We want to make sure that you take special precautions to stay safe when doing an interview. The best method now, not always, is using your phone. You can record with Voice Memos. But it may not be the best quality. You can also get an app that does a good job.
Rev Call Recorder is available for free in the App Store. It says it provides free and unlimited call recording.
TapeACall is a favorite in the podcast world. It offers a free trial for seven days. That might work for your next assignment. But they ask for a credit card and that turned me off.
THE LAW AND RECORDING PHONE CALLS
Federal and state wire-tapping laws govern how, or if, you can record a telephone call.
You could be prosecuted or sued if you don’t follow the rules. So it’s imperative to understand and abide by them.
Federal law requires one-party consent. That party could be you. But individual states have their own laws. New York and New Jersey require only one-party consent. Again, that could be you.
But twelve states including California and Florida require all parties to consent to the recording.
It is always important to be as transparent as possible. Before you hit the record button ask your interviewee if it is okay with them. You want to make sure they are comfortable with having their voice and words recorded. They generally say, “Yes,” and appreciate being asked. This is the ethical thing to do when you are dealing with a regular interview.
The rules, not the law, change when you are interviewing for a story that requires undercover work. News organizations have different rules for their reporters and you want to make sure that you follow them carefully.
Journalists have a responsibility to honor the trust of the public and the people they interview. Please take this seriously.
The yellow center of the ‘killer chrysanthemum’ contains a natural toxin that is a powerful insecticide.PHOTOGRAPHS BYVITO FUSCOBYJACOB KUSHNERPUBLISHED AUGUST 4, 2021• 15 MIN READ
GILGIL, KENYAThe deadliest flower in the insect world is soft to the touch. Each morning in the hills above Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, the white petals of the pyrethrum plant become laden with dew. To the people who pick them, the flower is utterly harmless. But bugs beware: Its yellow center contains a natural toxin that can kill them in seconds.
Discovered in Persia around 400 B.C., the flower produces an active ingredient, pyrethrin, that can be extracted and used to create natural insecticides that farmers spray on crops to protect them from mites, ants, and aphids without harming anyone’s health. Herders rub pyrethrin ointments on their cattle to repel flies and ticks.
In its most common applications, pyrethrin paralyzes pests by attacking their central nervous systems. “If you spray an insect with pyrethrum, for the first 30 seconds it goes mental, incredibly hyperactive, then it falls to the floor,” explains Ian Shaw, managing director of the pyrethrum producer Kapi Limited.
Simply growingChrysanthemum cinerariifolium near your home may be enough to repel parasite-carrying sand flies, whose bite can spread the skin disease leishmaniasis, which affects nearly one million people globally, including many throughout Kenya. The resulting rash can eat away at people’s faces and become fatal if left untreated.
Pyrethrin has also become a powerful tool in the global fight against mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, a parasite that sickens more than a million people and kills more than 400,000 each year, many of them in Kenya. Manufactured in spiral-shaped discs known as mosquito coils, they emit a shroud of smoke like incense that repels mosquitoes but is harmless to humans.
The deal includes a swap of late-round picks, the source said. NFL Network first reported the trade, the second in two months between the Saints and Texans after New Orleans acquired veteran cornerback Bradley Roby in Week 1.
You will not be graded on this exercise. This is for you to practice the craft of writing.
NORTH PORT, FL — With a forensic anthropologist analyzing Brian Laundrie’s remains, Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family’s attorney, told Fox News Wednesday that autopsy results, including the cause and time of his death, aren’t expected for another two to three weeks.
Laundrie, a person of interest in the strangulation death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito, left his North Port home Sept. 13 — two days after she was officially reported missing — and hasn’t been seen since.
(From The Patch)
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli in the fight for New Jersey governor that ends with next week’s election, according to the latest poll of the race.
Murphy is ahead of Ciattarelli by 11 percentage points among registered voters, according to the Monmouth University Poll released Wednesday. It showed the governor with 50% support compared to his rival’s 39%.
(From New Jersey.com)
In a major win for climate advocates and supporters of wind and solar energy, New York State environmental regulators refused on Wednesday to allow two companies to upgrade their gas-fueled power plants — signaling a newly aggressive approach to ending fossil-fuel emissions that drive climate change.
With the decision — and a strong, immediate statement of support from Gov. Kathy Hochul — the officials took a clear and potentially influential position on a longstanding question that is at the center of national and global debates on renewable energy.
(New York Times)
A shootout at a popular outdoor restaurant in the trendy resort of Tulum that killed two foreign tourists and wounded three more ripped through the Caribbean town’s laid-back vibe and shocked many who’d considered the region an oasis immune to Mexico’s insecurity.
