The Government, circa 1862

In addition to telling you who are the best writers and journalists of every shape and size in the world, the J-School is now going to turn a critical eye to the workings of the American government. Columbia Journalism School announced yesterday the creation of The New York World, a publication that will “provide New York City citizens with accountability journalism about government operations that affect their lives.”

Accountability journalism is a set of journalistic practices set forth by former Washington bureau chief of AP, Ron Fournier. These disregard some of the fundamental tenets of journalistic ethics, such as commitment to evenly report on all sides of an issue, and instead call for reporters to write what they believe to be the truth behind, say, a politician’s statement, presenting a nuanced opinion instead of taking it at face value.

New York World will be a website that allows citizens to see, among other things, how tax dollars are spent and how services are allotted in the city; it also promises to be a news service for local news agencies, providing them with city data and other information.

The publication is currently hiring recent J-School grads to work alongside faculty and current students on the project. Bwog, although not above scoffing at journalism “students,” can’t help but wonder what sort of interning opportunities might arise. Undergrads need jobs too!

Bureaucracy from Wikimedia Commons

There are some new programs about in different schools, so check out what’s up below.

• GS has a joint program with Sciences Po, a French place. It’s a double-BA thing with a lot of languages and internationalism.
• The J-School and SEAS are also currently actively recruiting for their first class for their new dual MS program in Computer Science and Journalism that was announced last year. It will “help redefine journalism in a fast-changing digital media environment.” Fancy.

Overheard outside Butler:

“Excuse me do you know what is it?”

“It’s so weird!”

“Dude, what the fuck.”

The J-School steals a mixed-media mastermind away from The Guardian. (Wired)

Want to be an eminent domain holdout? The Times lists places you might consider moving to.

Gentrification is upon us! (and guilty liberals complain). (Spec)

The L Hostel in Harlem was shut down by the city. (Gothamist)

photo via flickr/paraflyer

The J-School and SEAS are joining forces to breed super-reporters. (Wired)

CU basketball head coach Joe Jones may or may not be moving to BC. (Spec)

Columbia, unite! There’ll be a flash mob at 1pm today to “reclaim” Low. (Gothamist)

The University and labor unions don’t really get along. (Spec)

Photo via Wikimedia

Grant Housing Project experiences discrimination. Photo via NYT

Barnard uniforms have been catalogued. (Genuine Incongruity)

Brooklyn’s best pizza is expanding to Manhattan. (Gothamist)

Milk smuggling is growing. (Gothamist)

Columbia neighborhood identified as a case in point for NYC’s human rights violations. (NYT)

J-School finds magazine websites are poorly edited. (Huffington Post)

Howard French

On Monday evening, Bwog’s Claire Sabel joined Columbia International Relations Council and Association (CIRCA) to hear journalist, author, photographer and most recent addition to J-School faculty Professor Howard French talk about his life and work. French has had a fascinating career in journalism, spent predominantly working for the perennial Columbia favorite, the New York Times. French accurately inferred that the handful of listeners present were those interested in careers in journalism, and thus spoke mainly of his work.

Having graduated college French did what many students do, go home. For him this meant joining his family in the Ivory Coast, where his father was working for the World Health Organization. His experiences there were to launch both his fascination with the African continent, which in his opinion is still the region least intensively, and least well-covered in the world. French set out helping his father, but soon, by virtue of his fluency in French, found himself working with a French writer helping to translate her novel. Subsequently engaging in some freelance translation and local reporting, he eventually became acquainted with the Washington Post’s Bureau Chief. When the Post correspondent had to unexpectedly return to the U.S., French took his place.

Read more…

Thought you had a bad weekend? Not as bad as this cabbie who drove all the way to Long Island, only to be pepper sprayed by his passenger instead of paid. (NYP)

Strangeness occurred downtown as street-level billboards were painted over by artists in an attempt to question their legality, only to be repainted with ads hours later. (NYT)

Start saving up those bottled waters, because starting this Saturday, you can get a nickel back for each bottle you return to a store or redemption center. (Gothamist)

Only in Manhattan is it reasonable to ask the question of which is more precious: a place to park, or a place to live? (Spec)

And finally, not only are Columbia students great at poking fun at pop culture in tune, turns out they’re not too bad at laying down beats about journalistic ethics. (Gawker)

Since opening last year, the J-School cafe area hasn’t exactly been overwhelmed, as students have been waiting for a more formal establishment to open and/or thought the room was entirely computer-generated. Starting Monday, though, look for students to at least give the space a second chance, as the owners of Campo will be opening a new restaurant there.

