Journalism Studies Commons^™

The Never-Ending Lap, Ennica D. Jacob, Alexis Reese

Capstones

This personal film documents the journey of a Haitian-American woman dealing with sexual trauma in a culture that doesn’t speak candidly on the topic. How can women of the African- American diaspora break the cycle of sexual trauma and what are coping mechanisms to navigate their life choices with awareness?

The Never-Ending Lap will follow Ennica’s own healing process, delving delve into the cycles of sexual trauma. The film will explore past experiences through journal entries, therapy sessions and her love for track and field as she is on the road to search for coping mechanisms and healing.

Link: https://ennicajacob.myportfolio.com/videos

Not Manly Enough: Femmephobia’S Stinging Impact On The Transmasculine Community, Tat Bellamy - Walker

Capstones

My capstone project is about femmephobia in the transmasculine community. In interviews with at least six trans men and non-binary people, they explained the struggles they faced accessing health care and the discrimination they faced within their families for having a femme gender presentation. In the story, I speak to Rhea Hoskin, one of the leading researchers on femmephobia in Canada who details why this issue is harmful to the transmasculine community. Additionally, the director of the National Center for Transgender Equality talks about how femmephobia can rear its head and contribute to suicidality and depression in the transmasculine community. …

New York State's Landfill Problem, Olivia Raimonde, Chris Polansky

Capstones

Documents reviewed in a NYC News Service investigation of the environmental and health hazards caused by mismanaged landfills in New York State revealed problems at landfills that ranged from emitting dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide in the air in close proximity to schools to leaching chemicals into nearby ground and surface water. The issues at these landfills — which are jeopardizing the safety of the environment and nearby communities — are causing activists, residents and experts to questions how well these facilities are being regulated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation, which is responsible for landfill oversight. …

Travel To Cuba: A Case Study Of Media Branding In A Politicized Context, Yaneisis Infante

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to detail a case study of U.S. tourism to Cuba in a politicized context; specifically, to compare and contrast the Obama and Trump administrations. This study seeks to examine how the Cuban “brand” and the island’s overall tourism strategy is formulated, circulated, shaped and reshaped by various actors and the public in the changing context of the newly antagonistic bilateral U.S.-Cuba political relationship. The research questions explore issues of how diplomatic relations impact Cuban tourism and advertising messaging. This paper also discusses the changes in the U.S. news media coverage of Cuba as a …

“I Felt Scared, Like I Was Nobody”: Native American Athletes And Fans Face Widespread Racism At Sport Events, Kalen Goodluck

Capstones

Rural towns in the midwest are often highly supportive of their high school basketball teams and Indian reservation teams are no exception. The trouble is Native American players and fans face racism when facing high school teams from outside reservations.

Over the last decade, from 2008-2018, there have been at least 45 reported incidences all over the U.S. of racial incidents against Native Americans at sporting events like high school games and non-Native teams with pseudo-Indian names and mascots. This data was compiled from news reports by the NYC New Service.

These reported incidences range from making “whooping,” streaking in …

Telling The Good News, Allyson R. Escobar

Capstones

In light of recent clergy abuse scandals, cover-ups and leadership shake-downs, it is a divided time in the Catholic Church: but this isn’t the whole story. My final capstone project is a critical essay of how Catholicism (and religion overall) is represented in mainstream media--particularly in secular news publications and entertainment (horror films) in the United States. By examining the coverage and how conversations differ within members of the Catholic Church--from journalists and critics to active Catholics, religious men and women--this project calls for greater accountability, fairness, faith representation in all media, and the overall claim that there are Catholic …

Boom And Bust: How Private Detention Centers Wreak Economic Havoc On The Counties That Turn To Them For Stability, Max W. Parrott, Reynaldo Leanos Jr.

Capstones

In 2015, a riot broke out at a federal prison in a small Texas town not far from the U.S.-Mexico border. Prisoners tore through the kevlar tents of their dorms and a fire broke out, rendering the private prison uninhabitable. The facility was an economic engine for the impoverished, Rio Grande Valley county, so when the facility closed, it left the county $2 million short of its estimated budget, with $78 million in unpaid bonds and 400 fewer jobs for a population of about 21,000 people. This summer, three years after experiencing near economic collapse, Willacy County rushed back into …

Revival, Anya Van Wagtendonk

Capstones

My hometown, Great Barrington, MA, has one famous former resident: NAACP co-founder W.E.B. Du Bois. For generations, his legacy in the predominantly white town was hardly acknowledged. People actively protested the landmarking of his birth site in the 1960s. When I was a kid, plans to name a new middle school after him were scrapped after the uproar grew too loud. Even in this supposedly liberal enclave in western Massachusetts, people continued to object to his membership in the Communist Party. As former NAACP president Cornell Brooks said recently, this would be like Princeton, N.J., ignoring that Einstein had ever …

Visiting The "Golden God": Roundtrip From Chinatown To The Blackjack Tables, Katherine Fung

Capstones

Thousands of Chinese immigrants travel by bus to casinos in the Northeast every day. The casinos court and cater to them because they are regulars if not high-rollers -- like Mr. Ng, a retiree, who has traveled six hours daily to and from the Mohegan Sun for the last 13 years.

