• The reporters in our Interactive Fundamentals sections fanned out around the city, Flip Video cameras in hand, and asked dozens of New Yorkers: “Tell us one way the recession has changed your life.” The results of the video vox pop are plotted out on a Google map. The hits already are starting to roll in, through both the News Service site and YouTube. Thanks to all the reporters and professors involved. Special shoutouts are due to Drew Geraets, Collin Orcutt and Kristen Joy Watts who made the map presentation come to life.
• Kieran Meadows spent his summer as a Carnegie Fellow with the Brian Ross Investigative Unit at ABC. The piece he worked on – a “Harvest of Shame”-style expose of the use of children as fruit pickers – hit the ABC trifecta last week, with segments on “Good Morning America,” “World News with Charlie Gibson” and “Nightline.” ABCnews.com also ran a print story – co-written by Angela Hill (’07), our first Carnegie Fellow. It looks like the Ross story already is having an impact.
• Joel Schectman’s report about fears that U.S. satellites might be vulnerable to attack made BusinessWeek.
• Joe Walker broke into The New York Times’ Metro section with his story about a developer who was barred from selling apartments in New York State. Mike Reicher, meanwhile, wrote a piece for The Times’ City Room blog about a U.N. investigation of New York’s affordable housing situation. David Montalvo, writing for the New Jersey branch of The Local, profiled a Millburn township committee candidate, while Lois DeSocio wrote about new lacrosse nets for Memorial Park.
• Page 18 of last Monday’s Daily News was a J-School affair. Maria Clark, Mark Morales and Kate Nocera’s bylines popped up on different stories.
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote about the New Jersey gubernatorial race for CBSNews.com.
• Alana Rigal’s video piece about offbeat mayoral candidates made the News Service. It’s a version of a longer story she did for “219 West,” which now can be found online.
• In you missed last week’s live webcast of “The Aerial View,” produced by Mark Morales, Rachel Senatore and Jessica Simeone, no worries: you can catch the show here.
• How’s this for J-School teamwork: Nicholas Martinez’ feature about “pink-slip parties” included additional reporting by Aaron Adler, Aashish Jethra, Erin McCarthy. The story made am New York.
• Janet Lawrence’s profile of a maintenance worker at the Paramount Plaza is featured in Our Town.
• Emily Feldman wrote a story for NBC Local Integrated Media about three Harlem restaurants offering an unusual special: free round-trip car service rides.  Maya Pope-Chappell, meanwhile, wrote about two young brothers who gave their World Series tickets to charity.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

Launched in May 2005, the HuffPost has become an influential media web site covering politics, business, technology, entertainment, and the green movement. It is also a platform for thousands of bloggers who weigh in on a wide range of topics.

Huffington, who writes a nationally syndicated political column for Tribune Media Services, is a frequent television commentator, with appearances on such shows as “Charlie Rose,” “Larry King Live,” and “The O’Reilly Factor.” She is the author of 12 books, including Right is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe.

In 2009, Forbes magazine named her to its list of Most Influential Women in Media. She has also appeared on the Time 100, Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

“Arianna is very entrepreneurial, a valuable skill in this brave new world of journalism,” said Dean Stephen B. Shepard.

Huffington will be the CUNY J-School’s third commencement speaker, following award-winning broadcast journalist Bill Moyers in 2008 and Dean Baquet, assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, in 2007.

The 2009 commencement will take place at the Times Center in the New York Times building. A reception will follow at the CUNY J-School next door.

Download the Fall 2009 issue of Inside Story [pdf]

• If you missed the live webcast of Audiophiles, produced by Kaili Boyd, Maureen Sullivan and Nicole Turso, no worries – you can listen here.
• Jenni Avins’ story about a screening of the film “The Bear” that was accompanied by a live, original score by No Age, made Vanity Fair’s website.
• Joe Walker’s article about tenants’ battle to save their Brooklyn building was featured in City Limits.
• Sandra Roa’s story and audio slideshow about photographer Joseph Rodriguez, who sees himself as a social worker with a camera, found a home in The New York Times’ Lens blog.
• Speaking of The Times, Damiano Beltrami filed a “dynamite” story for The Local that also made the City Room blog. Vineeth Thomas wrote about the closing of a Fort Greene sandwich shop (a picture by Kristen Joy Watts accompanies the piece). Nicholas Martinez, meanwhile, covered a Atlantic Yards project protest.
• Hannah Rappleye offers an inside look at the old Mary Immaculate Hospital in a pair of audio slideshows picked up by the Queens Courier.
• Erica Soto’s article about salsa great Willie Colon made The Amsterdam News.
• Eleanor Miller and Megan Finnegan teamed on story for Irish Central about a ceremony honoring some long-forgotten immigrants.
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote a piece for CBSNews.com about Sarah Palin’s latest call for oil drilling.
• Emily Johnson’s story about plans for a new skate park made the Canarsie Courier. Come on by my office to check out a copy.
• Maria Clark shared a byline on this Daily News story about flooding in Queens. Kate Nocera contributed to this article about proposed stiffer penalties for cabbies caught talking on cell phones while driving.
• H’Rina DeTroy and Mark Morales teamed on a video for the News Service about a student-designed, science-themed playground in Brooklyn. The story packages nicely with a previously published piece by Jessica Dailey.
• Maya Pope-Chappell wrote about Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson’s war of words for NBC Local Integrated Media. Emily Feldman, meanwhile, chronicled President Obama’s recent shout out for mayoral candidate and City Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

