the six students’ initiative, resiliency, creativity and journalistic integrity during what was, for all of them, their final semester senior year.