Hillary Clinton’s first day back to the Senate after the Democratic Primary was indeed my second day at US News & World Report. My first assignment on the Hill was to cover her coming and going. There was a lot of waiting, a lot of press, and butterflies in my stomach. I was just hoping for something sharp. It was a rush to say the least. The next day I look at the Washington Post and there I am on A3. People must be wondering, who is that silly photographer shooting Hillary’s highlights. Luckily I got other angles for the magazine. All in all it was a great second day and thanks to the photographers and editors at US News for being so helpful and encouraging.
I came to OU as a graduate student knowing full well the learning curve would be more like a steep wall than a rounded rainbow. A few months ago, I was introduced to Flash. We had a rocky start. We started with something simple, how to bounce a ball. Then with the content from my Magazine class, I began to put together a website for the work I did in New Orleans. The result is a simple way to package a project in hopes to increase its longevity. Comments, concerns and criticisms are always welcome.
Can the New Orleans City Council justify demolishing 4,500 units of public housing during the city’s largest affordable housing crisis? With a homeless population of over 12,000 people and residents being forced to evacuate FEMA trailers, shouldn’t bulldozing housing be last on the council’s agenda? For my photojournalism capstone project, I chose to report on this complex issue. The article takes an in-depth look at the B.W. Cooper public housing development. Cooper was home to 1400 households before Katrina and since only 260 families have returned home. After reading the article, you will understand the politics of the New Orleans public housing crisis and the lives of the people caught in the middle. Feedback and any leads on possible publication outlets would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
Click below to download a pdf. (2.8 MB) of the article: Right of Return
“Everybody wants to see new homes. But if they demolish, where do we go and for how long? The council has no answers.” — Sam “Action” Jackson, electrician, housing activist and Cooper resident.
Crazy things can happen in this industry. What started out as an idea in a bar, turned into a multimedia story later produced by MediaStorm. I never imagined that when I started at Ohio University a year later my name would be included in the credits of a piece published by MediaStorm. Credits which include some of the most talented people working in our industry today. Congrats to all the people involved in creating Love in the First Person. And my deepest gratitude to Matt and Melissa for having the courage to tell their story.
Here is a direct link to the story: Love in the First Person
Hundreds of people waited in line, in some cases overnight, to get their hands on the new iPhone. In Lincoln, Nebraska, twenty-one people camped out in front of the AT&T store. Here is the story of the first Nebraskans to get their hands on the iPhone. [Editors Note: This was a daily assignment done for the Lincoln Journal Star]
I had the pleasure of being part of Brian Storm’s multimedia team at this year’s Eddie Adams Barnstorm Workshop XX. Brian Storm and Tom Kennedy (WashingtonPost.Newsweeek Interactive) led a team of 10 multimedia producers who worked with 10 students to create a multimedia story in less than two days. There was no sleep to be had and everything to gain. I came away from the workshop humbled to work with such inspiring and creative professionals working in the industry.
Many thanks to Brian Storm for the invite and to Tom Kennedy for his leadership.
