Star intern leaves for Nepal to shoot a documentary

 
By Jayme Poisson

I leave for Nepal tonight and I’m nervous. 

You see, this is my first shot at reporting in the developing world. And I know this trip is sure to test everything I’ve got. 

Frankly, I don’t want to mess this up. It just feels too important. 

The plan sounds simple enough. I’ll be making a documentary film about delivering maternal health-care to remote and conflict-affected areas in the fragile South Asian country.  

A woman in Nepal dies every four hours from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Poor, malnourished and expected to carry out the bulk of manual labour in a harsh Himalayan landscape, many of those who survive are suffering in silence. 

While maternal mortality ranks amongst the highest in the region, there are some incredible things happening on the ground.   

Based on the premise that childbirth ought not to be a punishment, the doc will follow teams of maternal health experts as they trek into the mountains. 

I have the privilege of documenting their arduous journey and important work. 

One trip requires us to hike through the hills for three days to reach a small village. Here, I’ll get to spend my time crouched in stone huts - watching, smelling and hearing the lives of the locals. 

The doc is intended to be a story about the relentless mission to address maternal health, and, of course, the resiliency of the Nepalese people. But at its core, it’s my hope that it will be a story about humanity - about perfect strangers risking their comforts and well-being to help make a difference. Perhaps in the process, my work can make a difference too. 

I’ve always dreamt about reporting from exotic places. After all, it surely encompasses all the reasons why I find journalism intoxicating: A chance to experience the world, meet new people, discover their ways and tell their stories. 

I don’t expect it to be glamorous or comfortable by any stretch of the imagination. But I do expect it to be transformative and eye-opening, and, well, that’s worth forgoing the comforts of home.  

I’ll be blogging regularly from the field. I hope you’ll tune in every now and then. There are so many stories to tell.

I’m heading to Nepal tonight and I’m nervous. 

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Photo: Jayme Poisson waits Friday night at New York's JFK airport for her connecting flight through Doha, Qatar then onto Kathmandu.

Jayme Poisson is a Master of Journalism student at Carleton University. She will be reporting from Nepal until the beginning of June. In mid-June she will join the Star's summer intern program.

Sister Writes: giving voice to the voiceless

By Tamara Baluja

There are some stories that you have to write, because its your job. And then there are stories that you want to write because they matter.

Sister Writes was one of those subjects I felt I had to write about.

It is in a creative writing workshop series for marginalized women in the west end of the city run by Toronto-based author Lauren Kirshner. 

Although the workshop series isn’t designed to be a therapeutic course, their lives often seep into their writing, Kirshner says, adding that some of the women are battling poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, or drug addictions.

After 10 hard weeks of writing, Sister Writes finally launched a magazine containing their creative work at the Bloor Gladstone library on April 8.

If it was moving to read their stories, it was even more so to hear them read aloud by the women - in  particular, stories which drew from early memories.

Wanda Krzeminsk's story Long Hallways hit me like a ton of breaks. It's so simple, yet so poignant. The short piece is autobiographical and describes her childhood with an abusive father.

Then there was Cerima, whose story on Winter, made me laugh - because it captures the essence of sibling rivalry. Annalise did a very dramatic reading of Green Velvet Jumper.

Some might say that Sister Writes does not have any tangible benefits. I would disagree. When I dropped in to observe one of the earlier sessions, the group wasn't yet a perfect whole. I saw some minor tiffs, some buttons pushed the wrong way. Fast forward a couple of weeks and my reaction was literally "wow!"

They were laughing, teasing instead of provoking, and just downright happy. As one of the women, BJ, said, “You get that sense that we are all sisters here.”

Lauren wrote in the magazine that her "hope was to create a space in Toronto's downtown west end for women to write about life as they know it, and have fun while sharing their words."

"That we weren't writing for the sake of becoming the next Stephen King or Danielle Steele was a central tenet of our group. Why? Because impressing each other or the world didn't matter. What mattered was showing up and putting honest words on the page."

