Month: February 2017

I am thinking about profiling the Ukrainian immigrants who feel affected by Trump’s presidency. Trump’s alleged friendliness with Russian president Vladimir Putin puts the US’s alliance with Ukraine in danger, and the independence they have fought for in jeopardy. Last semester, I did a feature article on this but only spoke to immigrants living outside of NYC. I would also like to follow this issue more, as Trump’s presidency continues and relations with Russia unfold.

This semester, I would like to focus on Bangladesh. The immigrant community that is closest to me is Ozone Park and there are a lot of people from Bangladesh who reside in that area.

I feel like I know nothing about my country aside from the fact that there is a lot of political corruption and a ton of problems in the country. That is a shame because I feel like I should know more about where my family comes from. I’m aware that there are a lot of undocumented immigrants in Ozone Park and with everything going on with our new president, there is a lot of uneasiness in immigrant communities everywhere.

Discuss

How to do a local angle on an international story? How are events overseas affecting people here? Alternatively, what are some issues that are unique to the immigrant community here in New York?

Examples

The earthquake in Haiti:

Voodoo, An Anchor, Rises Again

Haitians Struggle to Make New Lives in New York

Trump’s executive order on immigration:

Students Stranded Worldwide By Trump Order

NYC Taxi Drivers Stage Airport Strike to Protest Trump’s “Inhumane & Cruel” Executive Order

Castro’s death:

Cubans in Louisville, Ky., Quietly Mark Castro’s Death

Miami’s Cuban Exiles Celebrate Castro’s Death

Puerto Rico debt crisis:

For New York Puerto Ricans, debt crisis begins to hit home

Suicides Soar Among New York Koreans

Immigrant profiles:

From Turkish Immigrant to Immigration Specialist

Portrait of an Armenian Painter

Building a Bedrock for Fellow Immigrants

In New York, Mexico’s richest immigrants lend hand to their countrymen

 

Best Places to Look for Story Ideas and Reporting Resources

Organizations that have a local office: Afghan Women’s Writing Project

Facebook events and pages: Yemeni Businesses Shut Down & Rally Against “Muslim Ban” and “Religious Organizations in Flushing, New York”

Community groups: American Indian Community House

Consulates and embassies

Restaurants and shops

Google’s news tab

Twitter

 

Discuss

Your brainstormed beats for the semester. How do all of the above fit in with the ideas you’re considering?

 

Assignment

Pick a news outlet that publishes international stories and write a short overview of its style, history and model of foreign reporting. What’s their reputation? Have they been involved in any controversies? Find an example of a story (or a couple of stories) that you think exemplifies this and link to it with your write-up on the class blog.

 

Associated Press

VICE News

The New York Times

Foreign Policy

Huffington Post

CNN

The Daily Mail

Washington Post

TIME

Al Jazeera English

AJ+

Quartz

The Christian Science Monitor

The Wall Street Journal

The Miami Herald

Vocativ

PRI’s The World

NPR

BBC

The Daily Beast

The Economist

The Atlantic

National Geographic

Mashable

After taking my first international trip in December 2016, I was fascinated with the differences in cultures from surrounding nations. One is on the brink of bankruptcy according to some economists and the other is notorious for allowing corrupt millionaires to hide their American dollars behind the walls of a rich nation’s creative laws. As an American citizen traveling from one country to the next via rental car, I found out just how easy it was for an individual to make their mark in one country and another soon after as boarder crossing is very lax between the two nations. From an immigrant perspective, the ability to travel is an easy one but if this were America, we’d be hearing loud and proud individuals making their voices heard.

As of right now I’m interested in reporting on the Afghan community within New York. More specifically I hope to learn and write about how the expectations they had of America compare to the reality they’ve been faced with. This topic interests me largely because of my experience in Greece with refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia. Throughout the month that I was working with these families, what stuck with me the most were the conversations I had with two young girls from Afghanistan, Dina and Delara. Very mature for their age, these girls would opt out of the roughhousing most children their age came to the ‘kids room’ for. Instead, they asked nearly everyday to sit with me and talk over tea. While we were talking it became very obvious that Dina and Delara are amidst challenges in their life most could not fathom. Their families were forced to leave their home when it became a war zone, and they are now living in a refugee camp based in Athens, with little to nothing. They constantly told me about how they hated their home and never enjoyed growing up in Afghanistan. They went further to describe just how hard life is in the refugee camp, they hate living in Greece as well. It was after they told me this that Dina told me she “just loves America.” Dina’s eyes lit up when she spoke of America and all that it has to offer. I listened to these girls speak of America, a place they have never been, as if the streets are paved with gold. I became curious as to how their expectations would match up to a life in America. I plan to get the perspective of Afghan immigrants living in NYC concerning their life now vs the one they imagined when first deciding to leave their country. I understand that Flushing, Queens is often referred to as “Little Afghanistan” due to its high Afghan population. This should be a great location for me to conduct interviews and meet people dealing with the trials of immigration.

The country I want to focus on is Indonesia. Located in Southeast Asia, it is the biggest producer of palm oil. This mass production has lead to deforestation. This habitat loss is detrimental to endangered species such as orangutans and tigers. Although palm oil is detrimental to the environment, approximately 50% of products found in our supermarkets contain palm oil. I’d like to explore the cultural aspects of why this production is still on the rise.

As I’ve mentioned in class, I would like to spend the semester reporting on anti-government protests in Poland and the shrinking Polish community in Greenpoint.

The first idea, the anti-government protests, came to me when I was reading one of the Polish political magazines available in the United States. One of the articles spoke about protests that a duo of Polish college students was organizing. The protests were to take place in several big cities across the country and they were fully organized through Facebook. Surprisingly, the organizers refused to take funding from the biggest pro-democratic committee in the country, commonly known by its Polish initials–KOD. Several printers proposed to print protest signs for free. Now that the protest took place, it might be a good idea to try to reach out to the organizers via Facebook and interview them about the protests, why they organized them, how they think they proceeded and what they intend to do in the future. Since this article is likely to take some time, it will likely not be the first assignment I hand in.

In the meantime, I would like to interview a Polish business owner to see how they are dealing with the gentrification of northwestern Brooklyn and the shrinking Polish community in Greenpoint. In particular, I would like to interview the owner of a Polish bookstore. How has the business changed since the bookstore opened? How many Polish businesses in the area were closed? Has the bookstore been dealing with a lot of hardships to keep it afloat? Was it able to attract new audiences?

This semester I like to cover the Latino community, but my focus will be towards the Mexican immigrants. I think there are a lot to write when in comes to Mexico itself or the immigrants who live in New York. Of course, there is the famous wall president Donald Trump promised to build and they are still debating who will pay for it. I like to know what would it do to both countries if that happens. I like to know what are the reactions from the people who are there in Mexico and compare with those who live in NYC. I know a couple of people who live there so that would be a good sources to go to. In terms of potential stories, one angle would to write about the economy and how would it affect for both countries.

 

 

For this semester, I’d like to focus on the Russian community in Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach. Previous to the election, I spoke with a Russian woman who said that although she is an immigrant, she was voting for Trump because his policies are “good for Russia.” I’m curious if other Russian immigrants feel the same way. There are clearly many stories to be told about the United States’ current relationship and potential future relationship with Russia, specifically Vladimir Putin. In addition, with so much going on with Russia’s military and the effects of Putin’s reign on Russian citizens, this should be a timely and easy topic to cover. I also have several connections within the Russian community here in New York, so I can access an abundance of sources.