But the October 20 killings revealed the dark underbelly of Mexico’s Riviera Maya, one that tourism officials along the vacation corridor have struggled to hide. Over the past decade criminal organizations—including some of the country’s most notorious drug cartels—have established lucrative extortion and local drug peddling rackets that are leading to open conflict.
An obscure city panel may vote to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson from its place in the City Council chambers amid controversy over the Founding Father’s history as a slaveholder.
The city Public Design Commission will decide Monday whether to loan the statue to the City Historical Society, effectively ending its nearly two-century run in one of Gotham’s most revered spots.
Statue of Thomas Jefferson in City Council Chambers in Manhattan, New York. (Bryan Smith for New York Daily News)
The “long-term loan” of the statue is listed as a so-called consent item, meaning the 11-member committee of architecture and museum notables will vote up or down after reviewing any public comments submitted virtually.
“The individuals memorialized within the confines of our People’s House be reflective not only of the best traditions of our city’s history and its diversity but unquestionable character,” the City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus said in a statement.
New York City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) disagreed with removing one of the nation’s Founding Fathers from the chambers.
“This is more progressive war on history,” said the Staten Island rep. “Why wasn’t this put on the consent calendar? I thought we were having this big public discussion about monuments. Apparently not.”
City Council Speaker Cory Johnson and four other council members signed a letter to Mayor de Blasio in 2020 asking for the Jefferson statue to be removed. They acted soon after the police killing of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests for racial justice.
The 1833 cast-iron statue was created by Pierre-Jean David and was donated to the city a year later by Jefferson admirer and Navy commandant Uriah Phillips Levy.
The statue first came under fire in 2001 when firebrand then-Councilmember Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) called for it to be replaced with an image of Malcolm X.
Its removal from the place of honor in the City Council chambers would mark another milestone in the campaign to reassess public monuments and memorials dedicated to historical figures with decidedly controversial histories.
Most of the movement’s energy has focused on removing statues of Confederate officials and generals. But many activists say America should also take another look at honors for Founding Fathers, who also owned slaves and held opinions that would be considered virulently racist in modern times.
Traditionalists counter that removing statues of any historic figure with a checkered past amounts to sanitizing history.Dave GoldinerNew York Daily NewsCONTACT
Dave Goldiner is a political reporter at the New York Daily News. A 30-year newsroom veteran, he believes he is the only reporter to cover both the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the death and funeral of South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela on the ground.Michael GartlandNew York Daily NewsCONTACT
Michael Gartland covers the New York City Housing Authority, housing and homelessness. During his 20-year career, he’s covered politics, crime and religion for The Record in NJ, The Post and Courier in SC and Newsday, among others. His work has earned local and national journalism awards. He lives in Upper Manhattan with his wife and two children.
Active writing allows you to say what you mean in a clear concise way with colorful verbs that paint a picture.
In 1946, the writer George Orwell, author of Animal Farm and 1984, complained about politicians and others who use fuzzy language to hide the truth.
“Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. One cannot change this all in a moment, but one can at least change one’s own habits, and from time to time one can even, if one jeers loudly enough, send some worn-out and useless phrase — some jackboot, Achilles’ heel, hotbed, melting pot, acid test, veritable inferno, or other lump of verbal refuse — into the dustbin where it belongs,” Orwell wrote.
In his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language set out six rules for clear writing. “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print; Never use a long word where a short one will do; If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out; Never use the passive where you can use the active; Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.” – George Orwell
Here’s a contemporary example of what Orwell talked about from former Rochester Police Chief La’Ron D. Singletary.
“As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character.”
“The mischaracterizations and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr. Prude’s death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for.”
How can he say the same thing simply and directly?
I have integrity and won’t put up with people who want to destroy my character. Critics distorted what I said and did after I learned about Mr. Prude’s death. Their comments do not reflect who I am.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell talking about his expectations for the Republicans in the midterm-elections.
“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”
How can he say the same thing simply and directly?
I think Republicans will flip the House but not the Senate. Some of the candidates don’t have broad appeal and won’t do well in state-wide races.
Then there is outright political doublespeak that George Orwell wrote about. Here are examples from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin often uses words to mean exactly the opposite of what they really mean.
He claims that Russian troops want the “denazification” of Ukraine but he is attempting to overthrow or even kill Ukraine’s Jewish president, who is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor.
We want to make sure that we do not manipulate words or distort meaning and language.
Journalists want to write and speak truthfully and clearly.
