Month: September 2020

Dear Editor of The Korea Times,
Hope your week is going well. This is Stacy Kim, a freelance reporter and journalism student at Baruch College. I’m currently working on an article about the future of the Korean peninsula. Prior to the reunification, which will happen eventually, Koreans need to be informed to strategically plan for the time they will live in a unified country. In my article, I’ll pick the brains of people who have expertise in German history or have lived through the time when the country was unified. I believe it will be a valuable lesson for Koreans. I also interviewed my grandfather, who had to experience the separation from his family and is still waiting to attend the reunion. Although the reality seems harsh, I truly believe we will eventually be one Korea and go through a similar path that Germany has been still going through. Here’s my pitch for more detail:

The night of November 9, 1989 has left an indelible mark in German history. When East Germany announced that its citizens could cross the border, more than 2 million people crowded around the wall and pulled it down using hammers and picks. Converged along the wall, a huge crowd shouted out, “Tor auf!” (Open the gate!”).

The crowd, filled with ecstasy, stands in stark contrast with people who were sundered in the chaos of the war. In 1945, the Korean peninsula was divided into North Korea and South Korea. The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, ended in a truce, not in peace. While nearly five million people died in the war, a number of families were separated into two spheres of influence along the 38th parallel.

“I never knew it would be this long,” Chi-man Lee, a 90-year-old man who is a victim of the Korean War, said. “I never knew that I would never see my mother, brother, and sisters again. I regret the day I got on the ship without them at the port in Hwanghae.”

Despite any remorse, nothing can change the history of divided families. In 1951, Chi-man — who was 19 years old — got on the ship, which was sent by the United States, with his father and older sister and came to Busan in South Korea. At the port, the family was confident that they would meet again in South Korea.

However, their reunion — which seemed guaranteed for Chi-man’s family — became an unpredictable future with time passing, and the 38th parallel — the parallel dividing the Korean peninsula — has left deep scars in two Koreas.

Divided for more than 70 years, many people — who are now grey-haired — are still waiting to be reunited with their lost families. Although more than 20,000 people met their long-lost loved ones in reunions between the North and South since 1988, a lot of people are still on the waiting list. According to the New York Times, “Since 1988, more than 75,200 South Koreans who applied to attend the reunion have died without seeing their parents, siblings or children again. More than 56,000 South Koreans, the vast majority in their 80s and 90s, are waiting to be selected by lottery for the next round of reunions, which has yet to be scheduled.”

Chi-man also applied to attend the reunion in 1988 but still has not heard back. Therefore, in this article, I would like to write about the pain over separation from family and touch on how Korean reunification can come about and at what cost. I think this article would help further the conversation presented in the article “Experts seek new perspective in achieving a unified Korea” and will help provide readers with a more well-rounded knowledge of this topic and perspectives of Germany on reunifying the country. Feel free to make any editorial changes that you see fit, and please let me know if you have any questions for me.

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best regards,
Stacy

Pitch Workshop

We’ll give feedback on your pitches together as a class. Think like an editor would! Is this story a good fit for your publication? Is the angle clear? Is it newsworthy? Does the journalist make a good argument for why they should be commissioned to report it?

 

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Update on major assignments and and due dates:

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

The final draft will be due Thursday, October 22.

 

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Discussion: Press Freedom

Today we’re going to take a closer look at press freedom around the world.

The RSF Press Freedom Index

Where do you think the US falls on this list?

KPCC Journalist Tackled, Arrested While Trying To Cover L.A. Protest

There are a lot of ways by which governments around the world restrict press freedom. The threat of arrest; making it unrealistically expensive or complicated to get a press visa; violence. We’re going to look at some recent and ongoing high-profile cases of journalists being harassed, physically threatened or detained, or their work otherwise suppressed.

Leading Independent Media In Belarus Publish Blank Pages In Solidarity With Jailed Journalists

European Parliament calls on Philippines to drop charges against Rappler journalist Maria Ressa

Mongabay editor arrested in Indonesia

 

Two Reuters reporters freed in Myanmar after more than 500 days in jail

Here is the story that they were reporting when they were arrested.

 

Iran releases Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian in prisoner swap with US

“Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist who serves as the newspaper’s global opinions writer, previously spent a staggering 544 days in Iranian captivity before being released in January 2016.”

