Posts Tagged ‘NYU Local’

NYU Student Becomes Online Sensation After Sending ‘Reply-All’ Email

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 2, 2012 | 1 Comment »

It began with a message about a tax form.  It led to an email from a student to his mother. And it quickly evolved into a unique online viral sensation.

–

Meet Max Wiseltier. The New York University sophomore is currently known across campus and around the world (wide web). His claim to fame: accidentally hitting “reply all.”

–

The NYU Bursar’s Office recently emailed students inquiring whether they wanted to receive an electronic version of a relevant tax form instead of a paper copy. Wiseltier subsequently tried to forward the message to his mother, along with a simple question, “do you want me to do this?”  However, it did not turn out to be a simple click-and-send.  “I have a pretty old computer, and when I went to hit the send button it froze a little bit,” Wiseltier told ABC News. “So I was kind of clicking around and must have hit the wrong button.”

–

1

–

The button Wiseltier accidentally hit was for “reply all,” meaning the email meant for his mom was “inadvertently sent to every single student at NYU on the list — all 39,979 of them.” He quickly sent a second email to everyone apologizing for the faux pas. But by then, it was too late. The e-floodgates at one of the country’s leading private schools had been opened.

–

As the online student news outlet NYU Local explained, “His accidental email and hasty apology triggered a rare, university-wide revelation: We simultaneously realized that any message, complaint, whim, link, video or GIF could be sent to nearly 40,000 people in an instant. We had been given a great and terrible power. For a moment we contemplated responsibility, then gleefully tossed it aside in favor of posting pictures of cats. The ensuing hours were referred to as ‘The Reply-Allpocalypse,’ ‘The Day NYU Broke,’ and ‘Will Everyone Please Just Shut Up.’”

–

Along with numerous messages complaining about the ongoing email pile-up, students sent scores of sillier emails to their peers. Among them: “Does anyone have a pencil I could borrow?”; “Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?”; “Is Professor Rosenblatt still having office hours at 10:45? I’m struggling with this paper. haha.” and “I’ve never felt more a part of the NYU community. Does anybody want to be my friend?”

–

2

–

A few students used the reply-all function to air voices of protest, including one who listed some of NYU’s perceived failings: “Exorbitant tuition. Lazy email list maintenance. Port-Authority-quality restrooms. Union busting. Real estate speculation. What other things is NYU doing all wrong?”

–

Meanwhile, on a personal level, Wiseltier’s innocent email wrongdoing has transformed him into an overnight celebrity — triggering national media attention and tons of follower and friend requests on Facebook and Twitter.

–

3

–

“It started this chain reaction and created sort of a frenzy as it gained awareness and snowballed more,” he said. “It’s been overwhelming but wild and it is what it is, so I’m just enjoying it all.”  After late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed him via Skype about “Reply-Allpocalypse,” Wiseltier sent a tweet with a telling hashtag: #bestmistakeever.

–

–

Read Full Post »

Student Blogs “Determined to Reinvent College Journalism”

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »

The still relatively new batch of online student outlets with new media sense and underground sensibilities have been dubbed nothing less than full-blown “blogging fraternities.”  A new Chronicle of Higher Education feature declares that the “national wave of student-run Web outfits [are] determined to reinvent college journalism. . . . Readers devour these sites. College officials fret over them. And competitors carp about their edgy methods, which sometimes include a publish-it-now-correct-it-later approach to campus rumors.”  (Full disclosure: I am briefly cited in the piece.)

–

File:Onward State Icon.jpg

Penn State University's Onward State is one of the members of the modern student blogging frat pack mentioned by the Chronicle.

–

Some of the new media methods online student outfits are trying on for size, according to the Chronicle and research of mine that is cited:

–

- They break news and boast high Web traffic, at times besting their student newspaper counterparts   (Chronicle piece: “Underground media has always existed. But not until recently . . . have there been underground papers published on a global distribution platform and amplified by the personal social networks of editors . . . who can share posts with more than 1,300 Facebook ‘friends.’”)

–

- Yes, they occasionally dabble (responsibly) in rumor and innuendo (NYU Local founder Cody Brown previously wrote that this dabbling is part of a more widespread ‘real time’ reporting phenomenon)

–

- Schools are starting to recognize their presence and marketing potential (For example, New York University has begun advertising on NYU Local.)

