International Reporting 2020

Month: September 2020

Photoville: “Visual Narrative and Your Story”

I am thankful that Photoville offered me a chance to know how to be a professional narrative photography journalist. On Sep 27, I attended “Visual Narrative and Your Story” online meeting. Lauren Steel and Shannon Simon were teaching useful tips for being a professional photograph journalist, such as to recommend your works to the editor for a better chance to publish. Beginner journalists interested in publishing their works in magazines have to contact editors beforehand. Many of them only email pictures with additional description to editors while there are hundreds of pictures waiting. Editors obviously have no time to email you back if your work is not special enough. Thus, introduce your work with points to attract their attention, like punchy captions, accurate subjects, and detailed research about the magazine you email.

Lauren Steel is an editor who works for The New York Times. She also freelances for The New York Times Magazine. She has worked on preparation of photographs published in newspapers and magazines for ten years. She brought two important question to all of us which were what the theme of your work is and what is the point that people could find in your work. These two questions would extend a couple of other questions: are you passionate about your work and why do you think shot this is important. Lauren suggests us to think about all sides of the story and completely explain them before sending it to editor. This goes for exhibitions as well.

Here are three details she explained in the meeting:
1. Caption: To explain to viewers but it depends on your work if you prefer not to make a title. The caption is usually one or two sentences at least.

2. Research: Once you chose a subject to shoot, researching the background and peripheral information is necessary. Sometimes, a subject might take a year or longer.

3. The type of magazine: Not every magazine accepts journalism photographs. For instance, fashion magazines are not interested in journalistic photographs. Choosing a proper type of magazine before contacting the editor is important. You also need to know the rule of the magazine which you decide to work with very well. For example, if the food magazine only publishes one theme picture in the first inner page, but you were making six more pictures, the editor would not make yours the first choice.

If you don’t know any editors but would like to publish your work, you can look for agencies, scan AP, check social media or research newspaper editors online. The most convenient way is using LinkedIn, a personal website, or an online portfolio to save particular works in.
I had learned a lot in this exhibition meeting, which helps photo journalists open the door to begin the first step of publishing.

Here are some pictures shown in the meeting by Zoom.

Photoville: “Visual Narrative and Your Story”

For the asynchronous assignment, I attended “Visual Narrative and Your Story.” This discussion featured four prominent women in the world of photography: Sara Lean (Former Director of Photography for National Geographic Visual Media) , Lauren Steel (Photo editor at The New York Times) , Shannon  Simon (Photo editor at The New York Times) , and Elizabeth Krist (photo editor at National Geographic).

The talk was split into two sections. The first was a discussion between Lauren Steel and Shannon Simon. The two discussed a myriad of topics focused around how to become the best photographer you can be. Shannon stressed the importance of research when pursing a subject to photograph. “The more detail you know, the better your photos will come out,” Shannon said. The two gave great advice to the viewers such as telling young photographers to not get discourage if they don’t hear back from people they are pitching a story to. Also, they encouraged photographers to enter contests, not just for the acc0lades, but to get your work seen by people who wouldn’t have otherwise. plus it’s a great way to review your work.

The Second part of the talk was with Elizabeth and Sara. The two each did their own presentations on the basics of photographer. Each focused on the attributes that make a great photo such as the form and structure of a photo. One thing that stuck out to me was when Sara said, “photography is not looking it is feeling.”

The talk finished with a little Q&A where the four answered the viewers questions. I actually wrote in a question that was answered which was: “What drew you all to photography and what advice would you give someone just starting out in photography.”

I really enjoyed this talk. I’m not a photographer, but It’s something I really enjoy and I think I would love doing it.

Photoville: “We Built This City: Destiny Mata and Gogy Esparza in Conversation”

I attended a live discussion called “We Built This City: Destiny Mata and Gogy Esparza in Conversation” today. This event highlighted Mata and Esparza, two Latinx, New York City based photographers, who are exhibiting together at Abrons Arts Center. Destiny Mata is a documentary photographer whose work has been featured in Teen Vogue, VICE’s Noisey, and others. Her show, La Vida en Loisaida (Life on the Lower East Side) features images Mata captured of her neighbors and friends from 2009, when she started practicing photography at age 18, to 2020. In the backdrop of many of these images are the Lillian Wald Houses where Mata grew up; for Mata, the NYCHA buildings are the soul of the city. Gogy Esparza is a photographer and videographer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, VICE, i-D, and others. His show is called Can We Talk? and it is an autobiographical reflection of New York City.

