Guest Blog: What I Learned Volunteering In Hurricane Sandy’s Aftermath

November 28, 2012 By 1 Comment

Today my journalist friend Brett Schweinberg shares his experience volunteering in Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath on Staten Island. It’s been a month since Sandy hit. Many people in the area Brett visited remain in need. Learn how you can help here.

I journeyed to Staten Island in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy feeling uneasy about my reasons for the trip. The plan called for two neighbors and I to drive from Chicago on Friday night after work, volunteer on Saturday and Sunday, and drive through the night Sunday to get home in time for work on Monday.

On the 13-hour car ride in, my travel companions and I wondered aloud whether the money we were spending on gas and lodging would be better spent through any of the dozens of organizations collecting for the relief effort. I feared a shameful sort of voyeurism drove my desire to volunteer as much as a true desire to help.
Between the thrill of participating in a relief mission, the fun associated with driving halfway across the country and the incessant praise I received from friends and family, I worried I might be gaining too much from what was supposedly a selfless act.

What I found once I arrived in Staten Island erased my doubts.

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Filed Under: Journalism, Musings, NYC, World Affairs Tagged With: , , , ,

News Goes On In New Orleans, Just To A Different Beat

October 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As a native New Orleanian, I would be remiss if I didn’t write about the Times-Picayune passing from the ranks of daily newspapers today, thus leaving New Orleans as the largest city in the country without a daily newspaper. My feelings about Newhouse’s decision to reduce the newspaper to three days per week have not changed much. I am hopeful though that, while the method many people get their news will change, the strength of reporting from other outlets will not. Competition can be a good thing.

I look at the Baton Rouge Advocate seeking to make a greater footprint in New Orleans as a good thing. The same goes for New Orleans TV stations hiring veteran T-P staff. And there are blogs popping up that do a great job of covering local issues, such as my friend Robert Morris’s Uptown Messenger. Somehow, some way, the news will be delivered to New Orleanians. It will be different though.

My confidence in other outlets does not translate to the Times-Picayune itself. The newspaper’s recent reporter layoffs cost the organization a depth of institutional knowledge that will not soon be replaced. There is also the issue of the Times-Picayune’s web site being user unfriendly. Aside from Newhouse changing its organizational web site layout I do not see readers having a satisfying experience on nola.com.

The news goes on in New Orleans. Just to a different beat.

Filed Under: Journalism, Musings Tagged With: , , ,

A Checkpoint For The Fringe NOLA Crowd

July 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Laura McKnight's stomping grounds

NOTE: I incorrectly labeled Laura McKnight’s post on the Hubig’s Pies fire as her Cajun Tomato writing debut. It was not. I glanced through my archives and neglected this post that originally ran March 20, 2011. When I switched host servers earlier this year the link to this Checkpoint Charlie’s ode was broken, and the post disappeared from the site. Here it is again in all its glory.

By Laura McKnight
Cajun Tomato Correspondent

NEW ORLEANS – As I scribble the notes for this, my heart is working overtime trying to pump greasy beef through my veins. The Cajun Burger from my Laundromat is delicious, but loaded with grease. It’s the kind of grease that trickles out of the meat patty with each bite and dribbles onto jean shorts, staining them.

At this Laundromat, which also happens to be a bar, I could probably just take my shorts off, throw them in the nearest washing machine and chill in my panties with few stares, much less objections. One of my college professors told me he spent part of a rainy Mardi Gras here, buck naked, waiting for clothes to dry.

Stains aside, that burger did nothing good for my physical constitution. Likewise, spending regular laundry sessions at this place, known as Checkpoint Charlie’s, is likely not advisable for healthy living. But it’s fun and my clothes need washing, so I come here anyway. That’s how we roll here in South Louisiana.

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Filed Under: Food, Journalism, Laura McKnight, World Affairs Tagged With: , , ,

Times-Picayune Cuts Do No One Justice

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Bowser Baby

This sad-eyed picture of Bowser the wonder pitbull princess encapsulates my feelings about today’s cuts at the Times-Picayune. Admittedly, they have been a formality since David Carr’s New York Times report last month.