–

- They consider the whole newsroom face-to-face meet-up thing a remnant of yesterday’s news outlet (Onward State apparently enjoys Google Wave. Staffers at other outlets with whom I’ve spoken rely upon more traditional mass e-mailing, IMing, Facebook, and Google Docs.)

Read Full Post »

NYU Local Reporter Reflects on ‘Biggest Story of the Year’

Posted in College Media, Journalism, New Media, tagged , , , , on July 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

This past February at New York University, NYU Local reporter Charlie Eisenhood embedded himself inside a cafeteria at New York University to document a highly publicized sit-in staged by a fringe student group, Take Back New York University (TBNYU).

–

For more than forty-eight hours, without much food and even less sleep, Eisenhood reported basically nonstop through real-time blog updates, video interviews, and photos, many of them exclusive, leading to an unprecedented spike in Web traffic and interest in the new media upstart.  Literally, unique visitors to the NYU Local site more than sextupled in a single month– from 7,000 in January to nearly 47,000 in February– a rise that publisher Cody Brown attributes directly to interest in the reports filed by Eisenhood, now known as “everyone’s favorite liveblogger.”

–

As one student blogger opined, “[T]here is at least one clear winner in this standoff: my alma mater NYU Local, and more specifically . . . Charlie Eisenhood, whose been providing, bar none, the best news coverage of any media outlet on this story from inside the occupation. Hats off to him and the rest of the NYU Local team for owning this story and getting well-deserved plugs from everyone from Gawker to, oddly enough, The American Spectator.”

–

Below, UWIRE 100 honoree Eisenhood (whose DJ name is just fantastic, DJ Eyes In Hood) chatted exclusively about the ups-and-downs of what I absolutely nominate as one of the top student reporting feats so far in 2009.

–

NYU Local Reporter Charlie Eisenhood

NYU Local Reporter Charlie Eisenhood

According to Eisenhood, this shot is "a terribly blurry screen grab of me from the live stream [that the student protest group] had running during the occupation."

According to Eisenhood, this shot is “a terribly blurry screen grab of me from the live stream TBNYU had running during the occupation.”

–

1) How did you originally learn of the sit-in and what made you decide to embed yourself inside?

I was tipped off by a friend who heard about it from one of the higher-ups at TBNYU.  He told me, “They’re gonna take over a building” about a week before it happened.  What you have to understand is that NYU Local had a history with TBNYU. Some of our writers called them out for being obnoxious at a town hall meeting with NYU President John Sexton. So they hated our guts and we didn’t like their attitude. So when I heard about the takeover, my spider sense tingled. I told Cody [Brown] and [top editor] Lily [Q] the night before, “I know about the biggest story of the year.”

–

2) Your reporting displayed a wonderfully personal, opinionated slant that really made me feel like I was there on the inside. What led you to go that route versus the detached, objectivity-only option?

That’s what NYU Local is all about. We don’t pretend to be objective in our coverage and I wasn’t about to start during such a strange and hilarious event.

–

3) An especially memorable reporting moment during the protest.

When TBNYU decided to accept food from NYU dining staff.  They bring out an entire pan of chicken, mashed potatoes, and vegan sandwich wraps (very popular with the protesters). I ate the chicken- it was my first real meal in almost 24 hours.

–

4) What was the toughest part of the experience?

Trying to stay focused during the last three-four hours. Your brain starts acting weird after almost two days without rest.

–

5) What is one thing you would do differently if you had the chance to relive it all?

Honestly, I would have stayed until everyone was rounded up. I wish I had been the one to capture this footage. One hundred thousand views?! You can call yourself a YouTube star at that point. I could have also started my own “corporate water” brand and made millions. I might still do that. [Ed. note: No water companies have yet been registered in Eisenhood's name.] :-)

–

6) What’s your advice for future student journalists seeking to make an impact through similar embedded-style reporting?

Don’t back down from hostile situations and make sure to bring lots of batteries for your camera. And bring your own food!

–

7) What tools did you find indispensable for your reporting and general survival during the ordeal?

I really only used two things: a laptop and a digital camera. I took notes on my computer and kept in touch with the outside via IM. And, big thanks to NYU for keeping the Internet connection on. That was key.