Both Mata and Esparza prioritize capturing Black and Latinx individuals and communities in their photography; they believe that these communities are the heart and soul of the city and really encapsulate what it means to be a real New Yorker. During the discussion, both photographers delved deep into the circumstances surrounding select images from each of their shows. Mata explained how she was first encouraged to pursue documentary photography by a professor at LaGuardia Community College. She recalls him saying, ‘What better person to tell the story of your neighborhood than you?’ For Mata, her photography practice is about preserving history, especially in ever-changing neighborhoods as a result of gentrification. One of the images she spotlighted was one she took of her neighbor––an elderly woman with frosty blue tips and electric blue tights to match; in the background are the Lillian Wald Houses. 

For Esparza, his fascination with the city stems from ‘90s and early ‘2000s hip-hop photography. During the discussion, he touches on the appropriation of street photography in mainstream media. He also recounts a heart wrenching story around one of the images featured in his photo series. The image is of a woman in a dark nightclub during a birthday party––Gucci-emblazoned wallpaper serves as a backdrop. The photo captures a moment of vulnerability; it describes a search for a way out of poverty in an unforgiving city. Esparza says that the woman lit her cigarette with his and then asked if he was willing to spend the night with her––she needed to make ends meet; however, he ended up not taking the offer. The tattoo on her face reads, “Life’s A Bitch.” The entire image and story is quite poetic.  

 

“Powerful and Dangerous: The Words and Images of Audre Lorde” at Alice Austen House, Staten Island, New York

I live in Staten Island, so I was able to visit the Alice Austen House, which is a borough landmark and museum that usually hosts photography events and historic exhibits.

So I went over to the Alice Austen House, and they did in fact have an exhibition happening. It was about a woman named Audre Lorde, and the exhibition was called “POWERFUL AND DANGEROUS”.

The title of the exhibition was inspired by the centerpiece photograph of Audre Lorde, where she is sitting beside a wooden chalkboard with the phrase “WOMEN ARE POWERFUL AND DANGEROUS” written in chalk on it. Audre Lorde’s facial expression in the photo is a face that says “Don’t F**k With Me”. Audre Lorde is an African American woman. The photo was taken in the nineteen eighties.

Robert Alexander is the man who is responsible for taking this striking picture. In the caption, he explains that the picture was taken at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Alexander was the arts editor for a local newspaper outlet. He said that despite for angry pose in the picture, Lorde was actually friendly and hospitable. Lorde was a teacher by trade.

The Alice Austen House is a walk through exhibit where you can walk at your leisure to see many different exhibits year round. There is a ten dollar entry fee, and for the price you can get a tour guide to explain the house to you. The house is not big, but it is an important city landmark of Staten Island.

Walking through the exhibit, there were many different photographs of Audre Lorde, showing her with many different expressions. On the walls were descriptions of Lorde’s life, as well as poems she had written. Audre Lorde was a Staten Island resident, and she often wrote about Staten Island in her poems.

I would say this exhibit was very informative and well put together.

Photoville

Although I will probably end up at the Photoville exhibits under the Brooklyn Bridge at some point, I attended one of the online seminars this weekend. I chose “The Gravity of Inclusive Storytelling” with photojournalist Cheriss May. I didn’t realize she would be a primarily domestic political photographer, but her remarks still very much reflected where I want to go with my career. May is a self-taught photographer; she originally hadn’t intended on going into journalism as she had attended Howard University in DC for marketing, where she is now also a professor.

Her photography work has covered many culturally relevant subjects such as the White House, both Obama and Trump’s, daily life as an African American, and the BLM movement. When talking about inclusivity, May was mostly referring to her experience as a black woman and how that shapes her work. She spoke about how important it is for young black children to see themselves represented. Even as a white male myself, this spoke to me because the last thing I would ever want to do is tell only one perspective or one kind of story.

