Last Entry

This project had ended, and so I'm retiring this blog. I can't say my blog was terribly coherent, jumping between how I felt about trying other journalistic mediums and what I actually found when I was reporting. Also, many times I felt uncomfortable putting my reporting in a public forum. It's not that I have anything to hide. Maybe I'm just territorial about my notes. Either way, it's time to go on to other subjects.

GNews Audio Podcast

And finally, the audio podcast. Anne Noyes made some suggestions this morning, and under the conditions (this being my first time creating an audio podcast; I never listen to audio podcasts) I think it turned out ok. In the future I'll definitely put more time into both listening to podcasts and editing them.

Producing the Audio Podcast

I haven't listened to the radio since high school, and even then I never tuned into news programs. So when working on my audio podcast, I had the most difficult time. Quite simply, I didn't know how to put a story together in this form.

A while back I had gone to PS 328 to capture some audio. My classmate Anne Noyes was kind enough to give me a quick lesson on what to look for: ambient, ambient, ambient (getting close to the sound to record, meaning if people are stomping their feet get down to the ground with the mic). So that day I went to the gym and got some sounds of kids playing basketball in the gym, interviewed a few of the younglings, sat in on a magazine club, and then interviewed the director of the program. Luckily, a parent had come and I got her on tape also. In theory, I have multiple sources and background sounds, all the parts I need.

Stitching these together wasn't so easy. Audacity, the free audio software, proved easy enough to use (but again Anne gave a tutorial). Still, with a near zero idea of audio storytelling, I had to resort to the most basic structure. I edited down my audio to blocks, with each person speaking in turn, mixed with some ambient. Nothing revolutionary here, but still a fun endeavor.

New Video

The video's about David Adekoya, a native East New Yorker, who had gone through Groundwork's college prep program and still works there now.

My original idea was to follow him from East New York to City College in Harlem, an hour and fifteen minute commute. Then jump back to East New York and talk about his work there. I thought it would illustrate how far he'd come in life, which would say something about Groundwork.

Well that didn't really work out narrative-wise. My rough cut was six minutes plus and it really dragged. The version I posted here earlier was just a quick cut so I could post something.

This version uses more of a back and forth between David and Mary Adams, Groundwork's college prep program director. I think the story is more clear, I use the b-roll better, and it's an improvement over the previous versions. Thanks to Adrian and Ed for all their suggestions.

Photos for Slideshow

For my slideshow I went back to East New York to take some more photos and so have had more opportunity to see the children and teenagers in the Groundwork environment. Groundwork has elementary and middle after school programs at three local schools and also their own building for their high schoolers. I visited the high school site, a former Catholic school that has been remodeled but retains much of its old look, from the red bricks to the cross above the front doors. Instead of going to all three elementary and middle schools, I choose the campus where I had spoken with the principal and some students before. The principal had arranged for me to meet a couple of six graders and three fifth graders, and today I saw some of them in their Groundwork clubs. Apart from helping the students with their homework and literacy skills, the non-profit also offers sports and clubs that work on writing a magazine or art or drama. The students all seemed to be enjoying themselves, though some of the teachers did yell to quiet down the younger students, something I don't think it entirely appropriate (based on my work with young children). But apart from that, the kids were generally engrossed in whatever activity they were doing.

As for my picture taking, I've never been much of a photographer and often times I didn't have any idea of what to take pictures of. Today, during the long subway ride over, I mulled over what I wanted to tell with the pictures and had more of a plan. Still, once in the room with the children I had to think of camera angle and how to get authentic shots, since the younglings like to mug for the camera. My main tactic is just to take a lot of photos. In the end I had 60 plus shots, from which I selected maybe five or six useable pictures.

Interviewing in East New York

To strengthen my story, I went back to East New York today to interview some of Groundwork's former students to provide further proof that the program works. The two I spoke with today, Renee Warner and Skakaya Slay, both 18 and college freshmen, still work at Groundwork. Rather than students though, they are tutors/teachers assistants. The fact that they both work for Groundwork obviously makes their opinion of the program somewhat biased. They liked the program enough to return, and I assumed they would have mostly positive responses. But at the same time their experiences matter. It turns out they have very different ideas of what they liked or disliked.

Renee's family is originally from Trinidad, and she now lives in Queens. Groundwork had visited her classroom when she was a high school sophomore. She had a lot to say about the peer groups that are part of the program (along with the academic help and job training programs). She felt the gatherings, where students can talk about anything and none of it would be repeated (at least that is the promise), gave her and her friends in the group an outlet to discuss matters that they might not be able to bring up elsewhere, like a fight with a mother. Renee also mentioned how the adults at Groundwork seemed to really care, and would not give up on their students. She specifically mentioned a former Groundwork counselor who has since left but still keeps in contact with her. Renee talked alot about how they are a family there, and how people at Groundwork really believed in her and that made her work harder.

Shakaya, a fast talker, speaks with a certain equanimity that belies her age. She talked alot about the financial opportunities that Groundwork offered: fee wavers for college applications and SATs. Rather than just a way to save her money, Shakaya looked at these subsidies as opening new doors (if I'm allowed to use trite metaphors). Where as her classmates in high school had to wait months to get their fee wavers, a delay that set back their college plans because they couldn't apply to the schools they wanted to right away, Shakaya had the luxury of applying to multiple colleges. More than money, she found that Groundwork made things seem more possible. For example, she had won a state oratory contest, and could attend the national competition in Orlando, Florida if she could pay for the flight, hotel, food, and other expenses. Her high school could not help her. Originally she thought there was no way she could afford to go, but a Groundwork friend convinced her to ask the program if they could help. The deputy director of the program found her a sponsor who paid for everything--the hotel, food, and even a trip to Disney World--except the flight. Shakaya didn't win any awards at the national competition, but the trip included her first flight, first trip to Florida, and also first trip to Disney World, a place her mother had talked about taking her before but they never went. None of this would appear as a quantifiable result about the impact of Groundwork, but I think it's a telling story of opportunity afforded these teenagers that wouldn't otherwise be there without a group like Groundwork.

Slideshow, Video and Podcast

Since my original idea for the slideshow--a tour of East New York narrated by my video subject--didn't amuse my professor, I've decided to change tack. Since my video and podcast focus on individuals in the non-profit, the slideshow should probably cover some subject on the venture philanthropy side. I'm thinking about going back to the Blue Ridge Foundation office and taking photos there. This could give viewers a sense of what a venture philanthropy foundation does for its "portfolio" companies. Not ever venture philanthropist works as closely as Blue Ridge does with the companies it supports--Blue Ridge shares an office with most of its companies--but the situation could illustrate the close engagement that VP is known for. Now I have to think of a way to do the slideshow without making it a PR vehicle.

I've got to reedit my video, and have a new approach. I want to incorporate more of why my subject, who went through the Groundwork program, joined the group in the first place. It's not a romantic beginning--he wasn't looking for a college prep program but wanted a job--but really came to like what Groundwork does. The director of the high school program, Mary Adams, is also very articulate and straightforward.

As for the podcast, I'm still debating whether to go back to get comments from the principal of the elementary school where I interviewed some students, a parent, and the Groundwork director of programs. The principal's very hard to get a hold of and may not be necessary for the podcast, as I already have many characters.