Tag: journalism

Reporting on green energy

Through the years, I’ve been carving out my beat of green energy. It’s what I’m interested in, not only for the implications on the economy, the electric grid, and technology, but also because I’m a science fiction nerd and believe green tech and renewable energy can help us realize better, cleaner futures.

I’ve been blogging mostly about my creative writing, but I also produce freelance articles as a journalist. Years ago, I interned at Electrical Contractor Magazine, and I’ve been freelancing for them ever since.

EC Mag, published by the National Electrical Contractors Association, covers the latest news about the electrical construction industry. It’s a niche publication, and I learned a lot about magazine writing and design as an intern.

Some of my recent articles cover the nearly 30 cities that have committed to renewable power, how to harness solar power during an eclipse, and the benefits of green energy for rural America.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The renewable energy industry in America, and worldwide, is growing. And it’s been great to follow it.

Check out EC Mag for all news about the electrical construction industry, especially features on the evolving role of the electrical contractor, safety, codes and standards, green building, and more.

The power of writers as activists

The incredible Taylor Lewis reflects on the power of writers as activists, her experiences teaching abroad in France, going to grad school in Hawaii, and the current political climate in a recent article in The Writers’ Bloc.

Back in 2011, at the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House at the University of Maryland, Taylor had the great idea to start up a literary-arts newspaper on campus — what eventually became The Writers’ Bloc. The University of Maryland had niche newspapers, but nothing like this.

I was grateful to be included in starting the paper, becoming its Editor-in-Chief years later, and am so proud of what it has grown into.

“Since then, it has evolved in ways I could have never imagined,” Taylor writes. “From Writers’ to Writer’s; from a focus solely on arts and writing to music and blogs and activism. The staff has grown exponentially from the few of us who started it, and though I haven’t met many of them, every new generation carries on the legacy, making it bigger and better.”

Taylor is absolutely right when she says, “We do not take kindly to walls.” We as writers, we as creatives, we as thinkers, dreamers, artists, we as immigrants, we as people of color, we as LGBTQ/queer people, we as disabled people, we as indigenous people/Native Americans, we as people.

We don’t take kindly to being walled up, walled off, with borders or bans — everything happening now we are actively fighting and speaking up against. And The Writers’ Bloc has always and seems to continue to offer an important space for these writers and artists.

Taylor leaves us with insight into another language; apt since she is studying second-language acquisition.

Hawaiʻi Loa, kū like kākou
Kū paʻa me ka lōkahi e
Kū kala me ka wiwo ʻole
ʻOnipaʻa kākou, ‘onipaʻa kākou
A lanakila nā kini e
E ola, e ola e ola nā kini e

All Hawaiʻi stands together, it is now and forever
To raise your voices, and hold your banners high
We shall stand as a nation
To guide the destinies of our generations
To sing and praise the glories of our land

Thank you, The Writers’ Bloc staff, for continuing this legacy of sharing your voices. This is so necessary. And thank you, Taylor, for dreaming up that idea all those years ago in the midst of overflowing undergraduate schedules. What a dream — and what a newspaper it has become.

Taking back tech

This is a really interesting piece by Melody Kramer about how journalists can create and control technology, instead of being controlled by tech. Kramer interviewed Dave Winer, a software developer who has worked on blogging, podcasting and content management systems — such as an open-source version of Medium, a blogging platform.

Journalism students should learn how to set up Web servers and blogging systems.

Learning how to run servers and CMS encourages creative thinking, Winer said. “And it’s a gateway drug for coding,” he said.
Winer encouraged journalism students and journalists to use their own servers and CMS, instead of sites like Medium. Medium, and other apps and sites we rely heavily on now for social media and distribution could very easily disappear in a few years or longer down the road. What does this mean for all of the stories that are being shared on Medium (and those other sites)? Will there be an archive for people of the future? Will these stories disappear? Winer discussed the importance of records for the sake of knowledge on an example post for his open-source version of Medium.

“Will the Big Think piece you just posted to Medium be there in 2035? That may sound like it’s very far off in the future, and who could possibly care, but if there’s any value to your writing, you should care.

It’s no longer just a theory that platforms like Medium or Twitter or even Facebook do go away. I wouldn’t trust the longevity of anything you post on those sites.”

Representation in journalism

The Columbia Journalism Review published an article yesterday asking why there aren’t more minority journalists in newsrooms. Alex Williams, a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania, studies trends in journalism.

While the Commission called for an increased emphasis on better housing, education, and social service policies, some of its strongest criticism was directed toward mainstream media. “The media report and write from the standpoint of a white man’s world,” they wrote in 1968. “Fewer than 5 percent of the people employed by the news business in editorial jobs in the United States today are Negroes.”

