vol. 7, no. 3 SUMMER 2013 1

Amid the most difficult year for graduate education recruitment since its founding in 2006, the CUNY Graduate School of Jour-nalism will welcome its largest entering class ever this fall.

Better yet, quality did not suffer in the down market. “We had more top-notch applicants in a smaller pool,” said Assis-tant Dean Stephen Dougherty, director of admissions and student affairs.

The decline in grad school applications seems to be a direct result of improvement in the jobs picture. Dougherty believes our innovative curriculum that teaches multime-dia storytelling and technical skills alongside the fundamentals of good journalism puts us in a strong competitive position.

As of now, 103 students are slated to start their studies in the Class of 2014: 71% women, 29% men, and 37% students of color. Of the 46% from outside New York State, 13% are from countries other than the U.S., including Argentina, Canada, China, Colombia, France, India, Italy, Jordan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The roster includes graduates of UC

Berkeley, Brown, CUNY’s City College of New York, Cornell, Howard, Harvard, McGill, Michigan, Oberlin, Occidental, Vassar, UCLA, and the University of Paris.

The class is diverse in other ways, too. In past lives, students have helped create video and interactive computer kiosks for New York’s American Museum of Natural

History, taught English in Thailand as a Princeton in Asia Fellow, acted in profes-sional theater productions, worked in corporate mergers and acquisitions, and led wine tours in Argentina.

In general, this class starts with more advanced social media and digital skills than previous cohorts. That’s one reason

WWW.JOURNALISM.CUNY.EDUINSIDESTORY SUMMER 2013 Vol. 7, No. 3

IN THIS ISSUE: 2 The 2013 Gala • CUNY J-Press Book in the News 3 Dean’s Corner • Welcome to The Nabe

4 School Notes • On the Job at France 24 • Photo Box: All About Book Publishing

Admissions Are Up in a Down Year for Applications

Admissions Director Stephen Dougherty addresses prospective Class of 2014 students at the Open House in April.

Class of 2014 Profile Students Beginning Program in August 2013

Total Enrollment 103

Female/Male 71%/29%

Students of Color 37%

Non-New York State Residents 46%(includes non-U.S. citizens)

CUNY Graduates 11%

SUNY Graduates 7%

Average Age 27

the J-School has continued to upgrade its course offerings, with new five-week mod-ules in motion graphics storytelling and interviewing debuting this fall.

Dougherty and his admissions team have no time to rest on their laurels. With the summer being primetime for industry and journalists-of-color meetings, recruit-ment for the Class of 2015 has already begun. n

The 93 members of the Class of 2013 have blanketed the world this summer, working at internships in the city, the nation, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Eu-rope, the Middle East, and Africa. “These students are work-

ing at phenomenal places and will receive amazing experience,” said Career Services Director Joanna Hernandez.

Closest to home are those just a few steps from the J-School — at the New York Times video unit and maga-zine. The Class of 2013 has also invaded the New York Daily News, with 12 students scattered throughout the newsroom and in the boroughs. Others are working in U.S. bureaus of international outlets: at Al Jazeera in New York and Washington and at the German Press Agency, also in D.C.

New internship partners include the Philadelphia Daily News, where one student is on the city desk and another is writing features, and public radio station WHYY-90.9 FM, also in Philly. “We get treated more like reporters than interns, which is an awesome experience,” said Ann Marie Awad,

the WHYY intern. “Everyone’s really friendly and approachable, and I see Terry Gross near the coffee maker almost every day.”

Broadcast internships have been especially far-flung. In New York, students landed spots at CNBC, NY1, WNYC, National Public Radio’s “Science Friday,” and NBC Local Media. Others are at Oregon Public Broad-casting, KPFA in Berkeley, Calif., WBAE in Atlanta,

and WGCU-FM in Fort Myers, Fla. And two broadcast students are working overseas: at A24 Media in Nairobi, a pan-African 24-hour news channel, and NPR’s Moscow bureau.

