Blogging the News

One of the main things I wanted to stick with this semester is creating my blog revolving around music, but to be more specific I wanted to focus on the train and street performers of NYC.  I know that many music blogs have aspiring musicians following them, and I think it would be a good idea to get a lot of stories out of these new breakout artists trying to make it big, and I can even interview some underground bands I know. Some of the things I can get out of it is defining who they are exactly, where did they come from and why do they feel the need to get inspiration from NY to get anywhere?  

A better idea would be to create news stories that will help these aspiring musicians in New York City, like the professor gave me the idea to research venues, practice spaces, and do interviews maybe with a manager about what they look for in up-coming artists. I can definitely get somewhere with doing that, and I think it could be really interesting to meet these new artists along the way. As for a second idea, I’m not so sure yet but I want to stick with the whole arts scene because I feel that I’d be better off doing something like this or related to it.

Blog Pitch #1— underground/local art scene coverage

The basic idea for this blog is to document and report on local and underground art events throughout various venues in New York City. These events generally tend to encompass art, music, and apparel. Each event is essentially its own brand. I plan to interview certain friends and individuals who are responsible for developing these events, curating the art, securing the venues, and handling the social media. I also plan to interview the artists, in the hopes of conveying their messages, as well as the opinions of the crowd. This blog would also contain multimedia content.

Blog Pitch #2— Mental health in Baruch

This blog would focus on mental health awareness and the psychological problems that are prevalent among college students, in particular, Baruch students. Some concerning issues I would like to cover include the abuse of prescription pills such as adderall, anxiety and stress problems and how to alleviate them, and social smoking. I would interview students, as well as the psychology department for professional opinions.

1. Competing athletic apparel (Nike, Under Armor, Adidas, Jordan). New trends, clothing or sneaker releases, consumer preference, player endorcement, school sponsorships.

2. Being a college student in NYC. environment adjustments, spending habits, study habits, no actual campus, daily routine, travel.

For my first blog topic, I was thinking with the holiday season approaching it might not be a bad idea to do something relating to shopping malls. I, myself live in Valley Stream, Long Island; therefore I would choose to cover throughout the Long Island area. I know right off the bat of 3 malls that currently going through changes so it would be nice to track and write about them for the web. With the holiday season, I would be able to capture shopping malls at its peak times as well as be able to speak to customers/consumers on how they feel on the upcoming changes will help them out.

With my second blog topic, I have an idea that is similar to Food Babe; but instead would relate it to food carts. Food carts are becoming very popular and are now popping up in almost all areas. I would go around trying to find out exactly what makes a particular food cart a well-known destination, and further try to get an insight on all of the ingredients and methods used to cook. With this I would also be able to speak to people currently buying food and I can ask them questions on the spot.

1) New York City’s Fall Scenery and Events.

“Falls Gotta Give”

I’d really like to blog about New York’s Fall Scenery and Events that will take place this year. Times have changed and so has New York City. Some people like to keep old traditions and visit places they’re familiar with, but others like to discover new sceneries and events that the Big City has to offer. I don’t blame them. I used to think Summer was the best season by far until last year when I became a lover of the fall. In my opinion, I think it’s the perfect time to enjoy being outdoors, reconnect, and try all kinds of things. My blog is to entertain and inspire others to see the beauty of nature, people, to go and about! “Falls Gotta Give” is like taking long soothing walks on the beach except it’s walking through red, yellow, orange leaves with a little bit of a cool breeze. Stay tuned New Yorkers!

P.s The idea of my blog is to show how we can find a place in NYC and make it meaningful to us. The name “Falls Gotta Give” was inspired by one of my favorite movies, “Somethings Gotta Give”.

Our Generation Today

Another topic that I’d like to blog about is about our Generation today. The way we think, speak, do the things that we do, and why we do it. It fascinating to know what people used to do years ago before technology was so advanced, venues that existed once upon a time,  music that had actual meaning through lyrics, the list goes on. I want to know peoples perspectives on the world, on their and others lives. I want to connect people’s experiences and find patterns. Most of all, I want my readers to question themselves and reflect. A little thought goes a long way.

I chose topics related to my personal interests. I love restaurant life in NYC. I have a yelp account where I write reviews on my experiences, and most of my experiences are at restaurants. My minor is sociology, and I am also very interested in black and Latino communities in America. Here is what I came up with:

My ideas:

1. Gentrification of restaurants in Harlem: Instead of speaking about gentrification, I want branch off this issue and focus how Harlem’s restaurant scene has been affected by gentrification. I think gentrification in itself does not get a lot of coverage. Maybe because it’s an issue forces want to keep hidden, or maybe it’s because people in the gentrified communities don’t realize the importance of gentrification, but I want to bring this to light in a fun way. I don’t know the type of voice I’d use on my blog because I love the new restaurants and chic businesses in my neighborhood, but I hate that gentrification is taking away from the culture in Harlem. This is something I’d have to brainstorm.