Initially Kirshner did not know if Sister Writes would continue beyond the pilot project if funding didn't come through. But I'm very happy to say that she told me after the launch party that Sister Writes will go ahead.

The next session will launch in May 2010 with workshops at the Bloor Gladstone library. Call the Sistering shelter at 416-926-9672 if you want to join or know someone who might benefit.

Rapt attention during the readings.

From left to right, sisters-in-writing: Salma Habibi, Mary, Cerima, Lauren Kirshner, Emily, BJ, Wanda Krzeminski and Annalise.   

Tamara Baluja is a radio room reporter, a journalism student and a former GA at CFRB News. tbaluja@thestar.ca.

The camera as a weapon in war

By Lauren Crothers

The video will chill your blood.

In it, a group of men wander about the dusty streets below. Two of them are Reuters staff: a photographer and driver, both carrying cameras. In a few minutes, the blood of both men will be seeping out into the rubble under them, their bodies riddled with bullets.

You see, they are about to be murdered by U.S. forces circling above in an Apache, making the aggressors essentially removed from the situation. There is no intimacy in killing from afar, no having to look your victim in the eye as you slay him. Maybe that's why so many of the airmen are able to laugh and joke.

War has become nothing more than a video game.

The soldiers' audio is clear. The video hones in on 40-year-old driver Saeed Chmagh. Remember, he is carrying a camera.

"That's a weapon," a voice says.

A few seconds later, having honed in on 22-year-old Namir Noor-Eldeen, also holding a camera, the voice says: "Have individuals with weapons."

In a matter of minutes, having reportedly spotted men they believe to hold AK47s (actual weapons, intended to kill), the forces have secured the go-ahead to shoot, and shoot they do, indiscriminately.

"Keep shootin,'" a voice says.

Cameras have been an essential component of war since they were first used in Crimea, but it was Vietnam - the first colour war, the lack of censorship, the effect that the photos had on the U.S. effort, - that changed everything. It was, in many ways, the photographers' war, despite the risk that evolved as the conflict did.

That risk is in no way fleeting. But neither are pictures, which is why it is so incredibly important to have photojournalists in combat. This video disgusts me, but it underscores the point that if a camera is a weapon, it is a weapon only in its ability to devastate those who can be damaged by the truths it conveys. That goes for the Apache camera (the footage of which was sought for the last three years by Reuters and finally released by Wikileaks), not just those held by journalists.

So, to the photographers behind these cameras putting their lives on the line every day: keep shooting. Hopefully one day there will be more actuations than bullets.

Lauren Crothers is a Star copy editor with one eye behind the lens. lcrothers@thestar.ca

*Video can be seen here but be warned, its contents are graphic and upsetting.

In stadiums where fans do the samba

By John Rieti

Havana's Industriales were crowned champions of Cuban baseball this week, no doubt touching off a big party for its fans — or Industrialistas, as they call themselves. It was a comeback victory for the team in blue, one I wouldn't have predicted after watching them get drummed in the first two games of the series last week. But that's baseball.

For a week in March I traveled to Cuba with a classmate to document the country's baseball culture. The material I gathered will be crafted into a major multimedia project, my journalism school’s version of a thesis.

A boy connects with a pitch outside of Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba.

Baseball fans know the story well. Cuba produces some of the world’s best baseball players, evident in its triumphant wins at the Olympics and other international competitions. But the black mark on the Cuban game is the players who have left to compete in North America’s professional leagues.

Leaving the country is illegal for baseball players, and those who have left are unlikely to ever return, at least while the current government regime stays in power.

Some Cuban players have gone on to become major league stars, like brothers Livan and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, who both pitched their teams to World Series glory, or Angel slugger Kendry Morales.

And in the last year or two there’s been a surge in Cuban players leaving. Here in Toronto, the Jays are courting Adeinis Hechavarria, a 21-year-old shortstop from Santiago de Cuba.

Havana, from the window of a friend's apartment.

My hope for the project is that it will appeal to more than just baseball fanaticos. While these players may have hero status in their country, they live the same way as other Cubans.