The CUNY J-School requires all students to work in a professional media internship in the summer between their second and third semesters. Those in unpaid positions receive a $3,000 stipend from the School. The stipend, funded initially by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, now depends on private support. n

Interns Abound, from Manhattan to the Middle East

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Summer intern Chris Dell, ‘13, interviews New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton for the New York Daily News.

2 www.journalism.cuny.edu

Clockwise from top left: Guests of honor Dean Stephen B. Shepard and Howard J. Rubenstein with their wives, Lynn Povich (far left) and Amy Rubenstein, at the 2013 Awards for Excellence in Journalism; Shepard, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, with Class of 2012 alumni honorees Carla Astudillo, Sarah Kazadi, and Taylor Tepper; New York Times Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., who presented the award to Shepard; Mistress of Ceremonies Elizabeth Vargas of ABC News; former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who introduced Rubenstein; Kazadi leaving the podium with her plaque; Rubenstein with New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

A Tribute to Two Men Who Made the CUNY J-School HappenS

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T he most recent CUNY Journalism Press book, by former New York Times chief counsel James C. Goodale, has been frequently cited in the continuing debate over the Obama Administration’s efforts to restrain leaks to the press.

In Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles, Goodale not only recounts the landmark 1971 Supreme Court case but also warns that President Obama may be a bigger threat to press freedom and the First Amendment than President Nixon was.

In the first weeks after the April 30 publication of Fighting for the Press, Goodale gave dozens of interviews to news organizations across the U.S. and abroad, and the book was mentioned by many more, from Fox News to National Public Radio.

Goodale has credited early interest in his book to a pre-publication story in the Colum-bia Journalism Review by CUNY J-School Class of 2013 student Susie Armitage. Amid his major network appearances, Goodale was also featured in a CUNY-TV news magazine segment produced by Professor Linda Prout’s “219 West” class.

“It has been 40 years since the Pentagon Papers made its indelible mark on journal-ism, but Goodale contends that many of the same issues that were central then remain today. He sees the continuing WikiLeaks case as a second Pentagon Papers, except that so far, the government’s attempts to stifle First Amendment rights have proceeded unchecked,” said TheAtlantic.com.

“Goodale, also known as the ‘father of reporters’ privilege’…, says Obama is cen-

CUNY J-Press Book Proves Topical in Wikileaks Controversy

soring the media by using an illegitimate justifica-tion of national security concerns,” the New York Observer reported .

The book is the second published by the CUNY Journalism Press, launched last autumn by the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism as an academic imprint devoted to serious books about journalism. The first release, Distant Witness: Social Media, the Arab Spring and a Journalism Revolution, by NPR senior strategist Andy Carvin, also received considerable attention from the national media.

Journalism programs across the country have ex-pressed interest in adopting the books as required reading for classes next fall.

Upcoming titles planned by the CUNY Journalism Press include:n An oral biography of seminal jazz critic and First Amendment activist Nat Hentoff by CUNY J-School Professor David Lewisn A historical look at how independent media has promoted democracy across the globe by David Hoffman, the founder of Internews, which has promoted development of independent journalism in many countriesn A history of investigative reporting in America by Investigative Reporters and Edi-tors (IRE) co-founder Steve Weinbergn An illustrated review of courtroom art over the past 50 yearsn A how-to on writing feature stories by The Wall Street Journal’s front-page legend and writing coach Barry Newman. n

vol. 7, no. 3 SUMMER 2013 3

T he CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in mid-May launched The Nabe, which serves Brooklyn’s Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods and extends the

J-School’s experiment in collaborative hyperlocal journalism.The Nabe (TheNabe.me) is the successor site to The Lo-

cal, which The New York Times began in March 2009. The J-School worked with the Times and the community from the start of The Local, before taking over day-to-day operations in January 2010, under the supervision of Times editors.

