Another WJI Multimedia project

Here is another video project that I worked on at WJI. Check it out….its about homelessness

Project: Turning Comedy to Cash

This is a multimedia project that Ryan and I worked on. You know what...I think it turned out pretty well. Let me know what you think! Thanks Ryan for being such a great job partner and challenging me to do things I don't like to do. So yeah check this little 1:30 minute clip.

Living Life

I sum up my personal approach to evangelism in three words: Living my life. Maybe it sounds too simple but I have no other way to explain it.

The word evangelism almost makes me shutter. My worst grade in Bible College was in Personal Evangelism class. When I saw the title of one of the required books for World Journalism Institute, I couldn't believe my eyes, The Heart of Evangelism, by Jerram Barrs. The thought, "oh no, not again." flashed through my mind.

I read the book, in the process it got stolen and I bought another one. I hope and pray the little bit of my life the thug saw, compelled him to read the book he found in my backpack.

I didn't really learn a whole lot from the book that I didn't already know but it did remind me of a few things I had forgotten along the way. As I read it, I wondered how I would ever be able to put what I was reading into practice in a secular newsroom. I'm not the type of person to turn every conversation to God but neither am I ashamed of the fact that I am a Christian.

Personally, one statement from the book hit me, "Among people of whatever race, culture, or religious background Paul's desire was to be a servant to them." (p. 185) Being a servant should be how I live my life and how I live my life should be a witness to those around me.

If Your Reader Has a Cold Don’t…

I'm still trying to figure out what William Faulkner's The Bear was about.

I know that it is about a bear, and a boy and a few other people. Oh and the bear is killed in the end (sorry if I spoiled the story for you…just in case you wanted to read it). The bear's name was Old Ben, I never did figure out what the boy's name was. Maybe the problem was I had a cold when I read it.

As my brother so aptly put it as I expressed my frustration about the book, "But its William Faulkner, you can't really criticize him." Yet I have my likes and dislikes. I'm not saying this shouldn't be a great piece of literature, actually I learned some valuable lessons as I read the book.

The first thing I learned was that I should never write long, complicated and complex sentences if I want someone with a cold to enjoy reading my writing. The second, descriptive passages can make the most complicated and difficult piece of writing interesting. Third, sometimes you have to get through the beginning; no matter how boring or un-interesting it may be, to find the jewel hidden underneath.

I think the final lesson is so important in journalism. So often, a story starts out boring and without anything to set it apart but as one keeps digging and finding out more, the heart and soul of the story is revealed…and that is what is worth telling.

Giving History a Face

Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl is a short poignant story. It tells the story of Rosa, her niece Stella and her daughter, Magda, during the Holocaust.

The Shawl shares what must have been the story of hundreds of Jewish mothers during Hitler's reign. It is story not often thought about or portrayed in either non-fiction or fiction. How many mothers did everything they could to save their children only to watch them die cruel and painful deaths the way Rosa did as Madga was hurled against the electric fence surrounding the concentration camp? This story with its vivid descriptions, symbolism and intense feeling makes one wonder how many such stories have never been told.

The Holocaust is over, though as the follow up to The Shawl, Rosa shows, the effects last long after the experience. The question however remains, what do we miss when we look at historic or contemporary events without looking at the faces or listening to the voices of those affected.

In Iraq what stories do mothers have to tell? In Kenya, what would the young men fighting tribal wars tell us if we stopped to listen? What irreversible pain do the child prostitutes of Calcutta experience? The list could go on and on.

In an age of instant everything, we often forget to look beyond the headlines at the faces. May the story of Rosa and baby Magda remind us to take the time to see the people affected by headline news throughout the world.

Relating Kenya to Gourevitch’s Rwanda

Without a doubt, the one book or article I would recommend an aspiring journalist read is We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, by Philip Gourevitch.

He didn't pretend to have all the answers or even know the whole truth about Rwanda's genocide. Nevertheless, he took the time to get to know the people involved, visit the places where the tragedies occurred, and attempted to come to an understanding of Rwanda's rhythms of life. His reporting takes you deep into the lives of people affected and into the sources and results of the hatred and slaughter of Rwanda's Tutsi population.

My first exposure to We wish to inform you was during the height of the post-election violence that tore Kenya apart at the beginning of 2008. As I read, I began to question the truth and reality of the reporting I was hearing and reading and for that matter the reporting I was doing. It taught me the importance of looking beyond the obvious to find the truth.

Kenya needs a Gourevitch. Though the violence was mild in comparison to Rwanda, no one has taken the time to find out what happened, how it happened, or why it happened. It would take solid foundation knowledge of Kenya's history and issues, time and willingness to dig deep into the sources of the conflict, and getting to know people involved at all levels, just as Gourevitch did to help make sense of the Rwanda genocide.

Who Else Might Have a Cold

Relating "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" to today's personality profiles

I have never been interested in Frank Sinatra. I know, I know he is a singer who reached music industry heights unheard of before or after his days. Reading "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold," by Gay Talese has introduced me not only to an amazing personality but also to a new style of profile writing.

Will I ever have the talent, passion, or ability to write about another person with such description, flow and intimacy, yet all the while holding myself and the reader at a distance…so connected to the personality in question yet no more privy to the intimate details of their life than before?

I can't think of one among my peers worthy of comparison to Sinatra, people like him don't exist in my world. But without a doubt within people all around me there are lives, details and achievements worthy of such dignified exposure to the public eye as Talese gave Sinatra. The young pastor toiling in the slums in hopes of improving one child's life, the singer uncompromising in her stand for purity, the drug addict turned youth pastor… and the list goes on.

These are the stories worth sharing as Talese did, with simplicity, weaving the background and the small everyday details together with a claim to fame. Taking such a person and making them real to the reader, someone they feel they can walk up to and greet as an old friend. Showing their humanity and their greatness in one fluid line of prose.