Tag: Kara Hahn

Greene’s Tuesday thunder

Today is Day 3 of the Greene program! We learned many different genres that journalism has to offer, from being an unbiased reporter to photography.

Before we got into it, we had another guest speaker! Kate Nalepinski, a print journalist and editor at the Long Island Herald, came to shed her light onto the students of the Greene Program.

“Be versatile and find your niche,” Nalepinski told the Greene students.

Being skilled at more than one aspect of journalism will prepare us for being able to get a job in any field that is provided to us.

After Nalepinski finished helping us understand that we are “a one man band,” John Williams, a photographer, came and began to show us the secrets of photography.

“Background and lighting are the most important thing when it comes to taking photos. Do not make the background be too noisy and do not make the subject’s face be hidden.”

A picture John Williams took of Nelson Mandela in late 1990s.

After John Williams finished his segment on photography, Professor Rick Ricioppo gave us an amazing lecture on the similarities and differences between digital journalism and print journalism.

“KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.” KISS is used to explain to students that writing for both broadcast and print journalism should be able to be easily grasped by the public.

Broadcast journalism is used for the ears, while print journalism is for the eyes. People are supposed to be able to be in their kitchen and understand the news that is on their television screen in the living room. Newspapers are supposed to hold the readers’ eyes and keep them intrigued for the entire time.

As Professor Ricioppo finished his lecture, the Greene team had a press conference with Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn.

Hahn provided us with an exclusive that was not yet known by the public about the way funds should be used to help the community.

Hahn’s ideas roared like thunder onto the Greene students and left them full of inspiration to try their best to help the community as well.

Help the community and take great photos! This was Greene’s Tuesday Thunder!

Day 2 at Greene: Kate Nalepinski pep talk, photography, and Kara Hahn

Day Two got off to a quick start with a pep talk from Long Island Herald Editor Kate Nalepinski. She gave us advice based on things she wishes she knew when she was first going into journalism. What she and Stephanie Brumsey both made clear was that connections are important. I’m glad that we have this opportunity to create a network during this program. Nalepinski gave us three main points: think of yourself as a content creator, find your niche, and be a daily consumer of the news.

Being a content creator gives us more of an opportunity to find a job because we have a wide variety of skills. This is something that I need to work on. My main skill in the journalism area so far is writing. I need to get better at photography and video editing in particular since I’m not exactly tech savvy. I’m not concerned about finding my niche. I’m passionate about hockey, and that’s what got me into journalism to begin with. My niche is sports journalism. I’m a daily consumer of the news in the sports area for sure, particularly hockey, of course. But I recognize that I need to take the time to read through stories on other news as well instead of just quickly taking in headlines to see what’s happening.

We had an incredible opportunity to meet with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer John Williams next. His instruction was informative and I feel like I truly learned a lot. As someone who had essentially no experience with photography prior to today, it was a little bit overwhelming but I enjoyed it. His photos were amazing and I was speechless looking at most of them. I greatly appreciate that such an important and skilled photographer took the time out of his day to talk to us.

One of our teams is doing a story on Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn. She joined our Zoom meeting for their interview today. While it was more orderly than an in-person press conference would be, it really felt like our first real journalism experience. I was interested in everything she had to say, especially her main focus on the opioid epidemic. It was pretty surreal to be able to sit in on an interview with such an important person.

Stony Brook’s own Professor Rick Ricioppo did a lesson on shooting video and visual storytelling. His presentation was a lot to take in, so I took extensive notes. I’m looking forward to being able to employ some of his tips.

To close out the day, we met with our teams. My team has decided to do a story on Stony Brook medical students that were on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sent out some emails today to Kali Chan with public relations and Dr. Adam Gonzalez as well as a couple of the school’s medical clubs to try to get some contacts and interviews. It has the potential to be a really interesting story and I’m excited to see where it goes. We’re going to be in the virtual studio tomorrow and I can’t wait to experiment with broadcasting.