The Nabe shares the same goal as its predecessor: to help residents cover their neighborhoods, using the emerging tools of journalism to tell and share stories in compelling new ways. Faculty and students of the CUNY J-School are working to make The Nabe a virtual gathering spot where neighbors can discuss local issues – and serve as tipsters, writers, editors, crowdsourcing project participants, vid-eographers, and photographers.

J-School reporters are covering a mix of crime, school, political, and arts news. But they’re also helping residents with everything from write-ups of community board meet-ings to videos of school concerts and breaking news photos.

The Nabe started strong with “Two Fort Greenes,” a multimedia special report that looks at largely hidden signs of change in the rapidly transforming neighborhood. The site also boasts a mobile-friendly design that makes it easy to access via smartphones. n

For more information about the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, go to our website: www. journalism.cuny.edu

BOARD OF ADVISERS

Jesse AngeloPublisher of the New York Post

Dean Baquet Managing Editor of The New York Times

Merrill Brown Director, School of Communications and Media Montclair State University

David Carey President of Hearst Magazines

Connie Chung TV Journalist and Anchor

Jared Kushner Publisher of The New York Observer

Adam Moss Editor-in-Chief of New York Magazine

Michael Oreskes Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press

John Paton CEO of Digital First Media

Norman Pearlstine Chief Content Officer at Bloomberg News

Howard RubensteinPresident of RubensteinAssociates

Vivian SchillerChief Digital Officerof NBC News

Richard Stengel Managing Editor of Time

Elizabeth Vargas“20/20” Anchor, ABC News

David Westin CEO of News Licensing Group

Mark Whitaker Former Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide and Former Editor of Newsweek

Matthew Winkler Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News

Mortimer ZuckermanChairman and Publisher ofthe New York Daily News andU.S. News & World Report

Amy DunkinEditor

Shannon FirthReporter

John SmockPhotographer

Nancy NovickDesigner

Matthew GoldsteinChancellor, The CityUniversity of New York

Stephen B. ShepardFounding Dean

Judith Watson Associate Dean

INSIDESTORY

No, the real problem is not journalism per se. The defining issue is now financial: The traditional busi-ness model that sustained journalism, based largely on a lucrative stream of advertising revenue, has seriously eroded.

I am not a futurist. I do not claim to know how the public will consume media 10 years from now or what the next Twitter will be. But I do believe that we will find new revenue streams for quality journalism in the digital age. Readers are now starting to pay for content, advertisers are developing new ways to target digital readers, and publishers are learning to use e-commerce. Some publishers are even becoming more than just newspapers and magazines; they are learning to be information platforms, building deeper relationships with their communities – whether those communities are geographic or demographic.

In this new era, and whatever the new formats, I think we must keep technological change in perspec-tive. The new technologies, as dazzling as they seem, are but a means to an overriding end. And that end is journalism.

I mean a special kind of journalism – a journalism that is vitally needed in this era of media fragmentation and information overload. I’m talking about in-depth reporting, community engagement, analysis, deep understanding – and, on our best days, something ap-proaching wisdom. This is the stuff of great journalism.

Our children will get this wisdom delivered in new ways, perhaps even via a wireless appliance implanted in their brains. So be it. But I believe, in the smithy of my soul, that even if the medium ultimately changes – and it will – the intellectual need, the human need, for thoughtful journalism will never, ever go away.

Stephen B. ShepardDean, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

When I first considered taking on the role of founding dean of a brand-new journal-ism school, I initially thought of it as a personal capstone – the culmination of a lifetime in journalism and a chance to

pass on my experience to the next generation. Boy, was I wrong. As the journalism world changed in content and delivery, I was the one who became a student.

To be perfectly candid, the new world seemed up-side down to me. In the traditional world I knew best, we journalists took great pride in acting as trustwor-thy gatekeepers, professionals who filtered the news for you, who sifted through the glut of information to tell you what was important and why – and who uncovered stories you wouldn’t think of asking for on a Google search.

