Vivid language is constantly at odds with word counts and breaking news urgency at the New York Times Student Journalism Institute. And as a magazine-bred reporter, cutting copy feels like a prison shank — quick and dirty.
President Barack Obama took full responsibility for controlling the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico at a White House news conference Thursday, but said the government would continue to rely on BP for cleanup efforts because of their superior technology and expertise.
Willie Johnson’s hands are rough and calloused, weathered from working construction. Two weeks ago, he left a job in Seattle and returned to New Orleans after 37 years to help rebuild homes in his old neighborhood, the Lower Ninth Ward.
The city that played a major role in rock ’n’and roll, jazz and blues — think Armstrong, Bechet, Domino — never quite developed music into an industry. There’s little infrastructure and no large record labels or publishing houses. And, for many musicians, leaving New Orleans is essential to finding success.
One late band doesn’t stop the show from starting. When about 100 New Orleans residents gathered at the St. Charles entrance of Audubon Park — sun blazing — and found the festivities band missing-in-action, they walked to the sounds of their own RaRa chants and carnival radio jams in remembrance of the earthquake in Haiti.
“If you act like you don’t belong here, they’ll know you don’t belong here.” And let’s face it, most 2010 institute fellows act as if they don’t belong in New Orleans. Northerners saunter by local residents, taken aback and bewildered when met with a warm “Good morning,” myself included. Midwesterners stress over the humidity and [...]
