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Archives for August 2014

A Critic, Waiting for Life to Begin

August 4, 2014 by AALIAYAH FRENCH

Rafer Guzman never expected to start out as a free-lance writer. Stationed in San Francisco, he commenced his journey as writer. Though lacking experience and references, he diligently submitted pieces of his work to local news sources, both online and print. He realized in order to get the credit and “respect” he wanted in the journalism industry, he’d have to start small but work extremely hard. Rock criticism seemed to be a great place start.

 

“Having lived for the 80’s”, he told a journalism class, it was easy to acknowledge his immense interest in records and concerts. He found himself reviewing shows and records that came out in the 80’s. He knew editors valued the youthful and modern critics due to their ability to scope out artists and shows that were prominent to the younger generation. He collected information about each concert and record and used it in his stories, hoping to give the public insight on the nature of each.

 

Being deeply infatuated with rock became exhausting for Guzman in his later years. “I got sick of covering music at 40 years old”, he says. “It was hard because I was usually out 3-4 nights per week traveling to Jones Beach or Madison Square Garden or Nassau Coliseum or the Izod Center Then on top of that it’s just you at these shows”. He expresses that attending concerts with crazed Miley Cyrus and Ashley Simpson fans had become played out and incredibly uncomfortable!

 

Then, just when it seemed like he’d been going through the motions, just when he thought his talents weren’t being utilized, he had an epiphany. Going to graduate school would give him the credentials, expertise and training to tackle the journalism industry with conviction and force. Columbia Grad Rafer Guzman was on the road to success with a resume full of references and new-found skills that he hadn’t obtained prior to his graduate schooling.  He landed a job at the Wall Street Journal with a focus on business news for 4-5 year duration. He knew he wanted to do more with his profession than solely business reviews, thus, he continued his search.

 

Guzman later discussed the moment that a rock critic position opened at Newsday. He sent clips from prior work he’d done and scored a job there. He commenced his journey at Newsday starting small. Any stories other critics didn’t want, he’d take up. “After a year, it was safe to say I’d done a dozen stories”.

 

Patience was truly a virtue for Guzman when Newsday had began buy-outs, offering money to workers who would leave. The entire film department quit. He saw this as an opportunity to take hold and truly shine in the film critics department. Eventually, he was the only film critic at Newsday, focusing on wide release movies such as Transformers and Tammy.

 

When asked about the impact his critic work has on society he informed us that Newsday, being a suburban and conservative paper, has a lot of Long Islanders who look to the news source for the perfect, “Popcorn entertainment on a Friday night.”  He mentions in the interview that he admires Newsday for its family oriented qualities. It provides the perfect dollop of sports news ranging from soccer to lacrosse. It specializes in appealing to all interests- one of the main reasons Guzman loves his place of work.

 

“I never get tired of watching movies”, Guzman, the Stanley Kubrick fan confesses. He also admits that it is fun to see “bad” movies.  His job requires that he see every movie that comes out in theaters, whether documentary, comedy, horror, action or drama film. He hints us in on his love for action movies. “…Its cinematic and lively”.   Screening rooms are where most critics go to view movies. He prefers the Half Public/Half Critic theaters. “It’s fun because your sitting with a bunch of critics who are really quiet,” Guzman says, “and then you have people from all over and you get to hear their prerogative of what we’re watching”.

 

Personal Preferences? X-Men, Guzman feels, are a masterpiece due to its relevance in bringing real world issues to the forefront. He applauds the efforts of directors of Disney Movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and Tangled for bringing the theme of a female heroine, who for once, was the master of her own destiny. Movies such as these have motivated him to continue with his current occupation and have led him to fall in love with pieces of work that he views.

 

A current father of 2, Guzman loves his job as a movie critic and has earned his rightful place in the journalism industry. He worked tirelessly until a new position was opportune. Patiently waiting his turn, he did the work and ended up on top of the film critic department at Newsday. Rafer Guzman is a prime example of a critic who waited for the career he deserved and stopped at nothing to achieve it.

Filed Under: Culture and Entertainment, News

Uncovering The Truth – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

August 4, 2014 by ANNA LONDON

Sarah Darville, the acting bureau chief at NYChalkbeat.org, has both good and bad things to say about the education system in New York City. The news site focuses on educational issues in a number of states, but Darville works in the New York sector, writing solely about issues in the New York region.