Canada’S Tariffs On American Consumer Goods Linger, Despite Appearance Of Trade Truce, Willa Rubin

Capstones

Months after a trade war erupted along the northern border, Canada’s efforts to counter Trump's efforts are in disarray. Despite the announcement of a new North-American trade agreement, tariffs on American and Canadian goods remain in effect, and Canada’s efforts to build political support for its position in the US have failed.

“Canada did the best they could on sensitive states to the companies that are dominating in those states,” said Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. But “you’ve got an administration which is very nationalistic. There are a lot of firms they don’t pay …

News Literacy, Sissel W. Mccarthy

Open Educational Resources

"The digital age has created the need for a new kind of literacy-a literacy that empowers news consumers to determine whether information is credible, reliable and truthful. This is not just a skill; it is a new core competency for the 21st century. So-called “fake news” is hard to spot and spreads easily, leading to disagreements over basic facts. The antidote to the growing challenges posed by this digital revolution is news literacy. This mini news literacy course includes two three-hour sessions that will teach anyone to become a more critical consumer of news. "

The News Literacy course package …

Green Card Veterans - Deported And Forgotten, Vicki Adame

Capstones

Green card holders are allowed to serve in the US military, but once discharged, if they commit a felony they will be deported. There is no firm number of how many veterans have been deported, estimates range from 300 to 3000.

https://vickiadame.com/

The Shunned Speak Out: Former Members On Life In The Jehovah's Witnesses And After, Nour Saudi, Joy Notoma

Capstones

"The Shunned Speak Out" is an interactive feature that explores the practice of religious shunning among Jehovah's Witnesses. When Jehovah's Witnesses opt to leave the group or are punished for an indiscretion, they are shunned and have to completely start their lives over without their families and the only community they have known. This piece profiles 13 former Jehovah's Witnesses, including their journeys and the emotional repercussions of shunning. Their personal stories are weaved in with expert voices and research on the organization.

https://jwshunning.github.io/jw/

Mixed Feelings: Growing Up Biracial In America, Alexandra Boothe

Capstones

My mom is the daughter of 2^nd generation Swedish and Danish immigrants and my dad is the son of Jamaican immigrants, who settled in the segregated city of Baltimore just months before his birth in a black-only hospital. In the eyes of Americans, they were a white woman and a black man embarking on a relationship that was less than palatable to many in this country-- including my mom’s own family.

Growing up, society was constantly forcing me to question my identity, but it was also true within the context of my mom’s side of the family. There was …

Black Models Matter: Challenging The Racism Of Aesthetics And The Facade Of Inclusion In The Fashion Industry, Scarlett L. Newman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The global fashion market is expanding every day, but often, the global fashion runways do not reflect that reality. On average, black models make up for six percent of models used on the runway during the fashion month calendar. This small percentage is also mirrored in advertisements and editorials featured in popular fashion magazines. In the 1970s, black models were met with great opportunities, and that success trickled down into the 1980s and the 1990s. As the 90s came to a close, top designers opted for an aesthetic that ultimately excluded models of color, but black models beared the brunt …

Politics And Journalists' Language, Aaron Barlow

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Transparency: Data Brokers And Commodification, Matthew Crain

Publications and Research

In the United States the prevailing public policy approach to mitigating the harms of internet surveillance is grounded in the liberal democratic value of transparency. While a laudable goal, transparency runs up against insurmountable structural constraints within the political economy of commercial surveillance. A case study of the data broker industry reveals the limits of transparency and shows that commodification of personal information is at the root of the power imbalances that transparency-based strategies of consumer empowerment seek to rectify. Despite significant challenges, privacy policy must be more centrally informed by a critical political economy of commercial surveillance.

Life Coaching -- Rising In Popularity Should It Be Regulated? A Look Into The Life And Work Of Emerging Life Coaching Star Gina Devee, Victoria R. Edwards

Capstones

The lifestyle and business coaching field is an international industry that grosses more than $2 billion, but it has no outside regulation. Some critics worry that without regulation harm can be brought to clients, but others say regulation would bring too much restriction into this growing industry.

Toxic Toys, Bad Vibrations, Samantha Lee

Capstones

The global sex toy industry is worth a full $15 billion, and approximately half of America's adult population have previously incorporated a vibrator into sexual play. And yet, despite sex toys’ ubiquity in the boudoir, no local or federal authorities have taken on the mantle of regulating the safety of sex toys -- some of which have been reported to break during use, electrocute its user, or even leach poisonous chemicals.

In the absence of regulatory strictures, can sex educators, toy manufacturers, and adult store owners ensure adult products are safe enough for a growing customer base?

