Sitting at the computer desk in her down winter jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers Becky Fanion remains calm, cool, and collected. This Boston University sophomore who balances a heavy course load and going to the gym everyday didn’t let her busy schedule get in the way of connecting with me as I sat down to interview her. Unknown to many, Becky has a passion for not only reporting but also novel writing. Although when she is reporting, she pointed out, she prefers hard news leads over soft leads, Becky is the total opposite of a hard news lead: she is creative, passionate, and on the softer side.
Originally from Holyoke, Massachusetts, the English major student and her family moved around a lot due to her father’s job. Moving at age four and settling in to the small town of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, it was there where Fanion discovered her true passion for writing and journalism. In a town that Becky described as “pretty backward” from its slow moving people but fast growing developments, Becky joined her high school newspaper and honors English from a recommendation from her high school teacher and she knew from then on she would become an English major.
Her love for writing goes further back to her childhood that may seem unexpected for this hard-hitting news journalist. In high school, Fanion was the news and sports editor of the school’s paper, but to her it wasn’t work; she was, as she recalls it was, “doing something I loved.” But before high school, Fanion admits as a child she was a “book snob” demanding to only read books with a certain length. Her love for reading and with inspiration from some of her favorite writers like J.K.Rowing and books like Jane Eyre, Fanion was inspired to actually write her own novel! “In fifth grade, I wrote an entire book,” Fanion casually said. “It was a fantasy novel, about 100,000 words.” While many kids in fifth grade were only starting to read chapter books, Becky was well ahead writing her own.
Now, more than ten years later and two internships under her belt, one with a newspaper and the other with a PR firm for the non-profit Project Bread, Becky is continuing on with her dream of being a writer, and allowing room for her creative side to show through. Becky joked that at her newspaper internship at the Central Penn Business Journal, she liked it better when her boss expected a lot out of her, which isn’t surprising for this hard working journalist. Currently, Fanion does not have an internship because of her heavy course load, but is pursuing one for the summer like many other students her age.
While Fanion spends weekdays working hard in her CAS required classes, she still makes time to take in Boston and maybe fit in your casual Superbowl Sunday game. This year, this huge patriots fan was lucky enough to score tickets to the Giants vs. Patriots Superbowl game. “It should really be called the Corporate Bowl, not the Superbowl because of the people who get invited to go.” Fanion joked, referencing to how her dad and her scored tickets. Spending her spare time walking on the Esplanade, the Boston Aquarium, or at musical concerts, at the end of the day, Fanion is just trying to enjoy her time at BU in the best way she can.
Plans for the summer? Well, as many of her friends have joked about her being the next J.K Rowling because of her great story telling, Becky plans on “taking time for me, and finish a novel, so I can finally have that experience again.” Who knows, maybe we will be seeing her name on the bestseller list in just a few years.
I thought Rene’s article on the Republican Primaries was both accurate and interesting to read. Overall, I liked the angle he took of reporting on the lack of interest amongst college students in regards to the 2012 election.
Beginning with his lead, I liked how he used an anecdotal lead about Samir Ahmed, to act as a metaphor for how the overwhelming majority of BU students feel. Although the story was overall about politics, I like how Rene didn’t take the obvious route of using a hard news lead, and decided to make this article more personable, showing their can be human-interest in political stories. But I felt the second paragraph after the lead shifted my attention so drastically I wasn’t ready to hear about the GOP candidates. I think it may have been more effective if he moved the second and third paragraph around, sticking with the anecdotal setting and then introducing the political candidates and latest news.
I think the fourth and fifth paragraphs are where Rene attempted to write his nut-graph. I felt Rene did a good job setting up a clear direction for the story: revealing the truth that most BU students/young voters don’t feel a connection to the election or any of the GOP candidates, which is different than the 2008 election. I think this was a good direction to go in, because many students do in fact feel that way and it is worthy of reporting on.
One thing I would have recommended for Rene was to get quotes from different views. Throughout his article, I felt the quotes used were accurate, but showed one side: the young democratic voter who was ultimately uninterested in the GOP candidate because they would be voting for Obama. I think his article would have benefited if he reported and got a quote from a young republican voter to see how they felt.