Yet, the way Newhouse and Advance Media dropped the axe surprised me with its lack of honor, integrity, or humanity. Tell me how cutting 49 percent of newsroom employees, including several major voices, equals to a better online product? And how does a weaker product equal better business? This is some emperor’s new clothes shit for the newspaper’s readers and the people of New Orleans. For the Times-Picayune‘s employees, it is a spit in the face.

(The same applies for the three Alabama newspapers that suffered 400 casualties. The days when the pen was mightier than the spreadsheet are a distant memory.)

I’ll spare you a full recount of why I feel the desecration of the Times-Picayune is the wrong move for New Orleans. You can find those thoughts here.

Filed Under: Journalism, Musings Tagged With: , , ,

New Orleans Is Not New Orleans Without The Times-Picayune

May 24, 2012 By 2 Comments

I started Wednesday morning reading an online article addressing concerns over a New Orleans institution possibly being sullied. Reports of a Confederacy of Dunces film adaptation starring Zach Galifianakis caused red alerts among the book’s legion of fans, not because of the actor attached, but the possibility the project could cheapen the Crescent City artistic landmark.

Tonight I read about another New Orleans institution being not only sullied but possibly decimated. The likelihood of major cuts to the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s staff and print product represents a far greater blow to the Crescent City than even the most disastrous Confederacy of Dunces adaptation. Ignatius Reilly, himself, would rail against the Newhouse Family, owners of the Times-Picayune, for even entertaining the idea of gutting the proud paper. It would be a grave injustice to his constitution, no doubt.

Make no mistake, if the details of the New York Times’ report come to fruition a major American city will lose a significant voice.

Carr’s report saddens me, in particular, because one of my first memories is of reading the Times-Picayune’s sports page. I sat in the back seat of my parent’s Ford Escort reciting Major League Baseball box scores. From there, my dreams of becoming a sportswriter were birthed, in no small part due to the Times-Picayune.

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“Cajun Justice” Sheriff Should Resign Following DWI Intervention

May 18, 2012 By 8 Comments

King Vernon Bourgeois

Three weeks from now, millions of Americans will be introduced to “Cajun Justice” on A&E. I encourage you to read my post on why this TV show is/was/will forever be a terrible idea.

The Cajun culture has already been raped enough by outsiders looking to make a quick buck. A&E’s show promises to be no different, with its laughable references to treacherous swamplands and “Rougarous” and bloated comparisons of Terrebonne Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois to a king.

The cable channel’s likening of Bourgeois to a king seemed oddly fitting today after my old newspaper broke a story that he intervened during a DWI arrest involving an alleged drunk man driving a golf cart. It turned out the suspect’s family donated to Bourgeois’ election campaign four years ago.

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Filed Under: Journalism, Musings, Television, Thibodaux Tagged With: , , , , ,

Grantland’s “Oden On Oden” Piece Raises Journalistic Questions

May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Greg Oden (via Getty Images)

Greg Oden is a sore subject among Portland Trail Blazers fans, to put it mildly. Fans considered him the final piece of a Big Three, along with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, that would win the Blazers their first NBA title in three decades. Except Oden’s 7-foot body broke down – so did Roy’s – and slowly the fans were forced to abandon their lofty dreams.

On Wednesday, web magazine Grantland ran a profile on Oden written by Mark Titus, his longtime friend and college teammate. The piece captivated me, largely because it pulled the curtain back on a press-shy player who has dealt with and continues to deal with an incredible amount of adversity for a 26-year-old.

While I enjoyed reading his piece, Titus’ work left me with several questions – particularly from a journalistic standpoint – that I felt would be worthwhile to address here. I’ll skip the argument about whether Oden came across as a sympathetic figure or whether he came across as making excuses.