            I think the most important point she made was that you have to be aware your surroundings and be sensitive to whatever situation in which you find yourself, whether you are at a protest or on the White House lawn. She told an incredible story, among several, about meeting Dr. Maya Angelou. May attended an event honoring the late poet, and there was only one other photographer, a white male, covering the ceremony. They asked a couple questions about how to take pictures, and the staff asked respectfully that they wait until Angelou took out the tubes of oxygen from her nose. As soon as Angelou was wheeled onto the stage, the male photographer started taking shots as loudly and rapidly as possible while May had to just stand back uncomfortably. He was asked to leave, and shortly after, May was able to meet Dr. Angelou. She was incredibly gracious and allowed May to do a portrait of her. I thought the story powerfully illustrated that if you are respectful in your profession, you will go far.

Class Agenda: September 24, 2020

Logistics of International Reporting

Last week, we talked a lot about the state of press freedom around the world, and about how it should figure into your planning process as a reporter working abroad. That’s just one element you need to plan for. Reporting trips often require a lot of coordination ahead of time: booking flights, booking hotels, hiring fixers, hiring translators, renting a vehicle, securing the right visa, etc.

 

Accreditation

Get accredited if it is advisable/feasible to do so.

Things to consider:

Expense

Timeframe

Whether or not you’re trying to keep a low profile

Potential consequences for not being accredited (without it, if arrested, some governments may take the opportunity to accuse you of espionage, for instance, or of being a combatant)

Every country has different requirements for visiting journalists. Some will have a clear-cut journalist visa that you have to apply for. Some will require media accreditation only if you’ll be filming, or only in certain regions, or only for certain kinds of stories. Some will charge you for bringing in a lot of camera equipment. In some places, the only viable option is to go as a tourist or sneak over the border. As ever, you’re going to want to rely on your network to advise on the best option for you.

 

Protect your data and your sources. (We will have an entire class devoted to digital security later in the semester.)

Make sure your phones, laptops, tablets, etc. are password-protected.

Communicate with apps like Signal if you’re discussing anything sensitive.

Be careful what you share on social media.

Travel “naked” if you have a lot of sensitive sources on your phone. No matter how good your encryption, if a foreign government is determined to seize your phone, they’re probably going to do it.

Remember that it’s NOT JUST YOU you’re protecting here. Especially if you’re American, your local sources and fixers will often be far more at risk than you will.

 

Working With Fixers

“Fixer” is a term that can mean a lot of things. A good fixer is someone who Makes It Happen. They have a good sense of what a journalist’s needs are for a story; they know the right people and can facilitate introductions; they know their way around; they generally deserve a lot of the credit for a successful assignment. Often they are journalists themselves.

Sometimes your fixer will pull double or triple duty as driver/translator; other times you will need to hire someone else to fill these roles. Depending on the story, you might be able to get away with not hiring a fixer at all because a contact at a local NGO or agency is willing to introduce you to sources or give you a lift. 

The golden rule of working with fixers is this: Don’t Be An Asshole.

Remember that you are going home after the day or week you’ve spent in their country and company, and that they will continue to live there. Remember that any stupid decision you make doesn’t just endanger you; it endangers them, and it likely endangers them many times over. Local journalists tend to be killed and imprisoned at a much higher rate than foreign correspondents.

And pay them a fair rate. Find out what the going rate is (it can be anywhere from $50 to $400 a day depending on where you are) and clear it with whoever’s handling your expenses (and advocate on behalf of your fixer if you’re told it’s too high).

“Fixing” the Journalist-Fixer Relationship

What we found is that the dynamic of a deep-pocketed foreign reporter hiring a local journalist in an often-poorer country, to do his or her bidding, has inherent power dynamics that can lead to problems. Some highlights of our findings include:

More than 70 percent of journalists say they never or rarely placed a fixer in immediate danger, while 56 percent of fixers said they were always or often put in danger.

60 percent of journalists state that they never or rarely give fixers credit, while 86 percent of fixers would like credit always (48 percent) or sometimes (38 percent).