This narrative takes …

India's Dalit Moment, Gabriel Kenneth Carroll Conlon

Capstones

This summer a brutal attack on Dalit youths in the Indian state of Gujarat set off months of street protests. The attack and subsequent protests underscored the persistence of caste-based discrimination in rural India, and the often brutal manner in which Dalits – members of India’s lowest castes – are excluded from everyday society. “India’s Dalit Moment” is a field report examining the causes and protagonists of the revolt. With on-the-ground reporting in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, this multimedia piece – including print, radio and photo elements – conveys a synthetic, but detailed window into the Dalit community …

The Children Of The Angel Guardian Home, Maria Elena Perez

Capstones

Since the early 1900's, the Angel Guardian Home in Dyker Heights, New York, has been known as a safe haven for orphans in the community. Now that the orphanage is being sold, former children who lived there are finally telling their stories about what it was like to be in the care of the Sisters of Mercy.

Homeowners In East New York: Hanging On To Community And Property After Rezoning, Angely Mercado

Capstones

East New York was the first neighborhood to be approved for rezoning as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's controversial affordable housing plan. There has been a lot of reporting on how it's going to affect tenants in the low income area. This capstone highlights how it is also affecting small property owners in the area and how the city needs to work on protecting them from being displaced as well.

A Cost Of Doing Business: Defense Contracting Fraud, Shane M. English

Capstones

The federal government relies heavily on outside contractors to provide essential research and services. Following World War II, the Department of Defense and the military began to rely on approved government contractors to develop, test and improve weapons and tools used to keep soldiers and the nation safe.

Defense contracting is a massive business that commands billions of dollars a year. Despite the magnitude of the United States' contracting system, detecting fraud and preventing bad actors from continuing to profit off of the government has proven difficult. The systems at hand: civil and criminal charges, suspension and debarment have consistently …

No Hindu Left Behind Is A Tall Order, Even In America, Rheaa Rao

Capstones

Hindutva, synonymous for Hindu nationalism, is not a fringe ideology in India but is something that often violently singles out other religious minorities. Hindu organizations in the United States do not have a violent history or intent in the United States, it is important to trace their roots back to the Hindu nationalist movement in India to dig deeper into their rhetoric and what it means for Indian and American democracy. This article investigates the role these organizations play in spreading a Hindutva message in the diaspora.

https://social.shorthand.com/RheaaRao/ngSoDOqapT/no-hindu-left-behind-is-a-tall-order-even-in-america

Being A Scholar In The Digital Era: Transforming Scholarly Practice For The Public Good, Polly Thistlethwaite, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

What opportunities do digital technologies present scholars? How do developments in digital media support scholarship and teaching, and how can academics apply them to further social justice activism? The authors, a sociologist and a librarian, examine scholarly practice in the digital era to explore how academics, journalists, and activists can combine efforts to support social justice issues. With scholarly communication undergoing rapid change, and with digital innovation applied in higher education for many reasons, authors outline what scholars can do to channel their work to benefit the public good.

Stepsisters, Patrick Donachie

Capstones

This story details how parishioners in several New York City Catholic parishes responded to news that their churches would be shuttered by the New York Archdiocese. Parishioners appealed to the Vatican to overturn Cardinal Timothy Dolan's decisions, and the story details their struggle with church hierarchy and their own personal challenges.

South Africa's Forgotten Freedom Fighters, Kimberly H. Conner, Natasha Scully

Capstones

More than two decades have passed since the end of apartheid, yet freedom is elusive for those who battled to bring democracy to South Africa. There are more than 16,000 military veterans living in South Africa, according to the Department of Military Veterans database. The real figure is likely much larger since the database is still under development. Many of these veterans are caged by the psychological, social and financial consequences of their past.

White Faces In A Black Movement: Why Their Voices Matter, Chauncey L. Alcorn

Capstones

This story follows the lives of two white activists in New York's Black Lives Matter movement. It examines the largely ignored impact white activists have had on the BLM movement and also explores the history of white activists in the abolitionist and Civil Rights movements. The climax details a highly-publicized spat between rival Black Lives Matter organizations that happened during a Dec. 4 protest to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Officer Daniel Pantaleo's non-indictment in Garner's death. My main character, a white male, was blamed for causing the rift and was asked to step down from his leadership position in …

Case Studies And Pervasive Instruction: Using Journalism Education Techniques In The Information Literacy Classroom, Jennifer Noe

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether journalism education techniques can be adapted for use in the information literacy classroom as a means of teaching the ethical use of information. The author uses personal experience as a journalist and graduate of journalism education programs to examine the similarities between journalism pedagogy and information literacy and whether any aspect of journalism pedagogy is transferrable to the information literacy classroom.

An Examination Of Western Representation Of The Muslim Brotherhood Through Various Media Outlets, Popular Literature And How Has Recent History And Outside Influences Affected The Viewpoint Presented To The Public?, Lynn Andrew Perkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In depth study of Western media's coverage of the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt after the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Not only using key events between the West/ United States and the Middle East over the last 40 years to show how current events are reported but also investigating where and how the media receives their information to report. The outside and internal influences put upon western media are also under investigation in this paper and how those influences insure that their own interests supersede that of complete and accurate reporting …