We stayed in Havana, not the booze-soaked beaches of tourist hotspot Varadero, and spent several days roaming the city with friends and sources. In a country as complex as Cuba, almost every conversation we had could have produced a story.

Riding the bus with an Industriales fan, we told him we were still confused about a lot of what we learned. He laughed, and told us we were trying to figure out in a week what he hasn’t been able to figure out during his entire life on the island.

A Cuban man collects empty cans ad bottles in a cart adorned with gun-toting, cigarette-smoking dolls.

It’s been more than 50 years since the Cuban revolution, and while this history is still tangible on the streets there‘s less fresh propaganda. The government is officially socialist now, led by Fidel Castro’s brother Raul. Army and police officers are a common sight, but they hassle Cubans less, our sources tell us.

Cuba still provides its citizens with food – chicken or fish, rice, coffee and milk – but many told us they want more, which they have to buy themselves. In Cuba, everyone is required to work, but seemingly everyone does something on the side to get by.

For players, baseball could be a way to get by or it could be a way out. But the decision to leave is not an easy one. That decision is what I’m interested in.

My final project isn’t scheduled to be published until August, but if you’d like to get in touch, or have any tips for me, please get in touch at jrieti@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnrieti.

Until then, Star readers, keep reading Morgan Campbell's (@MorganPCampbell) outstanding coverage of these players and baseball in general.

Some classic Cuban propaganda spotted from one of Havana's buses.

John Rieti is a Toronto Star radio room reporter and studies in the Master of Journalism program at Ryerson University.

Should newsrooms set copycat traps?

By Ann Hui

Universities do it. So do many job recruiters.

But should newsrooms subscribe to plagiarism detection services?

The issue of plagiarism amongst journalists has received big play in the news recently, with Daily Beast writer Gerald Posner admitting in February that he'd "inadvertently" lifted from the Miami Herald. Less than a week later, New York Times reporter Zachary Kouwe was suspended and later resigned for allegedly copying from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

I blogged about the Posner incident here, and, a couple weeks later, fellow Star blogger Chantal Braganza weighed in as well with some useful tips on how not to plagiarize on the web.

At first--at least for some--the solution seemed obvious: subscribe to plagiarism-detection software. 

But, writes Craig Silverman, freelance journalist and author of Regret the Error, it's not quite that simple. Recently, Silverman blogged for J-Source about the double standard behind why many newsrooms are reluctant to subscribe to such software.

According to Silverman:

"Surprisingly, it turns out that newsrooms are more interested in finding out who's stealing their content online than making sure the content they publish is original."  (Read Silverman's full post here)

He cites cost and workflow issues as just some of the reasons why newsrooms are dragging their heels on checking their own work. Yet, he argues, those same newsrooms are happy and willing to invest time and money into services ensuring that others aren't plagiarizing their own work.

Of course, actually implementing plagiarism detection services in newsrooms would likely bring about  significant debate around property ownership and ethical issues.

But at least discussing it as an option could create dialogue around plagiarism--something so many newsrooms seem to want to keep mum about.

Ann Hui is a Radio Room reporter at the Star. She's also completing her final year of the master of journalism program at Ryerson University. ahui@thestar.ca

Springtime has me flirting with failure

By Wendy Gillis

The bright sun beams through the window, mocking me with its promise of a warm, satisfying embrace — the kind that can only come after a long absence — if only I'd step outside.

The gentle breeze whispers balmy sweet nothings through the screen, blowing the hair from my face and gently tucking it behind my ear.
 
All the while, I sit trapped in my stuffy apartment, chained to my laptop, staring lustfully outside.

You see, Spring has been seducing me. While it summons tulips and perfumes the air without a care in the world, I have been rejecting its advances with the tepid prowess of an ice queen.

It's not that I'm not interested. I like to frolic in the grass and take long walks on the beach as much as the next girl. And don't even get me started on beers on the patio.

It's just that, well, I'm coming out of a relationship.

