By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, I will be settling in after a field trip to New York City, three days at Columbia University with a group of high school journalists from my school and hundreds from across the country, and a short overnight babysitting stint with Mary immediately afterwards for one of our grandkids.
And, yes, St. Patrick’s Day will have passed, and March Madness will have begun. Our own Shamrock Run & Walk will have completed its 20th anniversary event.
At Columbia, during the university’s school break, hundreds (if not more — a thousand? two thousand?) high school newspaper and yearbook staff, along with their advisers and some pretty impressive speakers came together for the 99th annual Columbia Scholastic Press Association spring convention.
The students and many advisers sit in on workshops, beginning around 8:45 a.m. and running through the afternoon until around 4 p.m. To get there, we take the train from New Haven into the city, go directly to the campus, stash our luggage (we travel light, back packs), register at the university and head to the workshops. Later in the day, we head to the hotel to unpack and go into the city to get something to eat. Then we do it again the next day. On Friday, we head out a little early for home.
Students take notes to bring back to the staff to plant the seeds for new initiatives, at least that is the ways things are supposed to work in an ideal world. We had a good group this year, so I am looking forward to what they come up with.
On another note, just being on campus at Columbia is fun. For instance, while I was looking for a bathroom, I climbed a few stairs, took a wrong turn, and started checking out the names on the office doors. Tucked in one corner of a long hallway, was a blue door with a black name plate that looked familiar.
I looked once, twice, because, on the black nameplate in white lettering was the name Adam Tooze. Adam Tooze from the podcast, “Ones and Tooze,” a favorite of mine, the one I turn to when I am looking for insights into the financial world. I got a kick out of that, even took a picture.
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Takeaway from the conference:There is hope for journalism, not only because so many students are involved at the high school level — there were even some middle schools represented – but because so many people are working behind the scenes to figure out how to solve some of the problems journalism faces. (And, of course, this is why we at TBE have undertaken our online community newspaper—a real community newspaper. Okay, enough.)
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Reading: The one article that caught my eye is “In Matthew Desmond’s ‘Poverty, by America,’ the Culprit Is Us.” It is a book review that appears in the New York Times Book Review section this weekend. I saw it when part of the Times was delivered while I was babysitting. Click here. If that link doesn’t work, try this one to a different review on the NPR stie. Click here. At some point, I will have to read the book. In the meantime, the reviews provide lots to think about.
Listening: How about Adam Tooze’s podcast from Friday, March 17, “The Non-Bailout Bailout.” Click here. If that doesn’t work, there is this week’s On The Media podcast, “How did Talk Radio Get So Politically Lopsided?” Click here.
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Enjoy!
“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.
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