How much have things improved? According to the 2014 American Society of News Editors (ASNE) census, the number of black newsroom employees has increased from “fewer than 5 percent” to … 4.78 percent. The Radio Television Digital News Association estimates that in 2014, minorities made up 13 percent of journalists in radio and 22.4 percent of journalists in television. Still, these figures are a far cry from the 37.4 percent of Americans that are minorities.

Williams called for hiring managers and editors to make a better effort of finding and hiring more diverse candidates in the hiring process. He referenced Executive Editor of News at BuzzFeed News Shani O. Hilton’s post on Medium, where she explained that building diverse newsrooms takes work. She called it “the Twice as Hard Half as Good Paradox,” where people “are so busy working twice as hard and hoping to get noticed that we don’t do the networking that seems like bullshit but is actually a key part of career advancement.”

1) Everyone starts with their networks. But maybe your network isn’t sufficient. If all you’re turning up is white dudes, that’s a feature, not a bug, in the system. It seems obvious, but sometimes the pipeline is the problem. Look at the sources of your references, beyond your friends and immediate colleagues, and evaluate whether you’ve done all you can to make sure you’re considering a wider variety of backgrounds than, say, white guys from different parts of the country.

2) Sometimes you don’t know who the best possible candidate is until you’ve met them. People who are defensive about their hiring choices often say something like, “We’re hiring the best candidate for the job.” But sometimes the best of all possible hires is someone who didn’t seem obvious on paper, and then brings something more to the organization — not just the job.

3) Sometimes you have to put your pride aside. Maybe the job as conceived isn’t what the job should be. Maybe the requirements for it are biased in ways you don’t realize. Things change so fast — that’s the beauty of the web — and sometimes your applicant pool can illuminate the flaws in what you’re looking for. And when it comes to inexperienced candidates, take the time to be more thoughtful about who you’re giving a chance to.

The rewards are worthwhile, Williams said, citing the opportunity to attract additional readers and that minorities may be more interested in local news than caucasians.

How to make good radio

Last night I attended The Kalb Report at the National Press Club. Five NPR reporters and anchors focused on the sound of news. Steve Inskeep, Mara Liasson, Scott Simon, Susan Stamberg and Nina Totenberg discussed how NPR started making great radio in the 1970s and continues to do so today.

Here are tidbits straight from the mouths of NPR reporters and Marvin Kalb:

You are supposed to describe things in terms that make sense to a truck driver, without insulting the intelligence of a professor.

—Marvin Kalb, quoting Edward R. Murrow

Kalb said radio is about painting pictures for listeners. And NPR does this extremely well.

The best pictures are painted in the mind. Radio is the perfect, intimate medium. Tell a narrative and paint a picture.

—Nina Totenberg

Simon said listeners tune out when radio announcers use big, booming voices which are clearly a gimmick. So NPR reporters and anchors use their own voices.

The person who invented All Things Considered, and hired me to be that first woman anchor, said to me, “Be yourself.” And those were the most magic words anyone could have said. We want to sound conversational. We want to sound as if we’re over the back fence, talking to our neighbors.

—Susan Stamberg

NPR reporters create distinctive audio and stories with the freedom they are given.

NPR wants us to tell stories in our own voice. We have tremendous freedom. We have a lot more time than most people do on other radio networks, which is really liberating. When you have four and a half minutes instead of 90 seconds it makes a big difference. You can let people tell their own stories and you can use sound creatively.

—Mara Liasson

NPR is different than other radio news. It is public radio, not commercial. It doesn’t have as many advertisements as other stations. It relies more on funds through its own audience. This is why NPR offers such factual reporting and stories, the reporters said.

Creating good audio first comes from a story. You have to be there, you have to witness and describe, Inskeep said. He likes being in the studio and anchoring, but he knows that getting out of the studio might be even more important to bring context to listeners.

I wanted to be able to leave the studio, to get out. It’s a great opportunity to come back to the studio and conduct interviews and feel that you have a little more of a chance to sense what the story really is because you’ve seen it.

—Steve Inskeep

Even with the advent of digital tools, online news and social media, which are creating a major shift in journalism, these reporters feel radio still has and will continue to have a place.

Radio is a unique medium. People often listen to radio while doing something else, while driving, or commuting, or exercising, or cooking dinner. Radio and audio has managed to “go viral” in an age of cat videos, gifs and emoji. NPR One is a news version of Pandora, Inskeep said. And podcasts are an increasingly popular way to listen to stories.

The NPR reporters at last night’s The Kalb Report said the key to continue to make great radio, and great journalism, is to remain curious.