About 18 percent of the journalists report asking fixers about their political affiliation often or always, while only 6.6 percent of fixers disclose their political affiliation often or always.

80 percent of fixers report questioning or challenging the editorial focus of a client’s story, while only 44 percent of journalists surveyed report being questioned or challenged by fixers.

Half the journalists say they have been corrected by a fixer, whereas fixers report correcting clients 80 percent of the time.

38 percent of journalists say they never rely on fixers for editorial guidance, while 45 percent of fixers say journalists always rely on them for editorial guidance.

About a third of the fixers identify as “journalist-fixers” and 75 percent of fixers say they have another profession, with fixing only a minor or moderate source of income.

The vast majority (92 percent) of journalists say they find fixers through “word of mouth,” rather than online fixer forums, lists of fixers, or social media. *

What the data could not show, but subsequent interviews indicated, are underlying tensions that often remain hidden in professional interactions. A fixer with more than a quarter century of experience working with one of the American news networks, put it bluntly: “Unfortunately they still look at us as ‘brown’ people with funny accents, and though I have reported and done some of the most important and daring stories for [the network], it is a struggle to get a producer credit. Meanwhile, white kids—years my junior—get their names up [in the credits].”

*Word of mouth often is the best way to find a fixer, but what are some pitfalls of all the foreign journalists who come to a country on an assignment all relying on the same few fixers every time? 

 

Working with translators

 

Things to consider:

  • Gender. You may need a male or female interpreter, depending on the story.
  • Accuracy. Especially if you’re working in audio/video, the translator can’t translate until the interview subject is finished talking, lest you ruin the tape; this means it’s it’s unlikely they will be able to provide an exact word-for-word translation in the moment. They will be able to capture the gist enough for you to ask a follow-up question, but you will need to have it fully translated afterward. And if you have an inexperienced translator who isn’t used to working with journalists, you might find that they’re butchering the translation, especially when it comes to emotion.*
  • Transparency. I’ve been in situations where it was clear to me that the translator was not telling me everything that was said, or adding something to what I had asked. This isn’t always a bad thing; sometimes a translator will know something you don’t and will be able to frame a question more diplomatically, but there is a risk that their perspective will affect your reporting.
  • Tone, emotion, and color. Unless you have an absolutely dynamite translator, you’re going to miss out on some of the nuance of what is said. Don’t be afraid to ask your translator to elaborate if you pick up on body language or a lighthearted moment and feel like you’re missing something. It’s a lot harder to detect bullshit from a source when going through a translator. If you have a really good one, they can help you out with this and let you know if they suspect the subject is lying or evading.
  • Distance. Building rapport with an interview subject and drawing them out is one of our main tasks as journalists. It’s a lot harder to do when you have someone acting as your intermediary. It can be tempting to address your questions to the interpreter (“Can you ask her to to talk about xyz?” but I find that when I focus on maintaining eye contact with the interviewee, addressing my questions to them, and finding time for little human moments, I end up with a better interview and more positive interaction.
  • Filming. On a practical level, if it’s a video interview, I find it’s often best to have the translator seated in the space next to the camera where you want the subject to look. No matter how much eye contact you try to make, the subject will usually end up addressing their answer to the translator. Try to sit close to them or even slightly behind so that if the subject’s eyes flick back and forth between you, it’s not too obvious.

Poynter: How journalists can work well with interpreters during interviews

*“I went to some village and just about everything had been washed away. I interviewed a man who had lost everything, and tears were coming out of his eyes and he was moving his hands to and fro, and the interpreter said something like, ‘I estimate the damage to my dwelling to be substantial.’” 

 

Finding Sources

If you are planning on working with a fixer, they will often take care of a lot of this for you. But still, if it’s possible, try and reach out to as many potential sources in advance as you can. On a reporting trip, time is precious and efficiency is the name of the game. 

You may end up working closely with an NGO or agency. Sometimes this can’t be avoided, but it’s important to be conscious of the dynamic here; ethically, can you report this story while being beholden to a group so intrinsically tied up in the situation?