2. “Kids”of Harlem: I’ve noticed a lot of Harlem natives around my age “hustling” to make better lives for themselves. A good portion of the people I grew up with are graduates or enrolled in college, make their own music or clothes, have their own businesses, etc. But some of the people I grew up with are not walking down the same path. Many of these people’s parents and grandparents did not have the same opportunities we have today, and I wanted to address this issue on my blog. Why is this the case for some of us and not all of us? What opportunities do we have in Harlem that affect our future,  both now and then?

First I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed that we cannot blog about issues that are a bit more general in terms of location and visibility. Nationally and internationally, there are so many news-worthy topics that are worth blogging about. ISIS, the Scottish vote for independence from Great Britain, the impact that the mid-term elections will have on the Obama precedency, the border crisis, etc. These are all topics that are current and debate worthy. I feel that focusing on local New York issues limits our opportunities to create an interesting blog that doesn’t just appeal to New Yorkers.

Anyhow, my two blog proposals are as follows:

1. Troubled youth in the Bronx

More than any other borough in the city, The Bronx suffers from a large amount of kids who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Whether its poverty, a poor public school system or perhaps single-parent homes, my blog will seek to find out the reason. A couple of semesters ago, I wrote a paper profiling a troubled 13-year-old boy and his family from the notoriously dangerous Highbridge area of The Bronx. I will try to blog about kids in similar situations. I will also seek to interview Bronx law enforcement, social workers and other experts.

2. New Yorkers and their take on indie movies

I feel that the most active film blogs mostly focus on mainstream cinema. I think that this blog would be a good opportunity to write about the way New Yorkers react to more thought-provoking independent cinema. As an assistant manager at the Angelika Film Center, one of the premier art-house theatres in the city, I get a first-row view on people’s perceptions of all the latest indie films. Located in the heart of Soho, the Angelika Film Center is the perfect place to seek out reviews from New Yorkers and blog about their take on independent films.

Dear Hair, basically food babe but for hair products and general hair care. There will posts about how people maintain their hair: natural or altered.

Idea #1: My blog idea is to write about the many small businesses in Brooklyn that have been around for decades. There are a lot of local small businesses in my neighborhood in Brooklyn that have been in business for a long time. For example, Di Fara’s is a pizzeria in Midwood that has been successfully serving arguably the best pizza in New York since 1964 when the pizzeria moved to its location from sunset park. Di Fara is owned by Domenico DeMarco who is the only person in the pizzeria who can touch the pies while cooking. He makes the pizza by hand and sprinkles fresh olive oil and cuts fresh basil with a scissor onto the specialty pizza. There are plenty of other businesses that I intend to write about that are not in the food industry as I know you’ve asked us to stay away from food blogs. I think that this blog is needed because with so many franchises and big companies, people forget about the local small businesses in their neighborhood. This blog would cover the void of news on small businesses in Brooklyn.

Idea #2: My second blog idea is to write about the many landmarks in New York City that many people may not know of. Everyone knows about the big landmarks in New York City like the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty but not a lot of people know about the Brooklyn Navy yard. Built in 1801, the Brooklyn Navy yard provided a docking place for many merchant ships in the early 1800s. The Navy yard also held many battleships in World War II. Another landmark would be greenwood cemetery in Brooklyn that was built in1838. I believe this blog would fill the void of an informative blog about landmarks in New York that aren’t as famous as the other ones.

Personally, I am a bit disappointed with the NYC theme that we must stick to! That being said, I have come up with two ideas that I feel combine my original blog idea as well as the class theme.

To get a better understanding of why I would like to blog on this topic, I would like to tell you a bit about myself. I am currently working in public relations as a intern, I work for a firm that specializes in beauty products. My firm works with a lot of beauty product bloggers. I took this course to get a better understanding of the people on the other side of the business. I was originally hoping to create a blog that focuses on in depth reviews of small, new and upcoming beauty products and brands.

My new idea, that incorporates NYC is to create a blog that specializes in promoting, reviewing and testing out small NYC based cosmetics brands. These would be brands that might only be sold online or in small NYC boutiques. It will focus on the small businesses, their stories, photographs that I have taken on their products, personal reviews of their products and interviews with people that work for the company. Maybe even interview with the owners of the company. I am also a corporate communication major, so learning about small businesses and start up cosmetics brands might be very educational.

I was also hoping on creating a personal style and fashion blog. Similar to that of “The Man Repeller”, I am aware that the internet is already flooded with those. But, then again a blog is not only meant for others to read but it is also just a way to have fun. If I end up working in fashion public relations this blog would be great to show a future employer. I have also taken various courses in fashion at the Arts Institute of NYC so I am able to talk about fashion in a technical way. I am not exactly sure how to turn this into a topic that will be relevant to this course. Perhaps instead of focusing on myself, I can focus on photographing and writing about girls in a similar age group. I would focus on girls in their early to mid twenties, whom are recent graduates, seniors in college, interns, or working entry level jobs and their individual styles. I could interview employers and brands about what they think appropriate interview outfits are or mistakes that young woman make in regard to dressing themselves for the workplace. etc. This idea needs some work!

Please leave comments and all suggestions are appreciated!

-Diana