Multimedia Reporting Fall 2022

Pitches

We’ll discuss your pitch ideas together. Things to consider:

Is the story newsy in some way? (What makes something news?) Does it have an angle? (What is an angle?)

Does the reporter have the access they need to execute this idea, or is it realistic that they’ll be able to get it?

Is the story visual in nature, aka is there potential for strong photos?

Is it doable in the timeframe we are working with?

Photo Essays

Rough draft due by midnight Thursday, Sept. 22. That class will be devoted to editing and production on the photo essays.

(NO CLASSES IN BETWEEN)

Final draft due by class time Thursday, Oct. 6

NYC is home to some of the richest cultural celebrations around the world and since 1926 the feast of San Gennaro has brought a piece of Italy’s Naples right here to Manhattan’s own little Italy. Every year in mid-September, Mulberry Street is lined with vendors selling the best Italian food NYC has to offer. Live music accompanies you as you walk the blocks of little Italy, a fresh cannoli in one hand and a hot slice in the other. After a bite you can end the night with a couple of fair games and a Ferris wheel ride at the carnival. 

This is the festivals second year back since it was first canceled in 2019 due to the ongoing pandemic.Before then the feast of san gennaro was held for 92 consecutive years and initially celebrations consisted of a small one day block party.Today, it’s grown to span over 11 blocks and 12 days.

It all began with Newly arrived Italian immigrants.Who despite leaving their home for hope of a better life wanted to bring a piece of Naples with them.They decided to host a party in honor of their Patron Saint, San Gennaro.A caltholic bishop,considered a loyal follower of christ and the protector of all Neapolitans.

This year would be my first time attending the Feast of San Gennaro and I hope to experience everything it has to offer. With multiple days this means more to capture in terms of attendees, vendors and traditions. It’s a great opportunity to explore the rich history of little Italy through the eyes of the families who’ve established century long traditions. I will be photographing the food, the people, and the attractions. In doing so, I hope to capture their stories and enhance the photos through my interviews.

For my photo essay I wanted to show and illustrate some points about privacy. A little while back I came up with an idea that the saying “Privacy is power” is in fact wrong. To sum it up, power is having influence over the behavior of others. And being private means minimal contact with others, so for those who are not super wealthy, privacy has an inverse relationship with power. This would be much easier to do using screenshots. But I wish to show the effect in our physical world.

I wish to start by making some points about how sacrificing our privacy is something necessary to participate in society (to a certain extent). Some of my ideas for this include:

1. Photo peering over someones shoulder, taking a photo as they enter their phone pin (long shutter time so that movement is indicated and we can roughly see all the buttons they press)
2. Students entering and leaving Baruch (We now know where they go to school)
3. Someones name on their Starbucks drinks

Finally I wish to depict situations where individuals are giving up their privacy, in exchange for power. Hopefully I will be able to catch a protest or conference/speaking event.

For my photo essay, I am currently planning on covering the West Indian Parade which took place today, September 6th in Brooklyn. I took the train down to Brooklyn to get to the parade and experienced the festivities in person while taking photos of the event and speaking to a few people taking part in this occasion. I asked those involved about their thoughts on this event, and what it means to them. The event celebrates the West Indian way of life and allows people to express themselves and their culture all at once together with their counterparts.

Attending the event was quite a joy, and I really admired how many people showed up for the parade and took part, waving their flags and painting their faces in the color of their country. I find that this parade is very timely as it not only recognizes culture while bringing people together but also serves as a remembrance to all the lives that were lost during that pandemic, as the event pays its respects to them by having the theme of this year’s occasion be “life” and the celebration of it. I believe the parade will be a good choice for this photo essay, as it displays a rich amount of visuals that I caught on the day.

By Samantha Sollitto

For most of my life, I’ve always had an interest in the fashion industry. I enjoy the sense of community I feel from watching content creators post their outfits online for people to review and enjoy or be inspired by. I’ve always believed that fashion is one of the best ways a person can express themselves without having to be openly vocal about what interests them or what makes them unique.

My idea for the photo essay is “Fashion on 23rd Street”. Every day that I’m on campus, I pass tons of students wearing outfits that are unique and different or right on target with whats currently trending. My work would consist of pictures of students (and passerby’s) with captions of what they’re wearing, why they’re wearing it, and what (if anything) does fashion mean to them. I want to know what inspires people to dress the way that they do, whether it be an underlying force or just simply liking something.

In my piece, I’d also like to touch on how the pandemic changed student’s fashion choices. While we were quarantined, I know I became much more expressive with my outfit choices and spent a lot less time caring about what other people thought of my more absurd outfits. I want to know whether or not other people experienced a similar change and how the pandemic might’ve brought them out of their fashion shells.

I will spend time photographing and interviewing students/pedestrians on 23rd street while I am at Baruch. My goal is to get a collection of photos that I feel accurately represents the ever-growing and changing fashion industry.

Every year during mid-September “The Feast of all Feasts” is held in Little Italy of New York City. This year will be the 96th annual Feast of San Gennaro which will take place from September 15 to September 25. This event originally started in 1926 when Neapolitan immigrants chose to host a single day block party in honor of their savior, Saint Gennaro. What started as a one-day local event for a small immigrant community has blossomed into a world known annual 11-day feast filled with tons of food, music, activities, etc. open to the public. While a lot of people attend the Feast of San Gennaro for the food and festivities, many may not know about the significance Saint Gennaro has on Italians, specifically Neapolitans, as a protector and someone they pray to in times of need. Having never gone to this event in the past and only hearing about it through social media or walking by, I never stopped to learn about the cultural significance of this event. However, it is amazing to now learn that this event is nearly a century old and still continues to celebrate Saint Gennaro with the world.

The past couple of years, New York City has been experiencing the hardships of COVID-19, especially in the restaurant business. Although I don’t know how much of an impact the pandemic had on the Feast of San Gennaro the past two years, I’m sure that this year will bring even more people with the new relaxed protocols. Since this is an event open to the public, I shouldn’t have any issues covering the feast. When covering this event, I hope to capture the full and crowded experience of the Feast of San Gennaro like in the past. More specifically I’d like to speak with different restaurant stands and hear about their experience with the feast over the years. I would also like to speak with different visitors of the feast, whether they’re tourists, regular annual visitors, or even local newcomers to document their firsthand experiences with the festivities. I anticipate getting a diverse set of visuals including the restaurant stands selling food to the customers, visitors enjoying the food and festivities, some of the cultural processions, etc. All these visuals will have many colors, layers and provide the different perspectives of the lively feast. Overall, I hope to capture the diverse impact of the Feast of San Gennaro on the worldwide community.

For my photo assignment my first idea was to find a nearby festival or something going on in the city, but I wasn’t able to find something that would be done before the deadline as it takes place later during the month. I remembered that I have a class assignment for my Ecology class that requires me to visit the Bronx Zoo and take pictures of certain places and exhibits, so I thought that I could use that as a connection for this assignment as well. While I’m there I’ll ask people certain questions about the zoo. For example, what may be their favorite exhibit, what animal did they mainly come to the zoo for, as well as if this has been their first time to the zoo or is it a recurring visit.

I will have access to the zoo as all I will need is to prove I am a student, and I will get a discount as long as I make a reservation which I plan to do soon as I plan to visit in the following two weeks.

I believe this story will be interesting as I plan to have a mix of people’s experiences with the zoo and the animals, and I believe having pictures of the animals will help strengthen the story. I’m not too sure on the shots I want to use yet besides the basic wide-angle ones, but animal interactions and scenery are what I will be focusing on mainly.

Julia Cuttone