“The closed-door trial of Rezaian began in May when he appeared before a hardline judge on charges of espionage, collecting confidential information and spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic. The Post reporter was held on unspecified charges for more than seven months before appearing in court. He was kept incommunicado for most of his time in jail, with little access to his lawyers and family.”

 

Anna Day’s detention in Bahrain

Bearing Witness to the Rise of ISIS: The Story of Anna Therese Day

Having dared to document young Bahrainis clashing with police, Day and her crew were charged with posing as tourists and taking part in illegal demonstrations. Even though her captors knew they were reporters, they were “accused of participating in ‘unlawful protests,’ as agitators,” Day told me when we met in New York on February 21, three days after she returned to the states.

Officers bound Day’s hands and ankles, moving her four times from one jail to another throughout the night. They Googled her and pulled up a story she had written for The Huffington Post.

“You’re a journalist, you hate our government, you’re working with terrorists!” her interrogators shouted. Deprived of water, food, medicine, and sleep, each of the four Americans was separately questioned about their sources and one another. Their captors wouldn’t permit them to call the U.S. embassy, their lawyers, or their families. After 24 hours, all four were brought before a court to be charged for participating in illegal demonstrations.

The sentence: “Ten days to two years.”

“I am not going to be sentenced for two years!” Anna shouted. Her guard tried to calm her down by bringing her a chicken dish. But there was a much greater worry on her mind: confiscation of the film they had shot for an in-progress documentary.

“Where’s the film?” her crew asked, when they were briefly reunited.

“I have it,” she whispered. “Don’t ask where.”

Opinion: Turkey should look to its own brutal treatment of journalists

A list of arrested journalists in Turkey

American journalist denied re-entry to Turkey for ‘no reason’

BBC journalist detained, deported from Turkey

Photojournalist Phil Moore Released After Arrest in Burundi’

#FreeAJStaff

So before you go anywhere, make sure you’re well-versed in the press freedom landscape of the country you’re visiting. Find out what kind of accreditation you need to operate there legally/safely. The Vulture Club group on Facebook can be a great resource for finding out this sort of thing. We’ll talk more about risk assessments when planning a reporting trip in a future class—just remember that press freedom should always be one of your considerations when weighing the risks of any international reporting.

To: Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo, Remezcla Features Editor, <[email protected]>

From: Naydeline Mejia, <[email protected]>

Hi Ecleen, 

I hope you’re well! It’s been a while since we’ve been in contact. I see that you’ve transitioned roles from News & Special Projects Editor to Features Editor. That is amazing, congrats! 

I am contacting you because I have an idea for a local community story that I would like to run by you, and hopefully you would be interested in commissioning it and/or passing it along to the new culture editor. 

The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of Americans unemployed and flooding food banks as the need for affordable groceries surges. Mission Helping Hands is a mutual aid program based in the South Bronx working to provide quality meals and provisions for the community. The South Bronx population is largely made up of Hispanics, many of them of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, who have been dealing with food scarcity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In response to COVID-19, Mission Helping Hands started The Garden Project. Through the Garden Project, MHH has partnered with three community gardens in the area to provide a healthy, sustainable food source for the community. These gardens serve multiple purposes as safe spaces for children to play, points for food distribution, education centers for providing free courses on nutrition for community members, as well as mental health spaces. 

I believe that this story is important and timely as MHH is helping address a need that has been exacerbated by the pandemic: food insecurity. Even after the spread of the virus has slowed and been put under control, The Garden Project will continue to serve as a vital resource for the poorest congressional district in America. 

I am aware that Remezcla has done similar coverage recently, and I hope that this story will help to keep the conversation going on the site. As you know, I have done similar charity-based stories in the past, specifically thinking about this piece, and I am especially excited to cover a program right outside of my neighborhood. 

For this story I am envisioning around 800 words with photography, which I can provide. 

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

Best,

Naydeline

Hi Leah!

I’m Caeden!  I’m a political economy student at the City University of New York, where I focus on uneven development and financial imperialism. I’ve been living in Argentina since February, where I’ve propped up a front row seat to a truly curious country. With your background in writing on international affairs and development, I’m sure you know that Argentina is rich with stories about the pitfalls of a global economy. We briefly interacted on twitter, where I asked if you’d be interested in working with an inexperienced writer. With candor, I’d like you to know that this will be my first time reporting internationally!