Protecting Your Gear

Your equipment is your livelihood, so it’s important to make sure that if it gets stolen, confiscated, destroyed, or lost, you have it insured. Even a thousand-dollar theft deductible and a lag time of a month or two before your claim is settled and you can buy new gear (oof, I know) is better than losing everything in one fell swoop and being unable to work. 

Camera insurance is not cheap, especially if you’re working in areas the insurers deem to be risky. (I was living in a city that is affectionately nicknamed “Nairobbery” which meant I definitely fell under that category.) There are a lot of options out there; the best deals often change over time and differ from place to place, so shop around and see what your colleagues are doing and how much they’re paying. 

 

For what it’s worth, I used Hays Affinity, purchased through the National Press Photographer’s Association. It cost about $700 to $800 to cover $7,000 to $8,000 worth of equipment for a year. They covered me in Kenya, but any time I traveled anywhere new or added a piece of gear, I had to update them in advance to make sure it would be covered or so they could adjust the premium. It was a pain, but for that one really bad hour of my life after I realized that my fixer had left my camera bag on the side of a dirt road after he emptied out the trunk when we stopped to change a tire, I was very thankful that I had it. (DON’T HIRE CUT-RATE FIXERS, I’M TELLING YOU!)

If you’re going to an actual war zone, there are plans that will cover you for medical care, evacuation, involuntary repatriation, death, etc. Out of consideration for your family if not yourself, make sure you’re covered. 

 

Safety: Be Prepared

Take a hostile environment and/or first aid training if you have the opportunity to do so.

Have the right gear. If body armor is recommended where you’re going, make sure you don’t skimp. It can be difficult to bring this stuff across borders so often there are local journalist organizations where you can find gear to borrow or rent.

There will be a whole class later on in the semester devoted to detailed risk assessments, so stay tuned for a lot more on this topic.

 

Other Common-Sense Things to Consider

For those of us who aren’t doing frontline reporting or working in countries with repressive regimes, there are still some important items to weigh in advance.

How remote is the assignment? How close will you be to good medical care?

What vaccinations or other precautions are recommended or legally required for the place where you’ll be reporting? (In Tanzania, for instance, you can be denied entry if you don’t have your yellow fever vaccination card.)

What are the roads like where you’re going?

What is the weather going to be like?

What is considered appropriate clothing where you’re going?

What is the internet situation there?

Budgets for these trips are often lean, and news outlets appreciate reporters who can keep costs low. But don’t skimp on certain things: it’s worth it to spend a little more to stay at the hotel that has a backup generator, so you can charge your camera battery, your phone, and your laptop.

Use your network, talk to people who’ve already been there to get some advance street smarts. Don’t be a hero!

Bring snacks. Reporting can be hard work, and people are more likely to make dumb decisions or forget things when they’re hungry.

Asynchronous Assignment
Every September, the Photoville photo festival comes to New York. This year the festival is taking place both online and in person, though the exhibitions are scattered around the city and are all open-air (in a normal year, they’re concentrated under the Brooklyn Bridge and displayed in shipping containers). Many of these photo projects were done by photojournalists working internationally.
Beginning tonight and going through the weekend, there are various events you can register for. Your asynchronous assignment is to register for and attend one Photoville talk/workshop/lecture OR visit one of their exhibitions. You will write a 250 to 300 word blog post describing the experience, or the exhibit, and what you learned. (Ideally, pick something that has some sort of international angle, but if there’s something else  that you think is a better fit for your career goals, that’s fine.)
If you attend one of the live online sessions, you must do so in the next three days. (The schedule is here.) The exhibitions will be available for a much longer period of time. (You can search for the nearest exhibitions to you, by borough, here.)

Reminder on Due Dates:

The rough draft of your story will be due on Thursday, October 8.

The final draft will be due Thursday, October 22.

Pitch #1-Caribbean/West Indian: Re-birth of a nation

Hey everyone, here is my pitch for my written piece. I am currently working with an editor/publisher Priscilla Ramcharan. There will be a lot of revising as I go along, but I do believe this story will have many interesting facts that will catch my reader’s attention.

