Checking the Journalist's Ego

Being in D.C. for the Inauguration last weekend was a gratifying experience, personally and professionally. It was exciting to see my home of five years transformed into a destination for over a million people. Despite being the seat of power for one of the world's richest and strongest countries, the place is sometimes a bit sleepy-eyed. It really came alive this past weekend though.

Professionally, it was a chance for exercising those writing muscles. I churned out a number of pieces and sent them along to editors at NYU, and they wound up being published in a number of places. At the same time, it was a reminder to check the journalistic ego. Often, the finding of stories is not about a journalist's great instinct, but just the luck of the journalist placing herself where the story is happening. We are but chroniclers.

Being in the right place at the right time resulted in the following appearances for my pieces:

The Orange County Register: Cold, crowds and lack of cash dampen inaugural tourism

ABCNews.com: The Monetization of Obama [SLIDESHOW]

The New Black (an online magazine): Second Thoughts on Obama's Inauguration

Epoch Times: Second Thoughts [PDF]

WNYC: Inauguration Prep

Pavement Pieces: Various articles

The Woodstock of Washington

I am in D.C. this weekend for the Inauguration festivities. I've been reporting on the Inauguration for some time on New Yorkers and the 2009 Inauguration, culminating in the Inauguration article that's been picked up by various publications, most recently in The New Black Magazine.

I'm blogging the Inauguration weekend over on my Inaugural blog. Here's my most recent post over there:

Though much of D.C. feels like business as usual in terms of the crowd levels, that was not the case on the National Mall today. What must have been hundreds of thousands of people poured through gates on Constitution and Independence Avenues to watch a series of musicians and speakers at the Lincoln memorial.

To get a prime spot around the reflecting pool, you had to get there quite early. On the chilly, gray, overcast day, we chose to arrive at 2 p.m., just before the concert's 2:30 p.m. start time. We stood near the Washington monument and watched on one of many big screens.

The highlights:

Bruce Springsteen starting off the concert with "The Rising"

Garth Brooks getting the crowd dancing and singing with renditions of "American Pie" and "Shout"

U2 singing "In the Name of Love" on the stage where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech

The low points:

The terrible poetry reading by Tom Hanks. Laughably bad.

Challenger the Bald Eagle. I don't know who added this to the line-up, but it was very odd to see the eagle awkwardly flapping around while tethered to its holder's hand.

Not being able to get into the main Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool area because of the existence of just one heavy duty security checkpoint.

Some funny things:

When Will.i.am appeared with Herbie Hancock and Sheryl Crow to sing Bob Marley's "One Love," the man next to me yelled, "Yes, Wyclef!"

When Josh Groban appeared on stage, my friend asked who he was. I explained that he's an attractive singer who sings kind of bland songs that old women like. A woman in her 60s who overheard me started laughing, and said, "I love him. Seasoned women, my dear."

Everyone singing along with Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen to the anti-capitalist anthem "This Land is My Land."

Walking to the Lincoln memorial, I was struck by the dearth of music-themed goods. Today's concert featured Bruce Springsteen, U2, Bon Jovi, Beyonce, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, and many other huge names, but there was not a CD, rock t-shirt, or musician-themed souvenir to be found. Everything is Obama, Obama, Obama. He is the rock star this weekend. Here are some photos from downtown today:

The latest latest byline...

NYU's Journalism Institute has a news wire service called LiveWire. Papers across the country can pick up student work for free. Nice deal for them! My article on the Inauguration went up there.

It was picked up by The Epoch Times, on A2 in today's paper, and by The Orange County Register:

Cold, crowds and lack of cash dampen inaugural tourism [Orange County Register]

I've never read The Epoch Times-- it's a New York-based "independent voice in print and media," says its website. Based on the name, having an article in their pages makes me feel like a biblical prophet.

My latest byline...

On NYU's Pavement Pieces: Weather, Crowds, Cost Diminish Inauguration Enthusiasm.

I am not one of the unenthusiastic. I head down to D.C. on Friday to take part in the Inaugural mania.

Get GOOD for $1

One of my goals for the break was to restart magazine subscriptions that I let lapse during my time in Hong Kong. My father did me the favor of renewing my Rolling Stone subscription for Christmas, while The Week, The New Yorker, and GOOD Magazine are my responsibilities.

GOOD is a fairly new magazine. Its motto: "GOOD is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Since 2006 we've been making a magazine, videos, and events for people who give a damn."

I began subscribing in 2007 due to an innovative marketing campaign. The magazine threw an after-dark party at the Hirshhorn Gallery of Modern Art in D.C., replete with an open vodka bar, a D.J., and a gallery viewing. The $20 entry fee included a donation to a nonprofit of your choosing and a subscription to the magazine. Sounded too GOOD to be true. It was a fun event and I was surprised to find that I loved the magazine. In this cutthroat journalism environment, this kind of creative marketing is to be admired.

They must be focused more on building a subscriber base than making money though, which makes sense for a new magazine. When I went to resubscribe today, I discovered that you can get the magazine for a $1000/year... or $1/year. From their subscription site:

Choose your price. Seriously.

Because we want to help do good, we contribute 100% of your subscription payment to the nonprofit of your choice. Since we don't keep any of it, we figured we'd let you pay what you want.

All amounts give you one year of our magazine, full web access to GOOD.is and event invites.

> Pay $20 or more and also get one year of free admission to Choose GOOD parties.
> Pay $100 or more and also get one year of free admission to Choose GOOD parties
and your name printed in the magazine.
> Pay $1000 and get a lifetime subscription to the magazine, lifetime free admission to Choose GOOD parties, your name printed in the magazine, and a signed, limited edition bound copy of GOOD.

Taking a page from the Radiohead playbook.

Much as I wanted to pay $1, I paid $20.

Break in Progress

Winter break remains in effect. I enjoyed ten days at home in Florida over the holidays, and now I still have two weeks before classes resume. I forgot just how wonderful the student vacation schedule can be.

I do have some fun things planned--skiing in Vermont this weekend and a trip to D.C. for the Inauguration the following weekend--but I am also getting back to work. Over the next year, I am planning a series of stories around privacy issues for my Portfolio class.

I'm interested in the privacy backlash. I see this happening both in reaction to a desire for greater security--allowing surveillance cameras, wire tapping, profiling, etc. for a safer society--and as part of a culture that is embracing exhibitionism in the form of blogs, social networking sites, etc. To start forming a framework for thinking about privacy, I am reading some books in the field, starting with "Privacy: A Manifesto." Written by a German, of course.

At the same time, I have had a lot of time to work on Above The Law stories. It has been nice to be more involved in the breaking news stuff, as opposed to trying to catch up around classes. We're currently doing a 2008 in Review retrospective. This post on Law School Students of the Year has been especially well-trafficked. I created this nifty graphic. If the whole journalism thing doesn't work out, maybe I can just excel in some kind of Photoshopping career.

My other journalistic outlet is my Inauguration blog, which has growing traffic. Nearly 100 hits yesterday, which doesn't compare to the hundreds of thousands of hits we get on Above The Law, but still makes me feel like I am contributing something useful to my fellow denizens in cyberspace.