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The infamously cyclical Argentine economy, like many in the underdeveloped Global South, has always lived and died by exports. After a historic crash in 2001, Argentina rode the commodity boom to a recovery that would eventually be known as the “Argentine Miracle.” Argentina transitioned much of its famed farmland from cow production to soy production, and is now the 3rd largest soybean exporter in the world, supplying China with endless amounts of the product. These exports brought much needed foreign reserves to Argentina and were essential in stabilizing the economy.

This apparently miraculous recovery was not without a darker side. Soybeans are not a labor intensive product, and thousands of agricultural workers were forced out of their jobs and into precarious shantytowns situated around the cities. These shantytowns, villas as they’re called here, are now the centers of the pandemic and the source of countless deaths. In addition to worker displacement, Pueblos Fumigados across the interior of Argentina have been blanketed by fertilizer planes, turning water supplies and subsistence crops into poison. The generation born after the initial soybean boom has seen high rates of malignant deformities in children, a terrible testament to the dark side of agricultural exports.

The Argentine economy, already reeling from double digit inflation and rickety fundamentals, has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. With dwindling foreign reserves and a GDP poised to drop by 12.5%, China is offering yet another potential lifeline in the form of pork imports. However, just like soybeans, factory farmed pork comes with a poison pill of it’s own. In addition to the high methane emissions inherent in factory farming, the work conditions in pork plants are ripe for the transfer of zoonotic disease, potentially resulting in another public health crisis.

I’d like to use this story to explore the pitfalls of the export economy, and detail the sacrifices that Argentina has made in order to

I see this story being around 2000 words, featuring interviews with sources that will address the economic, social, ecological, and labor impacts of Argentina’s export-oriented economy in 2020. Depending on travel restrictions, I’d like to travel to the interior of the country to interview and take pictures.

Look forward to hearing if you think this will be a good fit for Vice, and congrats on the new role!

Best,
Caeden Ignaszak

Dear Michael Slackman (Assistant Managing Editor, International Section, at the NY Times),

I hope you have been well since we last spoke. I’ve been following your tweets and really appreciate how you continue to urge people to wear masks and social distance. The more voices speaking up about this, the better. I know it’s a strange time for everyone. Despite everything going on, I have been doing some work with the Haitian community in Brooklyn and have come across a story that I believe would interest the Times.

 

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island, but their relationship has historically been anything but peaceful. The past these two nations share is one that is complicated, nuanced, and everchanging. From tribal feuds, to colonial land disputes, to modern-day discrimination, each country has been both the victim and the oppressor. Discriminatory rhetoric has been developed, and cooperation is rare. Immigrants from both countries face a myriad of similar problems when entering the United States, but once here, what they share usually doesn’t bring them together. Whether here or in their home country, prejudice trickles down from generation to generation.

However, younger Haitians and Dominicans are changing this. Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, these divides are disappearing. Elders in the Haitian community have witnessed younger, second-generation Haitians coming together with other Caribbean immigrants, specifically Dominicans, in ways that were previously unheard-of. With their tenuous pasts in mind, why and how are these ethnic groups now bridging the gap between them? The Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and recent social justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter, have shed a light on larger issues that affect both communities. These newly minted challenges have demonstrated how pointless these historical biases can be and pushed these cliques closer together than they ever were before.

 

The piece will become more fully formed once I speak with some people from the Dominican Republic, but the principle idea behind the piece is to get an idea of what the future holds for these two communities in New York City.

 

Sincerely,

Luke Stevens

Here is the pitch for my first story. I am continually revising it, and it will be a written piece.

Headline: “Mexican New Yorkers in the Post-Coronavirus World”

Potential Lede: Brooklyn, NY – Mrs. Perez is a busy woman. She is a wife, mother of a son and a daughter, and she works in an illustrious career in finance. Yet, given how stacked her schedule is, Mrs. Perez still makes time to volunteer and give back to the Mexican community through an esteemed committee she runs. As someone who lived through the peak of Covid-19, she can tell firsthand how the pandemic devastated the Mexican community of NYC.