It started in September and has been sucking up all my time ever since. I give and give and give, and I feel like I get nothing but stress and anxiety. I'm constantly being tested, evaluated. Ever since Grad School became my steady, nothing's been the same.

But wait! I'm trying to end it for a while, you know, take a break — at least for you, Summer. It's just that... it's complicated. 

There's all these loose ends like assignments and groups projects that need tying up before I go. Deadlines will loom like grey skies over April until I hand in the final assignment of my first year on the 20th. And things could get really messy if I don't write that major project proposal or meet with my advisor. I want a nice, clean break, and I still want to be friends.

So please, Spring, stop with the flirting. It's nothing personal, it's just not a good time for me, is all.

It's not you, it's my degree.

Wendy Gillis is a student in the Ryerson Master of Journalism program and a former editor in chief at the Sheaf, the student newspaper at the University of Saskatchewan.

Former Star intern Daniel Dale best young journalist in Canada

 
By Roger Gillespie

Former Toronto Star intern reporter Daniel Dale has been named the best young journalist in Canada at a large circulation newspaper.

Dale, 25, won the 25,000-and-over circulation category in the Edward Goff Penny awards run by the Canadian Newspaper Association.

Nicole O’Reilly, a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator, won in the under-25,000 category for work she did at the Guelph Mercury.

The awards are open to Canadian journalists between 20 and 25.

A 2008 graduate of York University’s Schulich School of Business, Dale joined the Star as a summer intern in 2007 and returned as an intern for the summer of 2008. He was hired full time that September.

"I'm tremendously flattered and honoured, especially because I'm an admirer of many of the previous winners, a few of whom have gone on to do great things. Being on a list with them will motivate me to attempt to meet their high standards."

Dale won for a package of four stories: Mustafa Ahmed, the 12-year-old spoken word poet from Regent Park; CNIB’s selection of  its first sighted chief executive, John Rafferty; a profile of Darcy Allan Sheppard, the cycle courier killed in a collision with a car driven by former Ontario attorney-general Michael Bryant; and a sneaky tour of Maple Leaf Gardens.

"I couldn't overstate how important internships were to my professional development - before I did my first Star internship, I'd never covered a crime or a court case or pitched a human interest feature or talked to a municipal politician; I didn't go to journalism school, and my experience prior to the internships was light on actual news coverage. If I hadn't been thrown to the wolves as an intern, I simply would not have been qualified for a full-time job at a big paper."

The Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Canadian Journalists, is open to reporters age 25 or under. There are two categories: reporters at large papers and reporters at small papers.

The Goff Penny award is named for a distinguished editor and publisher of the late 1800s. The award was established in 1991 by the estate of his grandson, Arthur, also a former newspaperman. The entries were judged by three editorial executives selected by the CNA.

Roger Gillespie is the Star's senior editor, training and development. You can find him on Twitter or reach him at rgillespie@thestar.ca

Wente found the female bloggers but who else is hiding in the blogosphere?

 
By Thandiwe Vela

It's been two weeks since the Globe and Mail's Margaret Wente drew the ire of female bloggers with a column that explained why women don't blog.

Outspoken and talented female bloggers snapped at Wente's bait - angrily pouncing from the woodwork in an ensuing Globe-hosted panel.

I wonder now if it's not too late to tack blacks to the coattails of Wente's brewed storm. It's quite clear that her column - full of half-baked blanket statements - was really just a ploy to stir loud and passionate controversy over the issue, ultimately drawing female bloggers to the spotlight.

Genius.

Readers of acclaimed and unknown female bloggers stepped up en masse offering accolades for hundreds of bloggers - many I knew nothing about.

Now it would be great if someone sparked a debate about the black bloggers that just don't exist. Surely there's at least one bigwig columnist who believes this - step up!

I thoroughly appreciated Margaret Wente's column, if people  didn't know before the column, we all know now - women do in fact blog.

Now if only blacks would catch on.  

 

Thandiwe Vela is a Star radio room reporter, Silver-T varsity athlete and secretary of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists.

tvela24@hotmail.com