Chalkbeat, Darville explains, is unlike most news sources. The non-profit organization has less of a focus on current news stories, choosing instead to focus on important long-lasting issues solely within the education system. Darville recognizes that Chalkbeat isn’t the source that most people would choose to go to for updates on current events, and that many people remain oblivious to the website’s existence; however, she doesn’t mind – Darville knows that Chalkbeat is important and impactful for those who are interested in what is happening with the education system, such as teachers, parents, students and anybody else who shows a particular interest in the matter.

Darville herself has spent a number of years working in journalism, having run her newspaper at Columbia, written for the Daily News, and worked on the Neiman Journal at Harvard.

Working at Chalkbeat, however, has proven itself to be an experience unlike any other Darville has previously had. She explains to a group of students that, “Chalkbeat is not a typical business. It’s run a little bit differently than other news organizations.” Darville also adds that because it is a non-profit organization she no longer has to fear being fired, which is quite comforting.

In discussing a number of her pieces, Darville makes an interesting observation that has guided her through one of her recent pieces about the principal at a Brooklyn charter school. She notices that there is a great amount of information that is readily available online, which a number of people seem blissfully unaware of.

Darville is especially proud of a recent piece of hers about a Brooklyn principal, whose résumé stated that he had previously worked as a Presidential advisor, and had been principal at a number of schools. Nearly everything on the résumé proved to be untrue, and Darville noticed that he received the job as principal despite the fact that simply Google-searching his name revealed this. Darville mentioned that it took her “ten minutes” to find all the information on him that she needed to write her article. She began to wonder why nobody had bothered to cross-reference his application.

She was also shocked to discover that the Brooklyn principal did not lose his job after being exposed in her article. Yet again, nobody on the board seemed to show any interest in the situation, although numerous parents were complaining. Situations such as these appeal to Darville: the ones that are shocking, confusing, or simply interesting. Darville is also adamant in noting that, “We write about good things too!” and that Chalkbeat also recognizes teachers or schools that have done good things.

There are both good and bad aspects of the education system, and Darville plans to address them all.

Filed Under: News

Sheeran’s Risk Brought Rewards

August 4, 2014 by CHARLES MOURNET

“Everyone can have one hit, but the second one is always the make or break. Everyones watching this time.” -Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is regarded by his peers as one of the best singer/songwriters in the industry, and he has cemented such views with his second album, “X” (pronounced “multiply”).

After Sheeran’s first album “+” (plus) was released in Sept. 2011, it sold 42,000 records in its first week. Since then, Sheeran began to burst into the pop scene. He opened for artists like Taylor Swift, who praised him for his unique songwriting.

In the MTV special “Nine Days and Nights of Ed Sheeran”, released just a few weeks before his second record was released on June 23, 2014, Sheeran highlighted the necessity of achieving success. In the documentary, he explained how his second album would achieve success by becoming much more hip-hop based, yet maintain the same pop and folk characteristics many people loved him for.

Success was achieved when Sheeran sold 5 times more copies of his second album than his first album in the first week of sales . The 210,000 records he sold according to Billboard.com were enough to earn Sheeran his first No.1 album on the Billboard 200, and at only 23 years-old it appears like it won’t be his last No.1 album.

Sheeran molded his songs to mainstream culture without losing his unique appeal. He reached a new dimension with his second record by proving to people that his skills crossed through many genres, from rap to pop with folk influence. The 23 year-old’s acoustic sound offers a pleasant change from the auto-tune dominated market.

Ed opens up his sophmore album with “sing,” a song inspired by industry mogul Pharrell Williams, who believed the song’s upbeat lift could make people ”dance.” He was right. The song has already been Sheeran’s largest American hit, and is praised for being far different from Sheeran’s commonly criticized romanticized sorrow– exhibited throughout his first album.

In “X,” Sheeran attempts to build a holistic identity, testifying to the fact that his ill-guided love narratives are just a piece of the puzzle. Sheeran’s risks of tapping into other genres was gutsy but seemed to pay off, bringing people with different tastes to his music.

As the album progressed, the young fiery-haired British man showed off his spoken-word lyricism in “The Man”. Despite the glimpses of diversification, Sheeran finished in his comfort zone with songs like “Afire Love”, a tribute to his deceased grandfather.

Ed Sheeran’s second record proves his career is promising, especially if he continues to tap into different realms of the music world. Sheeran’s music insight led him to believe, “If you look at people’s careers, if their second record is as big or bigger than their first record, they’re a career artist forever.” If that’s correct, then career artist he will be.

Filed Under: Commentary and reviews, Culture and Entertainment

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