Here’s a video of photos/interviews from Fort National, Haiti. While many have chose to leave Haiti behind after not receving government assistance, some have remained and tried to make lives for themselves in their now destructed city. This video uses many effective photos of people and landscape. There is a variety of photos from different distances as well as photos taken during different times of the day. For me one of the most emotional parts of the video came when a man from Haiti was talking about “walking on bodies…all the time.” Then, immediately after that statement, there is a shot of a dead body underneath rubble and debris. It was much like putting a face to a story – the photo is the evidence showing that situations like that do exist.
The interviews were effective as well. Todd Heisler chooses to start off each response with the people from Haiti speaking their native tongue and then fading in a translator’s voice. He does this to show the Haitians in their most natural element and it sparks a highly emotinal response from the viewer.
This spring break I was in Roanoke, VA as part of the SJU Appalachia Experience. I did it last spring break as well but I took notice of many more things this year for two reasons: 1. I knew what to expect and 2. I was aked to find 2 stories for my journalism class. I need to describe these stories in one word each and support them with media files (pics, sounds, maps, etc.) First off here is a map of exactly where I was serving:
While most Appalacvhia sites sit in rural areas with dilapidated homes, Roanoke is a city in the Appalachia region where there is a high homeless population as well as a rising poverty level. This is reflective in one of these schools in Roanoke called Mount Pleasant Elementary. Although the school is in the midst of an exansion, some of the students come from extremely poor backgrounds. One of the kids does not even have an address right now which makes it extremelty difficult for the school to send important imformation to his parents. So my word for this story is STRUGGLE. Here is a picture of some of the students in gym class:
The kids play one of their favorite games, "Scooter Hockey"
In addition to this story, the word “struggle” also centers around a man named Dwayne who plays an important role within the East Gate Church of the Nazarene. He has led a somewhat unpleasant life, battling an addiction with cocaine. However, he has seen God’s grace and has been able to overcome his guilty pleasure. Now he has become an active member of the church community and never plans to return to his addiciton. He has been sober for 2 whole months.
Dwayne - the man, the myth, the legend
My other word is COMMUNITY. One of the most important aspects of the Appalachian experience is developing a strong relationshop with the locals that live in the region as well as fostering a loving community with the other people from SJU that experience it with you. Groups work together while serving their Appalachia sites and bond over the most primitive forms of relationship-building: conversation. Laughs are shared, tears are shed, and faith is spread throughout the community. My group had an immediate bond and we were able to enjoy each other’s company by constantly singing our group theme song:
Here are two pictures that I think exemplify the awesome time that we had together:
The Wednesday before spring break, Mike split us into groups and gave us each a word. With this word he wanted us to find a story on campus related to it. My group was given the word “care” so we decided to go the Student Health Center located in Sourin Hall. Ironically, one of the girls in my group was actually sick so she was able to get a check up. Here are the pictures/video that I took. Enjoy!
The Student Health Center
Part of the health exam
Filling out the perscription
For some reason, the video uploader is not working. I took about a minute video of the nurse examing the girl in my group. I’ll keep trying though.
Josh Wolf is infamously known as the American journalist who has served the most amount of prison time for protecting is source materials. His release of his video recording a demonstration in San Francisco in 2005 raised the eyebrows of FBI officials and they demanded for him to hand it over. He refused and was forced to go to jail where he served 226 days. He was released after granted permission from the prosecution.
Wolf’s actions in concealing his sources has caused debate as to whether he had the right to do so. The central issues revolve around the legal problems of his actions. Does he meet the proper criteria of a journalist? Can he refuse to comply with a grand jury’s request? Does the federal government have a say in what he is supposed to do?
Personally, I think that Wolf had the right to protect his video. As a video activist who is simply trying to release footage that could sway public opinion about an issue, he fits the criteria of a journalist. Moreover, California has a law the gives journalists the right to conceal their sources from federal government requests if need be. Wolf was not doing anything wrong and served innocent time in a California jail for just trying to make a name for himself. In the end, the prosecution eventually dropped their suit anyway and said that he didn’t have to testify in front of a grand jury, which was enough for his release. What was the point of putting him in jail in the first place? Josh Wolf, to me, stands a figure for all aspiring to journalists to be proud of the information that they have found. It is important for the general public to know about important issues and Wolf’s video cast a new insight and perspective into a highly problematic event in San Francisco.
The interview with Benny Perkins is a prime example of someone with a story to tell. Not only does he tell you what happened in detail, but there is a certain genuineness to his tone of voice that really makes an audience want to listen to him. From his interview, a listener gains perspective on what his experience was truly like. I would communicate his story to my readers this way:
First I would talk about the psychological aspect behind “Hands on a Hardbody”. Benny explains that while competitors fight sleeplessness they must also maintain their sanity: “What happens is you slowly go insane,” he said. “It’s not about stamina it’s about retaining your sanity.” I would then talk about Benny’s strategy to play mind games with the other competitors to convince them to quit (i.e. mentioning the guy who didn’t know what he wanted to eat).
Second I would talk about the idea of competition versus comraderie. There is a juxtaposition of wanting to win and wanting to make friends that creates this theme. Benny mentions that it was exhilarating when someone dropped off but at the same time he wanted to cry because he knew what that person went through; there is a familar suffering between the two competitors. “It’s like killin’ a deer,” he said. “But at the same time you feel bad for the people and their families.”
Lastly I would talk about how boring the competition got for him. “Your mind is looking for input. Something, anything,” he said. He explains that the body has the ability to take care of itself but the mind needs rest in order to function. With nothing to keep him occupied, Benny started hallucinating (i.e. when he envisioned someone playing the back of the truck like a piano). This is where the numbness began to kick in.
Roughly Speaking 