Suddenly, our traditional model was shattered. The people formerly known as the audience could now talk back. In fact, anyone could now be a journalist – or at least commit an act of journalism on their blogs or websites. Then, all of a sudden there was something called Twitter, something called Facebook. As jour-nalism became decentralized, we professionals were dethroned. It was a psychic shock, a loss of esteem, as well as a loss of livelihood for many people.

Not surprisingly, my instinct was to be defensive – to protect the world I knew and treasured. Only gradually, and sometimes with great reluctance, did I come to see the value of the new technologies. Only gradually did I realize that digital technology would

enrich journalism, creating an interactive, multimedia form of storytelling that invited community par-ticipation, that could be personalized, that could be delivered on a vast array of mobile devices, that could be consumed globally, that could be distributed using social media. And so, slowly, I finally managed to embrace the changes necessary to create a new school for a new age.

My personal passage is, of course, a microcosm of the larger struggle within the journalism profession to come to terms with the digital reckoning. Though many mainstream media companies have been hol-lowed out by all those layoffs, a parallel universe is slowly growing in journalism. Everywhere you look, new digital outlets are springing up that offer promis-ing alternatives – from Politico and ProPublica to the Texas Tribune and Kaiser Health News, to say nothing of blogs, websites, and hyperlocal ventures. This year, something called Inside Climate News won a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and a blog named Cali-fornia Watch was a Pulitzer finalist for Public Service. There is more journalism produced today by more people on more platforms than ever before. And much of it is reaching new audiences through social media, creating new communities of like-minded readers.

DEAN’SCORNER

I thought I’d be thewise elder of journalism.But all the changes havemade me a student.

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Founding Dean Stephen B. Shepard

Boy, Was I WrongAfter an eight-year tenure as the founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Stephen B. Shepard has announced that he will step down from the post at the end of the year. Shepard was honored at the J-School gala on May 13. Here is an excerpt of the remarks he delivered on that occasion.

J-School Sees Hyperlocal Future

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism219 W. 40th Street, Third FloorNew York, NY 10018

INSIDESTORYALL ABOUT BOOK PUBLISHING

For five days in June, writers, editors, academics, and business people heard experts in modern-day publishing explain everything from how to produce e-books to how to use Tumblr as a publicity tool during the first CUNY Publishing Institute at the CUNY J-School. Students learned about marketing in the In-ternet age, evolving copyright issues, and how to get books reviewed online and in print. John Oakes (left), co-founder of OR Books, ran the Institute. Here he’s with Johnny Temple, publisher and editor-in-chief of Akashic Books, a Brook-lyn-based independent company dedicated to supporting urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors largely ignored by the mainstream.

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got a new job at CBS News in New York as producer of “On The Road with Steve Hartman.” Joe Orovic is covering Croa-tia as a freelance writer. Marlene Peralta is a political reporter in charge of the mayoral election coverage at El Diario-La Prensa. Dan Rivoli is a staff reporter for amNewYork.

AWARD NEWS

“The Doctor Drain,” a NYCity News Service multimedia special report, won the Society of Professional Journalists’ national Mark of Excellence Award for Online In-Depth Reporting. Shuka Kalantari, ’08, and Danny Gold, ’10, won 2013 reporting fellowships from the International Cen-ter for Journalists. Craig Giammona, ‘13, was one of 10 winners of a $3,000 New York Financial Writers Scholar-ship. The Society of Silurians chose Irina Ivanova, ’13, to receive the $1,000 Dennis Duggan prize. Narratively, a storytelling platform developed by 2012 Entrepreneurial Journalism Fellow Noah Rosenberg, was named one of TIME’s 50 Best Websites of 2013. Patricia Rey Mallén, ‘12, won an Overseas Press Club Foundation Award. Katie Honan, ‘10, was part of a team at WNBC-TV that received a New York Emmy for Breaking News.

