NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 41, No. 38
MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013
nyunews.com
Students, faculty discuss journalism school merits By TANAY HUDSON
Members of the media have been questioning the place of journalism graduate education as stepping stone to a journalism career. For instance, New York Times columnist David Carr recently called a journalism degree an “escalator to nowhere,” and Crain’s New York Business reported that between 2003 and 2012, Gannett Co., who owns several local newspapers, television channels and USA Today, cut more than 20,000 employees. Also, according to mediafinder. com, 23 magazines launched in the first quarter of this year, while 44 magazines were launched in the same period last year. New York City is home to a number of popular journalism schools including Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism and
NYU’s own journalism institute. Despite the decreased launch numbers, graduate programs are showing high success rates. NYU’s business and economic reporting program has a success rate well above 90 percent, and of CUNY’s 2011 class, 92 percent of the 85-person class in 2011 are employed full-time, freelancing or working at paid internships. NYU journalism professors argue that journalism is not declining, but rather shifting away from traditional platforms. “Journalism is going through a period of rapid technological change, but people still want to know what’s going on in the world,” said Meryl Gordon, director of magazine writing at the NYU journalism school. Gordon added that the magazine writing program at NYU has added videography and social media classes to enhance students’
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE: ‘TONIGHT SHOW’ PLANS MOVE TO NEW YORK CITY:
The late-night entertainment television show will come to the city in spring of 2014, over 40 years after it last filmed in the Empire State. GRAPHIC BY RACHEL KAPLAN
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REACH NEW HEIGHTS ON FLYING TRAPEZE:
Those daring enough can exercise their bodies and minds at trapeze and trampoline classes, like those offered by Trapeze School New York. COURTESY OF JASON KLEIN FOR TRAPEZE SCHOOL NEW YORK
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FASHION DUO DAZZLES AT FIRST TRUNK SHOW:
The designers behind TILLYandWILLIAM featured versatile pieces at their first trunk show last week. Read our review at nyunews.com. COURTESY OF TILLYANDWILLIAM
NYUNEWS.COM
TECHNOLOGY IS PROGRESSING TOO RAPIDLY:
With the amount of reliance people place on high-tech devices, there is a lack of attention to the possible negative side effects. CICCONET on PG. 7
COURTESY OF THE GAZELLE.ORG
NYU Abu Dhabi Dragon Boat team glides through water Among the many offerings at NYU Abu Dhabi’s campus, the NYUAD Dragon Boat team competed in its final event of the season over the weekend. The team will continue to race next semester.
Behind the scenes of ‘Diamonds’: Clive Davis students reveal process By KRISTINA BOGOS
Tisch senior Rachel Kanner was riding a bus in the middle of the desert in Israel when she heard the news. Halfway around the world, fellow vocalist and Tisch freshman Sabrina Reitman was asked to leave a New York restaurant for being too theatrical. A few miles away, Tisch freshman Cari Fletcher left halfway through a Broadway show. The three were members of a group of 15 students from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and one from Hofstra University that competed against over 40 groups in a Universal Music on Campus contest to create a cover of Rihanna’s hit single, “Diamonds.” In early January, the NYU entry won first place. Their video, which currently boasts over 169,000 views on YouTube, caught the attention of Rihanna who is scheduled to visit NYU on April 23 to meet the winning group. “It’s amazing that an artist is coming and has recognized what we have been doing, but we just
did this in the beginning to represent our school,” said Tisch junior Hannah Gross, the group’s vocal director. “We just wanted to… have fun, really get into our artistry and get into our production skills and really showcase what our school has taught us.”
FROM FACEBOOK TO FAMILY For Hannah Babbit, Tisch junior and the video’s producer, social media was the perfect platform to spread the word about the contest. After posting on several NYU-affiliated Facebook pages, Babbit met with interested students. With pen and paper in hand, she organized schedules and asked each vocalist to do an impromptu audition. “It’s funny how you can be in such close quarters with somebody and not realize how freaking talented they are,” Babbit said of her fellow Clive Davis students. The group’s musical skills have been recognized not only within NYU, but also across the nation. Vocalist and Tisch freshman Sonali Argade was featured in her hometown newspaper in Florida. Even The Huffington Post and en-
tertainment guru Ryan Seacrest have acknowledged their success. The recognition, however, extends beyond the 16 students who participated in the project. “I felt like it made NYU closer and more tight-knit,” Reitman said. “The fact that you’re communicating with people you wouldn’t normally communicate with ... it’s something we all kind of bonded over.”
BEHIND THE SCENES The group filmed the video in and around Greenwich Village on a frigid, rainy day in December. Each vocalist recorded tracks in the studio a few days prior, and was given the creative freedom to select a spot around campus as their backdrop. Campus marks like the Washington Mews and the 8th Street subway stop appeared in the video. Video director Ryan Hutchins, a sophomore at Hofstra University and a film enthusiast who received his first camera at the age of nine, spent 15 to 20 hours over
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