• Maureen Sullivan’s review of a short story collection called, “Love in Infant Monkeys” was by published by The Internet Review of Books.
• Maya Pope-Chappell acted quickly on a tip (from Prof. Williston), ran down to 41^st street and found herself amid decked-out “art cars” and their creators. Her story and slideshow was featured on NBCNewYork.com. Emily Feldman, meanwhile, wrote a story for NBC about Rush Limbaugh’s bid to buy a piece of the St. Louis Rams.
• Rima Abdelkader scored an interview with, as the headline put it, the “chief Yahoo! of the Arab world” for DinarStandard.com
• Peggy Truong’s article chronicling community concerns about a planned development found a home on the Westside Independent website.
• Mike Reicher’s story about a mural restoration in Harlem made The New York Times’ City Room blog.
• Speaking of The Times, David Montalvo’s story and slideshow about the annual open house at the Millburn firehouse found a home on The Local’s New Jersey branch. Meanwhile, Jordan Shakeshaft covered a community board meeting for The Local’s Fort Greene edition, and Jim Flood contributed a photo to a story about the partial opening of a community center.
• Mark Morales shared a byline on a Daily News front-page story about a DWI-related death in the Bronx, while Kate Nocera covered another drunk driving fatality in Brooklyn.
• Michael Preston’s latest True/Slant post offers his take on Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe’s health-care plan vote.
• Mirva Lempiainen’s article about open bar promotions is featured on the News Service. Meanwhile, Karina Ioffee and H’Rina DeTroy combined on a News Service piece about moms on the campaign trail.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

• Shoutouts are due on the premiere of 219 West, the new monthly TV news magazine produced out of the J-School and broadcast on CUNY TV. In the election-themed debut show, producers Geneva Sands-Sadowitz and Brian Winkowski examined the financial health of the city and efforts to diversify the economy. Rima Abdelkader took an intimate look at mounting a first-time campaign. Nicole Turso profiled the youngest member of the City Council and Alana Rigal introduced us to some unorthodox mayoral candidates. Aisha Al-Muslim and John DePetro served as anchors. The show, which first aired Wednesday, will be repeated on Channel 75 Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 10 a.m. If you miss 219 West on the tube, don’t worry ­– the show should be online soon.
• Sophia Tewa and Jessica Simeone’s video-and-print package on the hot costume – Michael Jackson – of a not-so-hot Halloween season can be found on the News Service. The video also is making a splash on YouTube.
• Another example of J-School teamwork: Mark Morales and Barry Paddock (’08) combined on a Daily News story about a bloody brawl in Harlem. Maria Clark, meanwhile, wrote about a Bronx-inspired soda company.
• Eleanor Miller’s feature about bringing the Bard to the Boardwalk found a home in The Brooklyn Rail.
• Sandra Roa’s story and photo spread/slideshow about a new urban oasis known as Concrete Plant Park are featured in The Hunts Point Express. Azriel James Relph covered the Uptown Girl Power! awards for the paper. (Scroll down the homepage a tad to find both pieces.)
• Kieran Meadows and Mike Reicher’s story about the dispute over whether Superfund money should be used to clean the Gowanus Canal made Crain’s New York Business. Feel free to drop by my office to read a copy of the article.
• Meanwhile, Mike’s article about plans to lop off the top two floors of the old Corn Exchange Bank Building in Harlem was published in The New York Times’ New York section. More Times news: Joe Walker’s piece about Pratt closing its campus to the public was featured in paper’s Local blog, as was Samantha Stark’s coverage of a citywide high school fair held at Brooklyn Tech. Valerie Lapinski contributed a package to The Times’ Lens blog about a photographer who chronicled the travels of the Van Gujjar tribe of northern India.
• Sergey Kadinsky’s story about top scientists who were awarded medals by President Obama made CBSNews.com.
• Liza Eckert contributed a sweet recipe and even sweeter item to BUST magazine. (See attached pdf.)
• Xiomara Martinez-White’s brief about Nancy Grace’s clash with Jon Gosselin made TheFrisky.com.
• Proof you should always carry a camera: a picture of a protest snapped by Erica Soto as part of a Daybook assignment was picked up by the website of Shambhala Sun, a Buddhism culture magazine.
• Emily Feldman wrote about the debut of new MTA boss Jay Walder for NBC Local Integrated Media. Meanwhile, Maya Pope-Chappell shared a byline on the site’s spot news story about President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win.

Congrat to all – and keep ‘em coming!

Ciara is the immediate past president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Hernandez was a board member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), where she served as a regional director. Their UNITY terms began on Oct. 10, 2009, and will run through Dec. 31, 2010.

UNITY:Journalists of Color is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. Representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, UNITY is comprised of the Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.

The weekly column by Beinart, who teaches national political reporting and opinion writing at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, made its debut this week. The column covering politics and foreign policy will appear on Mondays.

Beinart, former editor of The New Republic, joined the CUNY J-School faculty at the beginning of the 2009 fall semester.

The piece refers to Jarvis, director of the J-School’s interactive journalism program, as one of the most ubiquitous digital media gurus despite his “prescription for radical change.”

From the School’s headquarters at 219 W. 40th Street, the producers fan out across all five boroughs of New York City to provide in-depth coverage of the people and issues that move and shake our communities.

The premiere episode focuses on the upcoming local elections. Producers Geneva Sands-Sadowitz and Brian Winkowski examine the financial health of the city and efforts to diversify the economy. Rima Abdelkader takes an intimate look at mounting a first-time campaign. Nicole Turso profiles the youngest member of the City Council and Alana Rigal introduces us to some unorthodox mayoral candidates. Aisha Al-Muslim and John DePetro are the anchors.

Repeat episodes of the premiere will air on Wednesday, October 7 at 3 p.m. and 11 p.m., Saturday, October 10 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 11 at 10 a.m.