ALUMNI NEWS

Class of ’12: Elbert Chu is associate producer at MedPage Today for Everyday Health. Cara Eisenpress is editor/content manager at Blue Apron, a recipe-subscrip-tion startup. Sean Flynn is the social media coordinator for the law firm of Spar & Bernstein. Michelle Gross is a reporter at the Martha’s Vineyard Times; Erin Horan is breaking-news assignment editor/news associate for the CBS News National Desk. Kevin Loria is associate web producer at Condé Nast. Lisa Mahapatra is infograph-ics graphics editor at International Business Times. She also became engaged to ’12 classmate Martin Burch. Mariya Pylayev is associate editor at AOL Real Estate. Casey Quinlan is a reporter for Investment Wires, cover-ing mutual funds. Paulette Safdieh and husband Irv welcomed their first child, Jacqueline, on April 4. Kamana Shrestha is a copywriter at WRNN-TV. Taylor Tepper is a staff reporter at Money. Vanesa Vennard is a production assistant at Early Today and First Look at MSNBC.

Class of ’11: Alva French is an associate producer at NBC’s “Meet The Press.” Alcione Gonzalez is associate producer in Miami for Fusion, a new 24-hour cable news channel launched

SCHOOLNOTESSafdieh and Jacqueline

Honan and Emmy

By Shannon Firth, Class of 2012

I t was New Year’s Eve 2011 when Ines Bebea gave herself an ultimatum: Find a job in media within a year or leave France.

Every Monday morning on her way to work as a hotel receptionist in Paris, she’d drop 10 resumes into a mailbox—five in English and five in French. She sent another 10 resumes by email. While Bebea had concentrated her studies on print reporting at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, she in-cluded television networks in her search.

Living and working in France had been Bebea’s dream for years. During

ON THE JOB with Inez Bebea ’10When one of her resumes hit the mark and France

24 invited her for an interview, she was thrilled but nervous. The broadcast channel, which produces shows in French, Arabic, and English, was looking for native English speakers who were strong in French. Bebea survived a slew of timed tests in both languages and she got the job.

Today, as an associate producer, she helps manage live news and prerecorded shows. Her main job is find-ing video clips to match the news narration.

Bebea likes testing herself, mentally and physically. She started running in the fall of 2011 and completed a half-marathon five months later. Her next goal: cover-ing the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. She plans to start learning Portuguese while she’s there. nInez Bebea

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orientation week in August 2009, Associate Dean Judith Watson spoke about an exchange program at the Sorbonne. “Right then and there, I knew this was the school I was

meant to go to because I could go to Paris,” she said.But Bebea, who grew up in Spain and speaks fluent Spanish, had only basic French skills. So she applied to a semester-long CUNY-wide program, Mission Universitaire de Co-ordination Échanges Franco-Américains, or MICEFA, that allowed her to spend more

time studying French. After the program ended, her European Union citizenship

allowed her to remain in Paris.

by ABC News and Univision. Eliza Ronalds-Hannon is a re-porter at Skift.com covering travel and tourism business news.

Class of ’10: Jordan Shakeshaft is editorial director at DailyBurn. Katie Honan has taken a new job at DNAInfo.com, where she will be covering Jackson Heights and Corona.

Class of ’09: Emily Feldman has moved to Istanbul to become a freelance writer. Sergey Kadinsky married Keren Chumakova on June 16. He is working as a community liaison for City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens). Maya Pope-Chappell has been named Asia editor for social media and analytics at The Wall Street Journal.

Class of ’08: Kathryn Lurie was promoted to digital fea-tures editor at The Wall Street Journal. Cristiana Oliveira is freelancing for Brazilian publications from San Francisco. She, along with husband Reginald King and son Alexander, 3, welcomed second child Phillip Wallace King last Sept. 12.

Class of ’07: Amy Goldstein was promoted to general editor at ESPN.com and became engaged to Josh Somer. Megan Kelty