How do we write a clear, direct sentence?
We make sure the subject does the action.
What does that mean?
Put the subject before the verb and the object.
Active sentence: Subject-Verb-Object
The verb determines action
Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
twisted a sentence when he defended former PresidentTrump’s discussion with Russian diplomats.
“At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.”
Or he could say,
President Trump did not discuss intelligence sources or methods, nor did he disclose secret military operations.
Note that McMaster used the word “were.” The passive verb were makes a sentence fuzzy, or clunky.
You create a passive verb when you make the subject the object of the action.
Passive Sentence
The hardest hit baseball in recorded history, 122.4 mph,
was hit by Pittsburgh Pirate’s Oneil Cruz.
Active Sentence
Pittsburgh Pirate Oneil Cruz blasted a ball 122.4 mph, the fastest in baseball history.
Colorful verbs that tell a story and convey action create strong sentences.
Weak passive verbs make mushy sentences. You want to use action-filled verbs.
That brings us back to were and the to be verbs. They don’t convey action.
So we try avoid using: to be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been
EXAMPLES:
1.
Passive The roads were destroyed by heavy rains.
Heavy rains were responsible for the destruction of the roads.
Active
Heavy rains destroyed the roads.
2.
Passive
The goalie crouched low, reached out his stick, and sent the rebound away from the mouth of the net.
Active
The goalie swept out his stick, and hooked the rebound away from the mouth of the net.
3.
Passive
The cause of 130 fires so far in 2022 was lithium-ion scooter batteries.
Active
Lithium-ion scooter batters caused 130 fires so far in 2022.
4.
Passive
The legislation was sent to Congress by the president.
Active
The president sent the legislation to Congress.
or
The president sent Congress the legislation.
5.
Passive
The earthquake in Puerto Rico caused victims to be airlifted by helicopter to the hospital.
Active
A helicopter airlifted victims of the earthquake in Puerto Rico and rushed them to the hospital.
or
A helicopter airlifted earthquake victims and rushed them to the hospital.
6.
Passive
Carolina is responsible for monitoring and balancing the budgets for the journalists.
Carolina monitors and balances the budgets
or
Carolina monitors and balances budgets.
Use the passive voice when you want to emphasize the receiver of an action, not the actor.
Example:
Many Long Beach residents were forced to leave the beautiful beach area to escape the hurricane.
Use strong, colorful verbs
Example:
Violate instead of in violation
Resisted instead of was resistant
Avoid Passive Phrases Like These:
Have been
Had been passive
GERUNDS
A gerund acts like a verb and a noun. You form a gerund by adding –ing to the end of a verb:
Examples:
run, running play, playing
A gerund describes action or a state of being. Grammarians consider gerunds a lovely way to write.
But in ACTIVE writing a gerund can slow down a sentence.
Examples:
1.
The Mets are feeling like losers at this point in the season.
Better
The Mets feel like losers at this point in the season.
2.
Fans are wondering if the Jets will be losing games all season.
Better
Fans wonder if the Jets will lose games all season.
3.
Nets players are surprising their new coach with their driving ambition.
Better
Nets players surprised their new coach with their drive and ambition.
4.
We sat up all night reading.
Better
We read all night.
or
We sat up and read all night.
6.
I like to go jeeping in the woods.
Better
I live to ride my jeep in the woods.
But gerunds can work when you talk about continuous action.
Example:
You might tell someone:
We jumped over puddles last night.
But if it continued to rain:
We spent the week jumping over puddles because of the constant rain.
CLUNKY WORDS AND PHRASES
Some words and phrases make sentences fuzzy.
Currently Due to Prior to In an effort to For the purpose of In order to Is of the opinion that Due to the fact that In the near future At this point in time During my time Subsequent Affinity For Am Willing
PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT Passive form: have/has been + past participle had been + past participle
Active: Present Perfect I have mailed the gift. Jack has mailed the gifts.
Passive: Present Perfect The gift has been mailed by me. The gifts have been mailed by Jack.
Active: Past Perfect Steven Spielberg had directed the movie. Penny Marshall had directed those movies.
Passive: Past Perfect The movie had been directed by Steven Spielberg. The movies had been directed by Penny Marshall.
Active: Future Perfect John will have finished the project next month. They will have finished the projects before then.
Passive: Future Perfect The project will have been finished by next month. The projects will have been finished before then.
FUTURE TENSES Passive forms: will + be + past participle is/are going to be + past participle
Active: Future with WILL I will mail the gift. Jack will mail the gifts.
Passive: Future with WILL The gift will be mailed by me. The gifts will be mailed by Jack.