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Filed Under: Journalism, Portland, Sports Tagged With: , , , , ,

On Chief Keef: Revisiting Gawker’s Nominee For Hip-Hop’s Next Big Thing

May 8, 2012 By 13 Comments

Chief Keef's latest mixtape

NOTE: I added a sentence to my initial post to reflect Drake’s assertion Keef had a strong following in among Chicago public high school students prior to his arrest. I also corrected an error I made about when he performed his first two Chicago shows.

From the moment Pusha T breathes fire into it, Kanye West’s remix of Chicago ROY candidate Chief Keef’s “Don’t Like” is appointment listening. The verses from Kanye, Pusha, Jadakiss, and Big Sean crackle with urgency, Young Chop’s beat thumps, and Keef’s hook has a middle finger in the air bravado that makes this song born out of teen angst electrifying.

The “Don’t Like” remix inspired me to seek out more Chief Keef material — he has two mixtapes — and read up on him. In doing so, I came across a Gawker article published in March that declared him “hip hop’s next big thing.” After reading the article and listening to a half dozen Chief Keef tracks, I can confidently write such a label being placed on him is not only undeserved but a bogus attempt by the web site to garner page views. For those counting, the article generated more than 59,000 clicks.

Through the magic of Twitter, I shared my opinion about the article’s headline with David Drake, author of the Gawker article in question. I refrained from expressing the latter opinion (about page views). To make a statement like that about Gawker would have been redundant.

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Filed Under: Journalism, Music Tagged With: , , , , ,

Trayvon Martin Case Illuminates Troubling Realities About Us

March 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

NOTE: I started this post Tuesday night.

Today I observed headlines about Trayvon Martin’s school disciplinary record, his mother’s desire to trademark a phrase using his name and a photo of someone first reported on social media sites (inaccurately) as Martin flashing an obscene gesture at the camera.

Martin’s cause celebre in the wake of his Feb. 26 shooting death has illuminated a scary reality in our 21st century world. No, it’s not that racism lives and breathes in America. Everyone who is honest with themselves knows this.

It’s that our need, as a society, for spectacle and our desire to try cases in the court of public opinion, often with limited facts available, has surpassed our willingness to allow cases to play out in the court of law. And more disturbing, Martin’s death has shown just how easy it is to manipulate public sentiment, particularly with the rise of social media.

For instance, news of Martin’s school suspensions has as little to do with the events of Feb. 26 as the widely circulated picture of his shooter George Zimmerman in what appears to be an orange jail jumpsuit. Don’t get me started about the photo of someone other than Martin raising his middle fingers at the camera. Even if the picture depicted Martin, would that make a difference?

Martin’s case is far from the first to push the limits of media saturation and it won’t be the last. What is unique about his death and the outrage that followed is it appears to provide an examination of race in America in 140 characters or less. That is how this case differs from, say, the Casey Anthony murder trial that received obscene amounts of media coverage a few short months ago.

Bear with me ….

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Filed Under: Journalism, Musings, World Affairs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Screw You, Rick Reilly: I Will Continue Writing For Free

May 10, 2011 By 2 Comments

Back when I lived in Louisiana, I tried to convince a friend of mine to join me in a weekly podcast discussion about our differing musical tastes. It would have been interesting. My friend and I often clashed when it came to music of all genres. He ultimately refused to do the podcast because he said “no one would listen.”

I voiced my displeasure with his reasoning for not doing the podcast. After all, the masses aren’t going to tune in to a podcast where the co-hosts aren’t recognizable names. You do such a podcast because YOU enjoy it. Not because it will draw thousands of listeners and bring you instant adoration.

But he continued to refuse my point of view. And so, I let the idea slide.

I bring this up because an article I read tonight about a commencement speech ESPN columnist Rick Reilly’s recently gave Univ. of Colorado journalism students reminded me of my friend’s podcast philosophy. Like the vast majority of Reilly’s columns the past few years, the advice he gave the students was utter rubbish.

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Filed Under: Journalism, Sports Tagged With: , , , ,
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