I also liked how he used a circle ending to finish back with the anecdote he led with, to bring the story back to the larger picture. I think the circle kicker is effective here because it remains with the reader even after he or she is done reading.
On Friday, Kelly McBride explained to a class of future journalists there is still hope for a career in reporting even with the expansion of bloggers, tweeters, and online coverage.
In a classroom filled with fifteen or so aspiring journalists with notebooks out and pens ready to write, McBride, the Director of the Ethics Department at Poytner Institute in Tampa, Florida outlined the past, present, and future of media. She presented Journalism in two parts: the fourth estate, meaning “professional journalism” and the fifth estate, made from technology and the economy which lead to bloggers, online reporters, political activists, etc. To McBride, the two will “always need each other.” Yet the generation of journalists (like the ones McBride spoke to) who mainly only experience the fifth estate, may feel differently.
McBride has been a journalist for thirteen years. Spending seven years as a Cleveland and Washington state cops and courts reporter on both day and night shifts, McBride explained she had seen it all. Eventually changing to the religion beat at the Washington State Newspaper, McBride felt she couldn’t thoroughly report on religion and went to get a masters degree in religion. Through a not so funny stream of events, including what was meant to be a joke headline-actually ran by a copy editor that read “Nazi Priest Signs Book” that was never meant to be published for one of McBride’s stories, she ended up working at the Poytner Institute where she started teaching seminars about ethics and journalism.
McBride explained at Poytner her job is not to teach who are journalists, but rather, “it’s a much more important question to ask ‘what is journalism.’” She explained how at the Poytner Institute her and many other staff members teach the elements of journalism in three different ways. The first, to “train professional journalists to gain skills to make them better at the job they do” the second, “to help solve problems and develop problems for social media” and lastly, to “monitor how journalism is doing and if it is actually servicing democracy.”
Through McBride’s relaxed body language and casual dress, she opened the floor for discussion to see how students felt about the fourth and fifth estate, and how she feels Poynter Institute will keep up with the changing field of journalism in the future. When asked by a student how she feels about the 5th estate and if it will solely ever take over, she calmly explained if it ever did, it wouldn’t be for at least fifty years and if it does, she does not see investigative journalism and foreign journalism surviving due to the unavailability of covering places like the middle east with the fifth estate principles such as tweeting from home. Her feelings on twitter were “morally neutral” feeling that sometimes Twitter can “exhauster bate mistakes” and other times “allows audience to have a conversation while news is going on.”
When asked where she sees for the ultimate future of journalism, McBride took the stance that “the fourth and fifth estate would work together, because there can only be democracy in the fourth estate.” That is where, McBride explained, institutions like Poytner come in to teach seminars and online classes for the next generation of journalists in the fifth estate to learn those fundamental principles of Journalism.
On college campuses, students say they have yet to feel an impact from the Republican primaries. That is not because of lack of interest, but rather because it is only February many feel it is too early in the election year to get wrapped up in politics. While the race to the White House has been underway for the GOP since last year, and primaries currently are being held over the country, students at colleges such as Boston University and Cornell University are lacking spirit and, more importantly, knowledge of what is going on and who is even running.
In the 2008 Obama vs. McCain election, young voters came out in huge numbers to show their support. Today, without a determined Republican candidate, students don’t feel it is necessary to get involved in reading or watching the news about four different potential candidates, and are choosing rather to wait a few months until it is down to one. But this lack of interest in the 2012 election shows how young voters may not be excited ever again until they can resonate with a candidate like they did with Obama.
Nikki Jenner, a BU sophomore, who will be voting for the first time this coming year, made it clear she has little knowledge of who the Republican candidates even are, which was made clear when she attempted to name Gingrich and Romney, but could not name Paul and Santorum. What may come as more of a surprise is Jenner is far from alone. Although Jenner is a Democrat, she states politics are not currently a topic of students on campus or among her friends, so she is able to get through her day without discussing it. That was not the case in 2008 when Jenner says she “skipped [her] high school final to go to Obama’s inauguration in Washington D.C.”
