International Reporting

I plan to cover Pakistan as my beat. The country is going through a major disaster that has “has swept away lives, homes, crops and bridges as weeks of historic rains fuel deadly flash floods. Almost half a million people have been displaced, with vast areas cut off from supplies and power.” Moreover there is a huge political tension in the country, denial of climate change and no press freedom at all. 

There is consulate General of Pakistan in NY and a part of Brooklyn is also known as Little Pakistan, so I have an opportunity to talk to public, community leaders or representatives who can reflect on the issues going on back in the country and how it is affecting their lives

The country I’d like to do my reporting on is Russia. I’d like to bring more awareness to the homophobia that has been occurring in this country since January 2013 when President Vladimir Putin signed a bill that, “a law outlawing propaganda of “nontraditional sexual relations,” thus enacting a federal ban that violates the constitutionally guaranteed rights of a community he is sworn to protect.” This has led to the migration of Russians arriving to the United States seeking either asylum or are refugees from their country. 

Nonetheless the LGBTQ+ community has been supported by countries like Armenia and Belarus. Other countries have expressed their homophobia through different legislative laws. Organizations in New York have created support groups for those in the LGTBQ community in NYC that are asylum and refugees who are in need of mental health support, peer support groups, health and wellness programs and emergency cash. 

One of the main goals for this coverage is to shed a more larger issue on the LGBTQ+ community now that Ukraine and Russia are at war while also many Russian’s not wanting to be apart of the war but also having to flee due to their rights in the LGBTQ+ community. The languages that are spoken in Russia are a variety of them while they also share a Russian Orthodox Christian religion. 

I decided to cover Haiti this semester because…

Discussion: We’ll go through your blogs posts about the beats you’ve decided on or are considering. We’ll discuss them together.

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Assignment: The Beat Memo

Due date: Tuesday, Sept. 13 by class time

Answer/fill in the following questions (if applicable). Be thorough; the final product should be at least two pages long, single-spaced.

Country/corresponding immigrant community in NYC:

Has the country been in the news lately? If so, for what?

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

In the tristate area, where do they live?

What types of jobs do a significant percentage of them have?

Why did they come to New York/the US? When?

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

Do they have local media house/s? If so, list them.

List/link the major media houses in the home country. Are they reliable? What is the press landscape like there?

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

In the homeland what is the GDP per capita? Where does that rank in the world? What are the major industries?

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

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

Link to three news stories that have been published about the immigrant community in New York.

Are there any restaurants, bars, small businesses etc. that are owned/frequented by members of the immigrant community? Are there any other informal community spaces you can identify in the city?

Give three potential story ideas. (Doesn’t need to be a fully fleshed-out pitch yet, but should be well thought-out.)

And finally: Conduct an interview with a community leader. This initial interview should help you get a sense of what some of the issues are in the community, and help you get some story ideas flowing. Perhaps this community leader can recommend some other contacts for you to reach out to. You may use quotes or sound bites from this interview in one of your major story assignments this semester if it ends up being relevant.

Your beat memos should be posted on the class blog. The community leader interviews can be submitted to me either via transcript or audio/video recording, by email or wetransfer.com, which I recommend for large audio/video files.

By the way, if anyone wants a free NYTimes subscription: www.nytimes.com/CUNY

I am planning to cover news coverage on Myanmar from New York because there are many protests and community gatherings for the revolution. I am from Myanmar and since the coup d’etat, the country has been in turmoil. The New York Myanmar community is constantly hosting protests, food fundraisers and cultural gatherings more than it ever had to donate funds to the Spring Revolution of Myanmar that is still currently taking place. 

I have resources and connections with the community leaders, the Chairman and members of the National League for Democracy in the U.S.A. and band members of the Spring Revolution Band from New York. I would like to cover political issues, social and cultural issues that are directly affected from the revolution and from the viewpoint of New York Myanmar community members who are trying to do everything they can to fight for democracy. 

Additionally, I want to cover arts and music and how the Myanmar community is using these mediums to fight for the revolution. I also want to cover the food and culture of Myanmar and about new Myanmar restaurants opening up along with the phone store and a jewelry store in Jackson Heights. There are some business aspects of the community to cover as well as cultural events. I’ve done reporting on fundraising through Myanmar art and about the silent art auction. I want to continue covering the art of Myanmar both in New York and Myanmar. 

For International Reporting, I would like to cover China. As a Chinese-American, I feel that this would be the most accessible route. As Chinese immigrants make up the second largest foreign-born population in NYC, there isn’t a shortage of people to interview. There’s Chinatown in Manhattan, Flushing in Queens, Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, etc. However, I am confused about what official sources I can reach out to.

China is known as one of the least press-friendly countries in the world, and has been for decades. Many aspects of Chinese economy, culture, and education are tightly regulated by the government. Whatever official sources may have certain agendas in mind.

Many journalists, when reporting on this issue, have been detained for non-positive coverage. Chinese diaspora are often quietly IP-blocked from accessing Chinese websites, to prevent the spreading of information. These diaspora often have to use VPNs to access these Chinese websites. This means I could run into issues during reporting.

A preliminary story idea is where the Chinese diaspora in New York get their news about China from. As journalism has moved to online publication, I suspect that many Chinese diaspora get their news from WeChat. WeChat, which was nearly banned by former President Trump in 2020, is all encompassing for Chinese people. From messaging, video calls, social media, food delivery, transportation, and even toilet paper dispensers in public restrooms (this one I know from personal experience). WeChat is where Chinese people have lived their entire digital lives, and is all they’ve known. However, there is obviously regulation in regards to the Chinese government in play. The question is, in a new environment with more diverse and uncensored sources of news, why do Chinese diaspora rely on WeChat for news?