Headline: “Caribbean/West Indian discover everlasting life in America”

Lede: New York City- As many people start to embrace the diversity filled with many groups of people, one particular group have fought to settle in the land of the free and overcame racism, discrimination, poverty, and even now fighting to survive a deadly virus of COVID-19, which is the Caribbean/West Indian people. They strived to establish businesses, work for major companies, and most importantly take care of their families here and back home. The only problem the culture has not seen while living here in the U.S. is recognition, being recognized for many resources within their music, art, news, and work ethics. Their stereotypical view of when you hear someone from the Caribbean is listening to reggae, smoking marijuana, popular vacation spots, being from a poor country and having the best food. Well all of those descriptions are about to change.

Nut Graf: Although this story is not discussing much about their struggles during COVID-19, there will be some relations yet in fact some island borders have not opened to the public to travel. The Caribbean community feels as though they are not just there for vacation spots. They want to be able to enter the U.S. with a proper welcome rather than be discriminated against for being an immigrant and not having the same equal rights. Also they should have a ballot to choose the correct nationality because there has been confusion of choosing who they are. The biggest struggle faced is immigration, recognition, and proper interpretations.

 

I am currently still in the process of conducting an interview with Kawal P. Totaram and also the Caribbean community to share their ideas on their ways of living. 

I will be sharing photos and famous areas to embrace the cultures that have not been mentioned throughout other news sources as this will help build their businesses even during COVID-19.

 

Best,

Pitch #1

To Jack Mealy, the New York Times Breaking News Editor:

Good morning Jack. I’m a journalism student at Baruch College. Here is a topic about stimulate economy under the coronavirus pandemic in China. Since I returned to China and found this interesting topic that I would like to report it as the feature news. I think I can do better interviews because I truly see the difference of private venders selling products between Covid-19 pandemic and before in reality. Hopefully this topic could be a great topic to be reported to get more attention to the busines experts.

The Covid-19 economy crisis has ravaged marketing since January outbreak in China. Three months since it emerged, the government has effectively managed the virus and has it under control. Yet economy has been destroyed badly and business such as tourism, catering, entertainment and malls were closed completely during the Spring festival. This factor will become a burden, which will postpone the business returning back to the right track. Therefore, a new policy was made by the National Culture Administration for recovering economy in the shortest time. According to the rule of retail private business, street vendor selling products is legal in the period of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The National Culture City Agency evaluated data and announced street, curb market and fluidity vendors were found eligible to be added to the business policy in 2020. The Chinese chairman Mr. Xi used the National People’s Congress and Chinese Political Consultative Conference to proclaim and enforce stimulating economic policies, extremely reducing business loss in Covid-19 pandemic. Now, large cities have opened street vendor business throughout the day in different periods. Meanwhile, the city management guards would protect and maintain private stalls to be safe while doing their business on the street.

Mrs. Zexi Ning is a community leader who works at the city building council. She is in charge of Tei Xi zone Ying Chang community. Currently, she is busy handling with citizens returning to the community abroad with seven days quarantine. About street vendor policy, she said a few of townspeople had asked her if opened the private busines need sign a contract or not. They are readily to sign a paper that protect their stalls not to be molested. She demonstrated that before the virus outbreak, street vendors were prohibited and invalided to the city civilization. Since the new polity enforced that some of the people who had vendor experience may start with private busines without contracts. She also said to prevent virus recurrent in fall is the most important thing for now. Every week the community can receive two or three citizens aboard back to the community. What she needs to do is tracing the people follow the seven days quarantine at home (after 14 quarantine in hotel).

The street vendors have two kinds way to do, which are congregate selling and self-stall. The congregation is usually selling snacks and small dishes in the evening and the other one is selling clothes in the morning. Mrs. Juanhua Liu is a fifty-six-year-old private stall owner. She drives her mini-van with clothes to the main street of Nan Shi middle road every afternoon. Selling on the street is not hard to do because she had been selling kids clothes in market for a few years. Because of coronavirus was spread fast, she had to shut her business down immediately. In three months no income so that she has to take her clothes selling on the street. She was happy to hear about the government released a new policy for small business to cover the loss for individual business owners such like her. Before she put her products on the side curb, she was wondering if people judged her or not. Afterward, she saw many private sellers sold their products with no troubles then she decided to do her business on the street. She also said, selling in the market needs to pay rent for individual stall while street selling is much easier than that. Whether she goes home either early or late, it depends on her. So she was thankful the new rule that give her a second chance to earn money like before.