Another student at BU, Olivia Colenero pointed out that none of the GOP candidates have used social media well to reach out to their potential voters. With young voters getting most of their news from online sources, it comes as a surprise to voters like Colenero why these candidates are not reaching out on these sites to get voter’s attentions. Colenero, who also had little knowledge of the Republican candidates, believed her lack of interest comes from a combination of it being too early on in the campaign and not having easy and accessible understanding of what each candidate is proposing. All four Republican candidates do have individual websites and Twitter accounts, but none have the inspiration and likeability to the younger generation as the 2008 election did, then with the potential to have an African American president. This factor alone attributes to many students reasons for straying away from getting involved in the election. “It’s not as exciting as the last election, and I don’t think another election will be as popular until a women runs for president,” Colenero Said.
Only a few hours away at Cornell University, the same apathetic attitude of students and their inability to take action is seen. Cornell, which is mainly a liberal campus, also has students asking themselves why they know so little of Gingrich, Santorum, Romney and Paul. Cornell has on-campus Democrat and Republican clubs but neither appears to be doing much on campus to get students educated or involved.
Ariella Weintraub, a senior at the university, feels the campus won’t start feeling like an election year until next semester, once the GOP candidate is clear. Although it may be early, Weintraub did have worries that she may need to learn about the candidates’ proposals such as all of their tax policies in specific, because she will be graduating in the spring and looking for a job. But she noted she wasn’t going to be informed because she was interested in voting for one of the four candidates, but out of fear that in case Obama wont win the reelection, she needs to know what the future presidents’ policies are.
Weintraub’s knowledge is little, and admits to using thedailybeast.com cheat sheet to catch up on what is going on in the news/republican race. Rather then taking time to read longer and more informative articles in the NY Times for example, she chooses websites like the Daily Beast because of her lack of investment in the issues. When asked if she had done any more research or learned any news about the Republican primaries that have occurred over the past two weeks in Florida and Nevada since she was last interviewed she admitted to saying, “still no.”
Another Cornell student, Alexandra Barra, a passionate Republican, admitted she herself has also not been following the campaign all that well.
“I was very, very up on the 2008 election, and this is totally unlike me not to be informed.” Asked how she felt about the South Carolina primary and what she predicts will happen in Florida, she had said she felt the Republicans are “divided on how they seem and there is no perfect candidate.” As a supporter of Gingrich, she based most of her support on the fact not on his policies, but that he is strong and able to stand up for himself, and that was enough for her right now.
Like Colenero, Barra has felt little effect of social media in this campaign, and only receives email from the Ron Paul campaign asking for her support.
Compared to 2008, there is a clear decline in students’ enthusiasm and hope. Barra attributes that to how hopeful the Barak Obama campaign was in 2008 using his successful slogans like “Hope” “Change” and “Yes We Can.” Now three years later, Americans see what Obama has done and has not done, and young voters are starting to realistically think if Obama should stay in office or if they need a new leader to help the economy grow, and how that will directly affect students like Weintraub and Barra when they graduate in the spring and look for jobs. “I think this shows that maybe Obama supporters have ‘woken up.’ Once the GOP chooses a candidate, things will hopefully start to pick up,” Barra said.
Hannah Weintraub
1.27.12
JO250 B1 News Article #1
On college campuses, students explain they have yet to feel an impact from the republican primaries but not because of lack of interest, rather many feel it is too early in the election year to get wrapped up in politics. While the race to the white house has been underway for the GOP since last year and primaries currently happening over the country, students at colleges such as Boston University and Cornell University are lacking spirit and more importantly knowledge of what is going on and who is even running.
When looking back to the 2008 Obama vs McCain election, young voters came out in huge numbers to show their support. Today, without a determined Republican running mate, students don’t feel it is necessary to get involved in reading or watching the news about four different potential candidates, and are choosing rather to wait a few months until it is down to one. Nikki Jenner, a Boston University Sophomore, who will be voting for the first time this coming year, made it clear she has little knowledge of who the Republican candidates even are, attempting to name all Gingrich, Paul, Romney and Santorum. Why does she have so little knowledge? Jenner is not only a democrat, but believes it is not currently a topic of students on campus amongst her friends so she therefore is able to get by her day without discussing politics. Interesting to note how Jenner has shifted from 2008 to now, noting how she “Skipped [her] high school final to go to his inauguration in Washington D.C.” Although she will be voting for Obama, the lack of knowledge young voters have today could be seen as concerning. And Nikki is not alone.