Photo by flickr user Alyson Hurt

My 10-week Phoenix adventure


Tomorrow I will begin working at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University for a 10-week fellowship through the News21 Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.

This year, News21 reporters are focusing on gun laws in the nation. We are reporting on the diversity of gun laws and cultures in America. I will be producing articles, interactive graphics, data journalism and blog posts for the fellowship.

I flew into Phoenix early Saturday. The heat is the first thing I noticed. One-hundred-plus-degree  days are typical here. And while it is what everyone describing Phoenix calls a “dry heat,” instead of the incredible humidity back home in Maryland and D.C., it is punishing. The next is the lack of grass. It is a desert, after all. I’m looking forward to continuing to report for News21 as well as exploring the area, taking hikes, swimming in the apartment pool, taking trips on the light rail (the city’s version of the Metro, except it is all above-ground) and getting to know my talented peers.

Check back for updates on News21, interactive graphics and articles I produce for the program and my adventures in Phoenix.

Graduating from the University of Maryland

It’s one of those nights. The moon is far and small in a brisk December sky. I’m in bed, not sleeping, but thinking about tomorrow.

Tomorrow I’m graduating from the University of Maryland. Finally I can say those words: I’m a graduate, an alum of the university.

Tomorrow the next part of my journalism adventure begins. Even though I haven’t yet found a full-time job in journalism, I remain vigilant. Just like the countless scholarship and internship applications I submitted over the years, I believe I will eventually be chosen by continuously applying. I’ve learned that persistence pays off.

I’m excited for this journey. I have gained invaluable insight from student journalism and many internships. I have spent time as an editor-in-chief, reporter, web designer, social media manager and copy editor. These experiences have shown me that I’m most fulfilled and challenged when writing features and working on interactive design. The details in feature stories provide clearer pictures of sources, of people. And designing interactive maps, charts and graphics helps readers more easily understand data and stories. I am happy when I can help myself and readers understand.

At the end of high school, I wrote a senior column as the editor-in-chief of The Warrior student newspaper. It was my chance to say goodbye to high school, reflect and gaze into the future. In my column, I asked readers not to forget me. It was my readers who made me something, who I would disappear without. I was exploring the mantra “to be remembered, leave your mark.”

Now, four and a half years later, I’m penning a new column and message. I realize how much more I am in charge of my future. I’m graduating with extensive skills and a dogged determination.

I’m entering the professional world of journalism at a time when the very idea of who is a journalist and if newspapers will survive is questioned. Media is undergoing an ongoing digital revolution. And I’m excited to be part of the future of news.

This next year will probably hold some of the hardest, most trying moments in my life. I’m moving back home for the time being until I find a steady income. I’m searching for and will hopefully find a full-time job. I will be an entry-level journalist. I will have to begin paying back my student loans. I will make mistakes — and I will grow.

I will certainly learn a lot as a graduate . Much more than I did in j-school. This is one of the reasons I’m so fulfilled with a career in journalism — I learn something new every day.

I’m on the cusp of being a reporter or interactive/web designer at a media organization in the D.C. area. The electricity of the unknown and a new beginning is humming within me.

I am ready.

Striving for recognition, asking not to be invisible

The story of an undocumented citizen

By Marlena Chertock

Vargas writes about being an undocumented immigrant living in America, and the countless others who are as well. Photo courtesy of TIME Magazine.

First published in The Writers’ Bloc.

Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist, came out of the closet when he was in high school. But it’s taken him 12 years to come out of the “illegal” closet.

In 2011 Vargas wrote a story about his status as an undocumented Filipino living in America for The New York Times Magazine. Vargas is an accomplished journalist. He’s been published in the Washington Post, The New York Times and The New Yorker. He was also on the Washington Post team that produced Pulitzer-winning coverage of the Virginia tech shooting.

He talked about his path to founding Define American and the struggles of living as undocumented in America in Hoff Theater at the University of Maryland Tuesday night.

In a lot of ways, Vargas’ story is about searching for home. He left the Philippines in 1993 when his mother sent him to America in the hopes that he would have a better life.

Continue reading Striving for recognition, asking not to be invisible

Editor for News & Observer encourages writing with authority

By Marlena Chertock

May 4, 2011

Steve Riley is an editor at the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. He manages a team of investigative journalists. Photo by Marlena Chertock.

Steve Riley, an editor for the News & Observer in Raleigh, pushes reporters to write with authority. Riley manages a team of three investigative journalists and spoke to communications students at Elon University on May 4.

“Be very assertive, very confident in what you present,” said Riley, who has been in the newspaper business for 31 years. “A fair picture. But not necessarily a balanced picture.”

Continue reading Editor for News & Observer encourages writing with authority