Nut Graf: In the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic, Mexican New Yorkers are devastated by the loss of their relatives due to Covid-19. Many Mexican-Americans in New York were essential workers, so they had to power through hard jobs amidst the peak of the pandemic. After such tremendous loss and tragedy, Mexican-Americans are looking to rebuild their lives in the post-Coronavirus era.

 

 

MatthewRamos_StoryPitchSep17

To Dollars&Sense

Good morning,

As a follow up to your article about Baruch’s fall semester, I have a written story that might be of interest to you.

As summertime comes to an end, the declining temperatures are accompanied by one recurrent event; the start of a new academical school year for around 20 million college students across the country. According to Open doors in 2019 more than 1 millions of these students were International students, meaning allowed on the American soil based solely on their school visa.

Due to sanitary protection measures scholars will follow classes from the (not always advantageous) comfort of their own home for the entirety of the fall semester, and for International students forced to attend courses thousands of miles away from their campus, or asked to defer their studies to 2021 COVID-19 has become a real challenge to their education.

Here is a glimpse of the article, let me know if you have any questions.

Headline: (Almost) Back to School for International Students

Lede: Casablanca, Morocco – For Rania El Frougui, 18, the Fall 2020 semester marked the opening of a new chapter in her educational journey as she prepared to transfer to college in New York City. But border restrictions imposed by COVID-19, forced her to postpone her school start.

Nutgraph: The ongoing global pandemic that urged American universities to conduct distance learning in the Spring 2020, continue to revisit the way education is delivered.  Like Rania, many international students especially freshmen are asked to push back their education to 2021 or to follow lectures from their home country. “The main reason I came to the US was to get a better education,” said another student currently in Quito whose family needed him.

Best,

The Beat Memo

The country I have chosen to focus on is Cuba. I am determined to find and examine the Cuban population in New York.

In the 2010 census it was reported that there was an estimated 1,785,547 Cubans in the United States. However, in 2017 the Pew Research Center analysis of the U.S Census Bureau reported an estimated 2.3 million Cubans in the U.S. This was based on self-identified and Hispanics with Cuban origin. In the NYC tri-state area, there is an estimated 70,000 Cuban people. With New York and New Jersey combined there are an estimated 154,165 Cuban people, the second largest population being in New Jersey at around 80,000. In the home country of Cuba there are around 11,326,616 people.

Although the third largest population of Cuban people is in New York, there is not one definitive region where they all live. New Jersey’s Union City and West New York (also known as “Havana on the Hudson,” is home to the second largest population of Cuban people. Since the 1960-70’s The Cuban population in New York and New Jersey has blended in with that of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.

It is hard to say because there isn’t one specific field that Cuban people are working in. They have integrated with other communities and populations making them a diverse group of people in the U.S.

Cubans started entering the U.S. in large numbers in 1959. This was a direct result of the Cuban communist revolution led by Fidel Castro. The revolution was a movement against the former Cuban President Fulgencio Batista and his military style dictatorship. Fidel Castro was sworn in on February 16^th, 1959.

From April-October in the 1980’s, more than 125,000 Cuban immigrants flooded the U.S. Castro opened port Mariel and allowed whoever wanted to leave the country to do so, as long as they had someone picking them up. He also freed and allowed prisoners and mental patients to flood the port. They did this via boats, the movement is known as the Mariel Boatlift. It ended after six months by mutual agreement between Cuba and the U.S. Cuban people had a difficult time conforming to the communist government policies that Castro was implementing.

They fled the failing Cuban economy in search of new opportunities and political freedom.

Some organizations I have found in New York are:

us-cubanormalization.org

cubanculturalcenter.org

centerforcubanstudies.org

I was also able to find a Baruch directory of Cuba-related organizations and websites:

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/academics/anthropology/documents/DirectoryCubaBook.pdf

The Cuban government closely monitors the Cuban media. It is known that Cuba has a very repressive media presence. Often, things are censored or not fully disclosed. The Granma newspaper is the only national daily paper and the Communist party of Cuba controls it. They’re also weekly publications known as, Tribuna de La Habana and Juventud Rebelde. There is a biweekly newsmagazine known as the Bohemia. Cuba’s official new agency is Prensa Latina and they publish several magazines in Cuba. Cubans However cannot read books, magazines, or newspapers that have not been approved by the government. They’re also not allowed receiving any sort of media from other countries or other people visiting the country. I have witnessed this as I have traveled to Cuba twice and experienced the censorship firsthand.