Active: Future with GOING TO I am going to make the cake. Sue is going to make two cakes.
Passive: Future with GOING TO The cake is going to be made by me. Two cakes are going to be made by Sue.
PRESENT / FUTURE MODALS The passive form follows this pattern: modal + be + past participle
Active: WILL / WON’T (WILL NOT) Sharon will invite Tom to the party. Sharon won’t invite Jeff to the party. (Sharon will not invite Jeff to the party.)
Passive: WILL / WON’T (WILL NOT) Tom will be invited to the party by Sharon. Jeff won’t be invited to the party by Sharon. (Jeff will not be invited to the party by Sharon.)
Active: CAN / CAN’T (CAN NOT) Mai can foretell the future. Terry can’t foretell the future. (Terry can not foretell the future.)
Passive: CAN / CAN’T (CAN NOT) The future can be foretold by Mai. The future can’t be foretold by Terry. (The future can not be foretold by Terry.)
Active: MAY / MAY NOT Her company may give Katya a new office. The lazy students may not do the homework. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Her company might give Katya a new office. The lazy students might not do the homework.
Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may be given a new office by her company. The homework may not be done by the lazy students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might be given a new office by her company. The homework might not be done by the lazy students.
Active: SHOULD / SHOULDN’T Students should memorize English verbs. Children shouldn’t smoke cigarettes.
Passive: SHOULD / SHOULDN’T English verbs should be memorized by students. Cigarettes shouldn’t be smoked by children.
Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to learn English verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)
Passive: OUGHT TO English verbs ought to be memorized by students.
Active: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT Students had better practice English every day. Children had better not drink whiskey.
Passive: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT English had better be practiced every day by students. Whiskey had better not be drunk by children.
Active: MUST / MUST NOT Tourists must apply for a passport to travel abroad. Customers must not use that door.
Passive: MUST / MUST NOT A passport to travel abroad must be applied for. That door must not be used by customers.
Active: HAS TO / HAVE TO She has to practice English every day. Sara and Miho have to wash the dishes every day. DOESN’T HAVE TO/ DON’T HAVE TO Maria doesn’t have to clean her bedroom every day. The children don’t have to clean their bedrooms every day.
Passive: HAS TO / HAVE TO English has to be practiced every day. The dishes have to be washed by them every day. DOESN’T HAVE TO/ DON’T HAVE TO Her bedroom doesn’t have to be cleaned every day. Their bedrooms don’t have to be cleaned every day.
Active: BE SUPPOSED TO I am supposed to type the composition. I am not supposed to copy the stories in the book. Janet is supposed to clean the living room. She isn’t supposed to eat candy and gum. They are supposed to make dinner for the family. They aren’t supposed to make dessert.
Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO The composition is supposed to be typed by me. The stories in the book are not supposed to be copied. The living room is supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum aren’t supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner for the family is supposed to be made by them. Dessert isn’t supposed to be made by them.
PAST MODALS The past passive form follows this pattern: modal + have been + past participle
Active: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN’T HAVE The students should have learned the verbs. The children shouldn’t have broken the window.
Passive: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN’T HAVE The verbs should have been learned by the students. The window shouldn’t have been broken by the children.
Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to have learned the verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)
Passive: OUGHT TO The verbs ought to have been learned by the students.
Active: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) I was supposed to type the composition. I wasn’t supposed to copy the story in the book. Janet was supposed to clean the living room. She wasn’t supposed to eat candy and gum. Frank and Jane were supposed to make dinner. They weren’t supposed to make dessert.
Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) The composition was supposed to be typed by me. The story in the book wasn’t supposed to be copied. The living room was supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum weren’t supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner was supposed to be made by them. Dessert wasn’t supposed to be made by them.
Active: MAY / MAY NOT That firm may have offered Katya a new job. The students may not have written the paper. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT That firm might have offered Katya a new job. The students might not have written the paper.
Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper may not have been written by the students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper might not have been written by the students.
JOURNALISM MINOR CURRICULUM The minor in journalism consists of four required 3-credit courses and two electives for a total of 18 credits. Most students also participate in campus student media and intern at local news organizations.
REQUIRED
MCA 101: Introduction to Media Studies
MCA 233: Introduction to Journalism MCA 333: Reporting and Writing
(Note, students can take either Radio or Television Journalism as the fourth required course. Or take both and apply one as an elective.
MCA 341: Radio Journalism
MCA 343: Television Journalism
ELECTIVES
Select two from the following list.