According to J-school officials, the restaurant–which does not have an official name yet, though Brad’s Coffee House or Brad’s Brew are mentioned as possible candidates–will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends (broader hours are “under discussion”). Victuals will include “toasted sandwiches, salads, hot dogs, milk shakes and superior brand coffee,” with pricing still being finalized before Monday’s opening. Wifi will also be available inside for the internet-surfing gourmet, and “the vendors hope to offer the delivery during operation hours and full catering.”

Unlike Blue Java or Ferris Booth, the restaurant will not be run by Columbia, which, as one Blue and White editor put it, “is like democracy coming to a country under one-party rule.” Democracy and milkshakes…delicious. 

- JCD

Last night, Gawker posted about a strange petition circulating in the crowd at the J-School’s graduation ceremonies. The petition attacked professor Samuel Freedman (pictured at right, from his Columbia page) for giving a student an incomplete grade, preventing the student from graduating. The specifics behind the incomplete grade, though, were unclear, until the student’s original complaint surfaced this morning.

Apparently, the situation is all a big content-sharing mixup. The student, Erin Siegal, says that she had had an arrangement with her thesis adviser and Freedman to use an excerpt from her work for Freedman’s book seminar as her Master’s thesis. However, her adviser urged Siegal to turn in her whole body of work (16,000 words), leading Freedman to give her an incomplete. As of now, it’s still unclear if Siegal will be allowed to graduate, but hey, we’re sure that she can dig around in the couch cushions for another semester’s tuition.

Ethics, teary students, and smarmy professors – what’s not to love? You can check out the full letters over at Gawker. 

But only if you’re in the Law School or SIPA. Columbia’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs announced the complete list of Class Speakers today, and joining Attorney General Eric Holder are many other famous names to prop up the 22 various Class Day and Commencement ceremonies taking place between this Saturday (the B-School) and next Thursday (Law School and Dental School).

Among the big names: former California governor Gray Davis at the Law School graduation, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft at SIPA’s Commencement, Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall at the J-School’s Class Day, New York Times medical correspondent Lawrence Altman at the Med School graduation, and senior advisor to Hillary Clinton Phillipe Reines at General Studies’s Class Day. Of course, some of the speechifying talent isn’t travelling very far: professors Jagdish Baghwati and Jeffrey Sachs will be speaking at the Ph.D. convocation and the Dental School graduation ceremonies, respectively.

Our favorite detail, though? Both J-School ceremonies are “closed to the media.” Full list after the jump. Read more…

That new weird cubical cafe between Journalism and Furnald has opened, and it’s kind of sterile-looking, just like our initial impressions led us to believe!

See if you can tell the difference between photos of the new Toni Stabile Student Center and random stills from the Sims. Answers after the jump.

A. 

Read more…

Hey look, that student center located in the transparent cube thing between Furnald and the J-School is on the verge of opening. It’s not serving yet, but the facilities appear to be ready to go and it’s no longer under construction. The interior looks like what someone in 1983 might imagine a cafe in 2008 to look like.

– Photo by Lydia DePillis

The Associated Press is reporting that Robert Williams, the ex-convict charged with torturing and raping a Journalism School student last year was found guilty of 44 of 46 counts.

For further details — though Bwog warns that it’s extremely disturbing — the New York Times has a detailed summation of the events of the 19-hour torture session.

The New York Times is reporting that the J-School received a 5 million-dollar gift today from one Mr. Leonard Tow, a Columbia grad whom the Times identifies as “a former chief executive of Citizens Communications, and Century Communications” as well as a philanthropist — and how!

Tow is hoping that his $5 million will aid J-Schoolers in figuring out how to save the dying newspaper business by attaining Internet-savvy. (Hint: stop printing newspapers on paper.) Tow also explains that he was annoyed at Harvard and its fancy “Internet institute” because it was much better than Columbia at teaching grad students how to publish things online.

Tow also donated $3 million to the CUNY J-School to create the Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation, which will focus on research and development. Funds at Columbia will be centered around training J-Schoolers in “digital media.” What exactly can 5 million buy these days? Accoring to J-School dean Nicholas B. Lemann: “two professors in new media” and “a curriculum that may include data-driven reporting and software design for news organizations.”

According to Editor & Publisher, CUNY will have to match the donation through fund raising in order to receive it.  Columbia will have to do the same, but it will have to double Tow’s donation and fund raise $10 million.