The relationship between the U.S. and Cuba has been strained for more than sixty years. When Obama was president, he and Raul Castro took steps to normalize the bilateral relationship between the two. However, the Trump administration has reversed a lot of the progress made by former President Obama, including diplomatic ties, travel, and trade. According to The Havana Consulting group:

For some years now, remittances have been the main source of income for Cuban families. In 2015, their value in cash was 1.95 times higher than the aggregate of the average annual salaries of all of the country’s workers.

Almost my entire family is still in Cuba and for every $100 we send the government takes $30. Remittances to Cuba are significant to the country’s economy but it seems the government benefits more so than its people.

The most recent year I could find was 2018, where the GDP per capita in Cuba was reported at 8,821.82 USD. This places Cuba’s rank at 76 as estimated by World Bank in 2019. I also came across an article that claims the government in Cuba is poorer than it is actually reporting according to a study by the Inter-American Development Bank. The article is dated Jan. 2018 and I am providing the link for anyone who would like to read it.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article195681589.html

Some of the major industries in Cuba include: petroleum, nickel, cobalt, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, steel, cement, and sugar.

The current system of government in Cuba is socialist. This has been the case since 1959; the adopted principal became “one state, one party.” Although it is a socialist system of government it has taken on a lot of communist characteristics. Isla de la Juventud and other minor archipelagos also fall under Cuban control.

The only information I was able to find on the NY consul general is as follows:

Consulate of Cuba in New York

315 Lexington Avenue, 38th Street

New York, NY 10016

USA

(212) 689 7215

[email protected]

Some other websites claim the consulate in NYC is closed and available in Washington DC. I have reached out to both contacts and have yet to hear back for options in NYC.

 Potential Story Ideas:

1. How does the idea of success differ between Cuban immigrants and Cuban-American citizens? Do Cuban immigrants believe that fleeing their country helped them reach success? Do Cuban-American citizens feel that Cuban immigrants did the right thing by fleeing? I essentially want to understand more of how Cuban immigrants and Cuban-American citizen’s perspectives differ if at all. How has being raised under Cuban law affected the perspective or opinions of someone who was not born in the country but raised by Cuban born parents?
2. How does lack of media affect mood and future goals? It is known that Cuban media is controlled by the government and censored to fit the governments interests rather than to inform its people. I would like to dive deeper into the realm of “is being ignorant really being at bliss?” How do Cuban people know if they’re being told the truth or anything useful? Is it possible to progress in life with little to no information on the happenings of not only the country but also the world?
3. How has Covid-19 further hindered Cuban people? With lack of resources including food, money, electricity, and medication how have the people of Cuba managed to survive?

Beat Memo: Dominican Republic

How many live in the US? In the tristate area? How many in the home country?

Dominican demographic in United States: Since 2000, the Dominican-origin population has increased 159%, growing from 797,000 to 2.1 million over the period. At the same time, the Dominican foreign-born population living in the U.S. grew by 106%, from 543,800 in 2000 to 1.1 million in 2017.

Around 47% of Dominican Americans live in New York state with 41% in New York City alone, close to 40% of all Dominicans in the city live in the Bronx. Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Dominicans in the country and it is the only state where Dominicans are the largest Hispanic group.

However, my focus will be about Dominicans specifically in Washington Heights or actually in Dominican Republic.

What jobs do a significant percentage of them have?

Dominicans are more likely to be employed in service occupations or production, transportation, and material moving occupations.

Dominicans overall have significantly lower incomes compared to the total foreign- and native-born populations. In 2016, households headed by a Dominican immigrant had a median income of $37,000, compared to $54,000 and $58,000 for all immigrant and U.S.-born households, respectively.

Further, in 2016, some 24 percent of Dominican families were living in poverty, a much higher rate than the 9 percent for the U.S. born and 15 percent for immigrant families overall.

Why did they come? When?

Large-scale migration from the Dominican Republic to the United States began in the 1960s, in the wake of economic and political turbulence that occurred after dictator Rafael Trujillo was killed by rebels in 1961 and the U.S. military and other government agencies intervened.

But more recently, Dominican’s come to the United States for the work possibilities and the and opportunity to grow.