MCA 105: Introduction to Media Production
MCA 365: Social Media Strategies
MCA 31013: Supervised Radio Station Study (by permission)
MCA 401: Ethics and Values in Communication
BLST 31136: Race & Media
English 230: Writing Workshop in Prose
English 342: Advanced Grammar
Soc 250: Theory of Mass Culture and Mass Communications
Art 24020 Photojournalism
Media Internship or Independent Study for Academic Credit (by permission of program director)
Spring 2021
Journalism Minor Courses
MCA 233 M Introduction to Journalism – Linda Villarosa teaches
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:15 a.m. to 12:15
MCA 233 4PR Introduction to Journalism – Barbara Nevins Taylor teaches
Shoot 16 photos with your mobile showcasing the elements of photography we covered in class: composition, color, layering and action. Do the assignment as follows:
4 photos showing effective composition
4 photos showing a command of color (and lighting)
4 photos showing good use of layering (depth of field)
4 photos giving priority to action (catching the moment)
Download the photos from your phone to your computer and rename them color1, color2, color3, color4; composition1, composition2, etc… and be ready to show them in class next week.
Think about the atmosphere, what you heard and how other people reacted.
What was the most important point made. Lead with that.
Make sure to give us the basics. You want to avoid giving us a list of items, but you want to cover all the bases and answer the questions:
Who
What
Where
When
Why
How
Make sure you spell names correctly and that you use titles. Titles are only capitalized when they precede the name of a person.
Here’s what the AP Stylebook says about titles:
titles In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual’s name. The basic guidelines: LOWERCASE: Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an [more…] Chapter T ; Updated on Aug 27, 2018
capitalization In general, avoid unnecessary capitals. Use a capital letter only if you can justify it by one of the principles listed here. Many words and phrases, including special cases, are listed [more…] Chapter C ; Updated on May 21, 2002
titles Capitalize or use lowercase according to guidelines in titles in Stylebook’s main section. Job descriptions, field positions and informal titles are lowercase: coach John Calipari; forward Alex [more…] Chapter Sports Guidelines ; Created on Feb 03, 2015
legislative titles FIRST-REFERENCE FORM: Use Rep., Reps., Sen. and Sens. as formal titles before one or more names. Spell out and lowercase representative and senator in other uses. Spell out other [more…] Chapter L ; Updated on May 01, 2020
nobility References to members of the nobility in nations that have a system of rank present special problems because nobles frequently are known by their titles rather than their given or family [more…] Chapter N
religious titles The first reference to a clergyman or clergywoman normally should include a capitalized title before the individual’s name. In many cases, the Rev. is the designation that applies [more…] Chapter R
religious titles The first reference to a clergyman or clergywoman normally should include a capitalized title before the individual’s name. In many cases, the Rev. is the designation that applies [more…] Chapter Religion Guidelines
academic titles Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as chancellor, chair, etc., when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere. Lowercase modifiers such as department in department Chair Jerome [more…] Chapter A ; Updated on May 01, 2020
preacher A job description, not a formal religious title. Do not capitalize. See titles and religious titles. Chapter Religion Guidelines
military titles Capitalize a military rank when used as a formal title before an individual’s name. See the lists that follow to determine whether the title should be spelled out or abbreviated in [more…] Chapter M
minister It is not a formal title in most religions, with exceptions such as the Nation of Islam, and is not capitalized. Where it is a formal title, it should be capitalized before the name: Minister [more…] Chapter M ; Updated on May 29, 2002
minister It is not a formal title in most religions, with exceptions such as the Nation of Islam, and is not capitalized. Where it is a formal title, it should be capitalized before the name: [more…] Chapter Religion Guidelines ; Updated on May 29, 2002
recipe titles Recipe titles that appear in stories or regular text are not capitalized (unless the recipe title includes proper nouns). Recipe titles at the top of actual recipes are written in all [more…] Chapter Food Guidelines ; Created on Jan 15, 2016
editor Capitalize editor before a name only when it is an official corporate or organizational title. Do not capitalize as a job description. See titles. Chapter E
composition titles Apply these guidelines to the titles of books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, and works of art: — Capitalize all [more…] Chapter C ; Updated on Feb 02, 2018
Roman Catholic Church The church teaches that its bishops have been established as the successors of the apostles through generations of ceremonies in which authority was passed down by a laying-on of [more…] Chapter Religion Guidelines ; Updated on May 01, 2002
shah Capitalize when used as a title before a name: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. The Shah of Iran commonly is known only by this title, which is, in effect, an alternate name. Capitalize Shah of [more…] Chapter S Load More
