Ladies and gentlemen, it’s finally happened: we’re moving to our eminently customizable, multimedia-happy new site. (The only casualty was the .net, which for technical reasons we had to change to .org.)
In the interest of not driving our webmaster insane, all our posts prior to November 18 will still be stored here.
Please bookmark accordingly… we look forward to seeing you there.
-EWS
Ayub with the Kalashnikov. (Photo: Sebastian Meyer)
The following text and photos are excerpted from an email from my old Milton buddy Sebastian Meyer, a photojournalist currently on assignment in Iraq. We’ll be posting his dispatches as we receive them. —EWS
(…and for gawshsakes, Seb, be careful!)
There have been quite a few requests over the past two weeks for stories and pictures from Kurdistan, so now that I’m back in Erbil—clean and with access to the Internet—here are a few select stories and impressions, along with a few photos. (NB: All the photos that I’m on commission for I can’t send, so unfortunately we’ll have to make do with these.)
As some of you know, my first week in Erbil was, well, a little disappointing. Ayub, our field producer, calls it the “Most Boring City in Iraq,” which I’m sure some of you are glad to hear. I wasn’t. Keep reading →
by Emily Sussman
Gina, I discovered upon logging on to Facebook the other day, did not ask for your life story in status updates.
I'll see your Tweet and raise you a Status Update! (Photo source: cacklinglibraryhens.blogspot.com)
OUCH! I felt a sharp stinging sensation, as if my superego had just been sucker-punched.
Okay, so maybe Gina wasn’t addressing me specifically when she issued that statement for all 624 of her Facebook friends to see. Most likely, her venom was precipitated by some sort of psychosexual love triangle that had been manifesting itself in the form of its participants’ provocative little updates. Keep reading →
by Chad Painter
Lester Bangs, who proved that writing about rock can be just as exhilarating as playing it. (Photo: Stephanie Chernikowski)
CLEVELAND, April 4, 2009—“Le Freak” is blasting from the speakers as disco legends Chic step to the stage and are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
While Chic has no business being rock hall-of-famers, that’s a discussion for another day; the Cleveland institution has a long tradition of inducting non-rockers such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (rap), Miles Davis (jazz), Parliament-Funkadelic (funk), Bob Marley (reggae) and the Bee Gees (bad pop).
And while the RRHF has honored David Crosby, Eric Clapton and three-fourths of the Beatles multiple times, it has only opened its doors for music journalists twice: for former Billboard editor Paul Ackerman and Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. Keep reading →
by Craig Giammona
The Doodler Who Would Be Mayor (Source: The New Republic)
The storms pushing in off the Pacific have gained strength in recent days, wind and rain whipping us for hours at a time. Alaska Day has come and gone. The bald eagles have taken up their posts in the black poplar tree outside my apartment.
When the weather clears, usually for an hour or so, we glance up at the snow line, noting where it landed that day and its quick descent down the mountains toward town. It’s late October in southeast Alaska, and thoughts have turned to what we’re going to do when Sarah Palin becomes our governor again.
Is there anything sadder than a neglected website? (One that hasn’t been updated in, say, two weeks?) Static pixels staring out from cyberspace are so maddeningly tight-lipped about the reasons for their (web)master’s abandonment!
No, not those 'attractions'... but I made you look, didn't I? (Photo: EWS)
Bear with us, dear reader; Carpe Media is going through a transition phase. In addition to working on a site redesign that will launch before the end of the month, I’ve been busy learning some of the techie skills needed to publish the kind of audio/visual storytelling mediums that prompted this site’s creation in the first place.
And while we’re on the subject of improvements, CM is actively recruiting new student contributors, a process that was given a tremendous boost by the faculty and staff who attended our presentation at the Reynolds Journalism Institute last week. (Thanks again to RJI Fellow Bill Densmore, who hosted and webcasted the event.)
Journalism that holds itself to the highest standards of accountability isn’t easy to find in the current online media maelstrom. Fortunately, today’s J-students are upping the ante by learning how to incorporate the core values of our profession with the rich new mediums made possible by the web. To that end, it’s the aim of this site to support them in their endeavors.
So if you’re a convergence, print, or photo-J student who’s tired of seeing the hard work you do for class fated to post-grading period obscurity, please consider letting CM publish your projects. Drop me a line at the address below to get the ball rolling, or if you’re just curious to find out more.
ews8tb@gmail.com
by Chad Painter
Chickens in newspaper... ahem. (Source: hot-screensaver.com)
Katie Couric isn’t known for her hard questions, and it seemed like she was throwing a softball to Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin when she asked at one point in the now-infamous CBS Evening News interview “…what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?”
Couric’s seemingly simple question, though, was tougher than it sounded: Palin could have given one of five possible answers.
Option 1: “I’m not going to answer that question, and here’s why…” Keep reading →
by Emily W. Sussman
Yes, that's him.
Here’s the scene: a dingy church basement. Stale coffee in styrofoam cups. Florescent lights humming overhead. I shuffle up to the folding table that faces the audience and clear my throat.
My name is Emily, and I am Facebook friends with my father. This is my story.
This particular on-the-Book “friendship” didn’t start as all my others had—that is, it wasn’t one of those reflexive “Accept Friend Request” split-click decisions. My dad “friended” me about a month ago, and it took me until exactly yesterday to say yes.
Why the hesitation? Keep reading →
by Chad Painter
Faye Dunaway in "Network" (1976)
People say a lot of things about journalism. That the reporting is one-sided and subjective. That reporters would rather than get the story first than get it right. That editors are more concerned with selling sex and sports than reporting worthwhile stories.
But one thing that can’t be denied is that people are fascinated by journalists. That’s why there are so many movies about the profession. Here’s a list of the ten best movies (excluding documentaries) about journalists and their craft. Keep reading →
(Film still from "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control")
Welcome back to Carpe Media...and if this is your first time on the site, then just plain welcome!
I’ll say it straight: the quality of CM depends on you. Not a vague, universal “you,” as in, “your vote makes a difference.” (Although, come to think of it, in this election, it most certainly will.)
Specifically, CM depends on your comments. So if you see a post here that you liked… or that you thought was lame… or worse yet, that you read and had no reaction to whatsoever… I’d love hear about it in all its gory, ad hominem (er, make that ad Emily) detail. One word would be great; ten words would be great; even a book-length missive would be great.
Essentially, I’m greedy for your input, no matter how big or small. Keep reading →