Another student at Boston University, Olivia Colenero pointed out that none of the GOP candidates have used social media so well to reach out to their potential voters. Colenero, who also had little knowledge of the republican candidates, believed her lack of interest came from a combination of being too early on and not having easy and accessible understanding of what each candidate is proposing. All four republican candidates do have individual websites and twitter accounts, but none have the inspiration and speak volumes like the 2008 election did, with the potential to have an African American president. The factor alone attributes to many students reasons for straying away from getting involved in the election. “It’s not as exciting as the last election, and I don’t think another election will be as popular until a women runs for president.”
Only a few hours away at Cornell University, the same shortage of students taking action is seen, and the question of if students care is asked. Cornell University, which is a majority liberal campus, also has students questioning themselves why they know so little of Gingrich, Santorum, Romney and Paul. Cornell University has on campus Democrat and Republican clubs but neither has been noted to being doing much on campus to get students educated or involved. Ariella Weintraub, a senior at the university feels the campus wont start feeling like an election year until next semester, once the GOP candidate is clear. Although it may be early, Ariella did have worries that she may need to learn about the candidates proposals such as all of their tax policies in specific, because she will be graduating in the spring and looking for a job. But she noted she wasn’t going to be informed because she was interested but because “she was scared Obama wouldn’t be president.”
Another student on campus, Alexandra Barra, a passionate republican admitted she herself has not been following the campaign all that well. “I was very, very up on the 2008 election, and this is totally unlike me not to be informed.” When asked about how she felt about the South Carolina primary and what she predicts will happen in Florida, she commented saying she felt the republicans are “divided on how they seem and there is no perfect candidate.” As a supporter of Gingrich, she based most of her support on the fact that he is strong and able to stand up for himself, not for his polices. Just like Colenero, Barra has felt little effect of social media in this campaign, and only receives email from the Ron Paul campaign asking for her support.
When looking back from the 2008 election to this year, there is a clear decline in student’s enthusiasm and hope. Barra attributes that to how hopeful the Barak Obama campaign was in 2008 using his successful campaigns like “Hope” “Change” and “Yes We Can.” Now three years later, students are finally understanding what Obama has done and has not done, and starting to realistically think about the future and if Obama should stay in office or if they need a new leader for the time they are out of college and getting jobs. “I think this shows that maybe Obama supporters have ‘woken up.’ Once the COP chooses a candidate, things will hopefully start to pick up.”
Hannah Weintraub
1.31.12
JO250 D1
Writing homework
The Lost Generation
In the 1920’s a group of writers gained recognition as “ The Lost Generation.” This term referred to a specific group in the United States and Europe and their feelings post World War I. The term “lost” was associated with the group due to the writers lost sense of values in America post -World War I. The term “Lost Generation” originated from the writer Gertrude Stein, who when talking to a car mechanic was told that the men and women in their late 20s and early 30s were part of “une génération perdue” in regards to their lack of auto-mechanic repair skills.
Among “The Lost Generation” were writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Elliot, John Dos Passos, Zelda Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein herself. Hemingway was most well-known for popularizing the term “The Lost Generation” in his classic first novel, The Sun Also Rises. The term was a reflection of the writers, but also seen in the actual characters in many of the author’s novels.
Many online sources explain that “The Lost Generation” writers in Europe put their state of lost identity from the War into their own writings. “The Lost Generation” writer’s feelings pre-war of hope did not return after the war, leaving them lost. Many of the Lost Generation writers started to use a more clean prose style of writing; that style would go on to remain influential to writers today.
The Lost Generation writers were a group who used writing to rebel against the old ways of life in Europe and America and set a new understanding of how the people of post World War I were truly feeling. Many writers chose realism over fantasy, as a reflection of their own lives. “The Lost Generation” members varied in location from San Francisco to Paris, all who changed the future of writing.
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