This report will write about the new policy for relief private business’ financial burden. From the community leader Mrs. Ning to self-stall Mrs. Liu, based on their work and current circumstance to analyze how important the new economy policy for individual sellers and general increase the marketing rate. The news backdrop is happened in ShenYang City of Liao Ning Province in China. I will introduce the background is under the Covid-19 and then focused on Mrs. Ning to talk about what the new policy is and what the impact to the people. I also will put more length on Mrs. Liu to talk about more her comment and benefit for her business.

Best,

Tao Zhang.

Pitch 1

Dear Dean P. Baquet

In our modern day, we have a president in office who has a relationship with Russia that is frankly too close for comfort. There have many allegations of Russian collusion with varying degrees of evidence. The NYTimes has covered this whole debacle in great detail over the years of Trump’s presidency, and especially now since its campaign/election season. As a Russian-American, and an aspiring freelance journalist, I’d like to go in depth regarding this whole Russia America relationship. While Trump and Russia seem like an odd combination, the love for Right-Wing Conservatives is very much loud and open among the Russian community. My goal in this proposed article (that I think would greatly compliment your previous coverage surrounding Russia) is to explore and explain the mind of the average Russian-American that’s in favor of Right-Wing Conservatism, and more specifically Trump. It’s no secret that Russian-Americans have always supported the Right, however, in this piece I shall explain the who, what, where, and why of the situation, and hope to shed some light as to the driving motivations of Russian-Americans when it comes to supporting the Right.

Lede: Trump has a friendly relationship with Russia, specifically Putin, much more friendly than any U.S president has had in history. While most Americans see this as dangerous, Russian-Americans seem to love the fact that their favorite U.S leader and political party is friends with their home country’s leader.

Nut Graff: In the context of our current presidency, as well as today’s political climate, the relationship between the U.S and Russia hasn’t been as important and as timely since the Cold War. With news of Russian collusion, it is arguably more important than ever to completely understand the relationship between the two countries and their people. Contrary to what has always been depicted pop culture, Russians, more specifically Russian-Americans, have always supported Conservative Right-Wing politics and its leaders.

I’d love to hear what you think about my story idea, as I think its a topic that needs to be addressed in our modern day in order to fully understand certain undertones present in our current political climate. Let me know what you think, and I look forward to hearing back from you!

Sincerely,

Daniel Bulaev

pitch 1

Hello James Estrin,

My name is Quinn Reeves and I am a Brooklyn based Journalist with a story that I believe would be perfectly aligned with the brand and the general content of the New York Times Lens.  I was especially taken with the recent story and beautiful photos from “Images of an El Salvador Town Transformed by Migration” as I am hoping to cover a similar focus but in our own city.

I have a great photo story pitch documenting the changes gentrification has brought to “Little Poland” in Greenpoint Brooklyn.  Many New York transplants coming to the city for high paying technology and finance jobs see Brooklyn as a “cheaper” and “trendy” living alternative which has caused the displacement of many locals.  Because of this in recent years (2010-14) Greenpoint saw a spike in their average rent by 78% which has greatly impacted the original immigrants that build this community.  Seventy-eight percent is huge and possibly devastating to the people who found their livelihood in this neighborhood.

Many of the hardworking Polish immigrants have built businesses from the ground up and lost them because of the changing landscape.  Now when you walk through Greenpoint and look around you see majority chain drugstores and new apartment complexes going up.  It would also be valuable to find out how COVID-19 has impacted Polish businesses with the already increasing rent rates.

I want to spend the day in Greenpoint photographing what remains of the Polish community/businesses and compare it to what the “new” Greenpoint looks like.  Speaking with the owners of these restaurants and shops about their experiences would be of great importance for informative captions.  It would be interesting to discover how a business such as “Polka Dot Café” and “Pierozek” from the 2019 NYT article have survived and changed over time.  I would include a variety of subjects/shots from individual people to buildings and food.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing back!

Best,

Quinn Reeves