What are some major organizations/advocacy groups/resources in this community?

The Juan Pablo Duarte Foundation Community Space

In Washington Heights/Inwood, stores owned or operated by Dominicans stand out as one of the most significant economic phenomena in the area.

List/link the major media houses in the home country.

• El Caribe – daily.
• Hoy – daily.
• Listin Diario – daily.
• El Nacional – evening and Sunday.
• Diario Libre – daily.

How strong are relationships with the home country? How significant are remittances to the home country’s economy?

Dominicans are very prideful of their homeland. They visit very often and stay in touch religiously with folks back home.

In the homeland what is the GDP per capita? Where does that rank in the world?

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Dominican Republic was worth 88.94 billion US dollars in 2019, according to official data from the World Bank and projections from Trading Economics. The GDP value of Dominican Republic represents 0.07 percent of the world economy.

What is the system of government? When did this system come into place? Was there a colonial power? (Or was it the colonial power?)

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy, where the President of the Dominican Republic functions as both the head of the government and head of the multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral National Congress.

Name of the NY consul general. How long has he/she been in the role?

Eligio Jaquez, since July 2020.

Possible story ideas:

First Story: What life is like as a med student in Dominican Republic with low resources in hospitals. And how the coronavirus has affected their day to day routine and if online learning has affected the process in any way.

Second story:   Related to a Dominican owned business here in Washington heights. How has coronavirus affected the business and has the community being so tight knit helped it stay afloat.

Third Story: I don’t have a concrete idea on this, but I want to write on how tourism has been affected in Dominican Republic.

Sources:

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrants-dominican-republic-united-states-2012

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19286985

https://patch.com/new-york/washington-heights-inwood/dominican-cultural-center-opens-washington-heights

https://tradingeconomics.com/dominican-republic/gdp

 

The country I will be reporting on will Bolivia. I’ve decided Bolivia because it is currently going to a presidential election, however, due to the pandemic, there are delays. The previous president also recently resigned due to protests against him because of accusations of voter fraud by his party. My parents also migrated from Bolivia and nearly all my ancestors originate from there. It would be an interesting reporting on the views of Bolivian people still residing in Bolivia and many that live in New York at the time.

Although I am yet to find an estimate on how many Bolivians live in the tri-state area, according to the 2020 Census, Bolivians make up the 99,210 of the United States population.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Americans

In Bolivia, people mostly find jobs in Agriculture/Forestry, Mining, Banking/Financing, Tourism, Oil, Natural Gas, and Electricity. This is because a lot of people in Bolivia live on farms and in the mountains, focusing on agriculture. In Bolivia, its economy has always been dominated by mining, cattle, and sheep herding. In the U.S. jobs, Bolivians take vary as there are as many college graduates as there are students. Often immigrants from Bolivia take jobs in clerical and administrative works.

Sources:

https://www.everyculture.com/multi/A-Br/Bolivian-Americans.html

A lot of immigrants from Bolivia come to the U.S. to work as professionals. This is because Bolivia is one of the poorest nations in the world. Although this has been harming Bolivia and has stripped them and South America of educated workers.

Apart from organizations that have helped organize rallies against Bolivia’s corrupt previous president, the small community that my parents have knowledge of has connected with Bolivian immigrants from across New York City.

In Bolivia, the currency is “bolivianos” which 1/6.91 of a U.S. dollar. The GDP per capita in Bolivia is 3,552.1 USD as of 2019. It currently ranks 30^th among 32 countries in the Americas region, begin well below world averages as well as regional. Major industries in Bolivia are mining, smelting, petroleum, food/beverages, tobacco, handcrafts, clothing, jewelry.

Sources:

https://www.heritage.org/index/country/bolivia#:~:text=Bolivia%20is%20ranked%2030th%20among,the%20regional%20and%20world%20averages.

Bolivia’s government type is the Presidential Republic.

Sources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html

Three potential story ideas:

1. Political views across the Bolivian community in New York during the presidential election.
2. How the small Bolivian community in New York still follows traditions during the pandemic and how frequent business-traveling Bolivians are handling a sudden stop in air travel.
3. How COVID-19 devasted the Bolivian community and it’s a comparison to how communities in Bolivia are handling the pandemic.