Bootcamp Ends
Bootcamp closed today with messages from Pulitzer-Prize winner Jan Schaffer, I.F. Stone’s son, and former CBS correspondent Thalia Assuras. A fitting way to end a course packed with professional insights.
Schaffer, founder of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, spoke about her path to interactive work.
Jeremy Stone, son of I.F., spoke about the erudition of his father and the ground-breaking independent newsletter I.F. Stone’s Weekly.
I sense a definite tension in the journalism climate between neutrality and opinion. I.F. Stone’s example shines for its subjectivity. But Assuras emphasized removing political associations from Facebook.
This experience has been rich and…crazy. Class for eight hours a day plus hours of blogging, reading, and studying takes its toll. But I am not afraid of hard work, and the content of this program so engaged me that three weeks flew. I am so grateful American University provided us an opportunity to build such a well-rounded base for our studies.
I’ll always remember the stories of Pomfret and Zirinsky, Bolling’s energy. I know images from our trips to the Associated Press and Newseum will drive me on frustrating days.
I’m excited for the year to come. If I’ve learned anything these past weeks, it’s that I want to be a part of the solution to the challenge facing journalism.
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About Brianna
Brianna is a graduate student at American University in Washington, DC, pursuing an M.A. in Journalism and Public Affairs with concentrations in broadcast and international journalism. After her July 2010 graduation, she aims to work as a foreign correspondent in Latin America or the Middle East. Brianna’s career goals include working with media outlets that represent oppressed populations and mentoring young journalists in a professorial or professional role.
Brianna graduated from Wake Forest University in May 2009 with a B.A. in English and minors in journalism and Latin American studies. Her favorite undergraduate work is “Eating Disorders: A Wake Forest Reality,” a piece about the presence of eating disorders on campus and one young woman’s struggle to overcome her illness. Other notable work includes a video piece covering Vice President Joe Biden’s campus campaign stop and its influence on students’ voting preferences. Brianna graduated cum laude overall with a 3.7 GPA in journalism coursework. She is proud to have been chosen to represent the university as its Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship recipient.
Studying and teaching English in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during fall 2007 affirmed Brianna’s decision to take her passion for journalism across cultures. She completed her research thesis and oral explication in Spanish on self-censorship of the press during the 1976-1983 Argentine military dictatorship.
On U.S. soil, Brianna interned for a year at WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, N.C., where her duties included editing audio and video, creating packages, and writing copy. Brianna’s print experience includes a seven-month stint as the editorial intern for Pace Communications in Greensboro, N.C., where she fact-checked, edited, and wrote for inflight publications Delta Sky Magazine, U.S. Airways Magazine, United Hemispheres, and Southwest Spirit. Other internship experience includes three months at a major New Jersey law firm editing Web content, writing online news stories, and translating all content into Spanish. In addition to her Spanish skills, Brianna speaks, reads, and writes at a beginning level of Modern Standard Arabic competency.
For more information and samples of Brianna’s work, please contact Brianna.Pellicane@gmail.com.
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Brianna,
Nice post summing up your boot camp experiences. Good luck on the rest of your program and please stay in touch.
Josh
Good ending thoughts but you needed to post some photos, audio or video on the the last day – blogs need more than words. Journalism is a high energy profession.