Read Full Post »

25 Random Things About Modern College Media: Part 1

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Inspired by the Facebook phenomenon “25 Random Things About Me,” which I’ve now happily received from roughly two dozen friends and colleagues (Time reports more than 5 million such lists have been completed since the start of the month), I’ve drawn up my own “Random” list.  It’s not personal, but professional passion-based.  Below is part one of “25 Random Things About Modern College Media”:

——-

1) Students still read their campus newspapers, in print! In an era of online-overwhelmingness and stereotypes (and published evidence) about youth predilection for Internet news over the dead ink variety, student readership of print campus publications is almost astounding.  The motivation for such an old media activity varies.  I’ve asked past students of mine for their reasons.  A few of the most oft-repeated: The college paper is the most accessible news source to grab on campus.  It’s free.  It’s the most relevant to students’ lives.  And it’s the easiest to peruse (or at least quickly scan) while on campus (in class, the library, the coffeeshop, cafeteria, etc.).

—-

2) The alternative college media landscape is like the modern indy-movie scene.  They are both more pervasive, professional, and popular than ever.  The alt college press specifically now pops up in newsstands and Google searches worldwide, providing more alternatives than ever to that holiest-of-holy standby, the student newspaper.  A few examples of alt-outlets I’ve blogged about previously: NYU Local, Amherst Wire (UMASS), and The Student Newspaper (UN-L).  And I come across new ones every day!  The latest: The Trojan Times at Mount Olive College.

——-

3) College journalists are stars! Personal branding and exposure via online means (see the UWire 100) have elevated a lucky/ambitious few into a college media elite or cognoscenti category unlike anything collegemediatopia has ever seen.  (Literally, in my related historical research, the only batches of student journalists with similarly heightened and sustained national prominence were student sex columnists in the late ’90s/early 2000s and those who fought and gained independence for their student newspapers in the late 1960s/early 1970s).  A few of the biggies: Emily Kostic (the inventor of Journalism 3.0, if you haven’t heard), Greg Linch, Daniel Bachhuber, Jackie Hai, and Andrew Dunn (see College Rag).

——-

4) The college media talent pool is still deep.  Students are still excitedly signing up for j-schools and majoring in journalism in record numbers at colleges and unis worldwide.  As I asked in a previous post, “So Where’s the Beef with J-School Enrollment?“: “Why are students still enrolling en masse?  Is it their love of writing?  Their infatuation with the pop culture aura of the journalist-as-superhero?  Their loathing of other subjects like math and science?  Their idealistic belief that they will be one of the remaining few to merge the words newspaper and career together?  Or maybe their hope that new media’s worldwide (web) domination will soon lead to an explosion of related j-jobs?”

—-

5) Your mom reads college media, online.  In an interesting reverse of item number #1 in this “Random” list, CICM guru Bryan Murley reported recently that findings indicate that readership of campus newspaper Web sites is not generally student-centric.  Instead, it is individuals off-campus who have some connection to the affiliated schools who are checking things out online- alumni, donors, prospective students, and maybe even your mom.

—-

Stay tuned for Part 2 soon!

Read Full Post »

Student Journalist Spotlight: Cody Brown, NYU Local

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, Journalist Spotlight, New Media, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2008 | 5 Comments »

Cody Brown is a journalism revolutionary. As publisher of NYU Local at New York University, “a 24 hour Web site about the school we call home,” Brown is aiming to “remove the distinction of who is a professional and who is a citizen and let everyone contribute in the same way, using their real names and eventually building their own reputations.”

—————-

As CMM previously noted, the site screams innovation and is a worthy addition to collegemediatopia’s larger efforts to reinvent the journalism field. Below, Brown shares some thoughts with CMM about his early Local leadership and his larger spirit of journalistic inventiveness.

—————-

Cody Brown at a recent NYU Local Dance Party.

Brown at a recent NYU Local Dance Party.

—————-

Write a six-word memoir of your NYU Local experience so far.

—————-

We started a New Media Fraternity.

—————-

To all the new media haters out there: Why does NYU Local matter?

—————-

Because we take your market share and advertising revenue.

—————-

What is your position with NYU Local and general responsibilities?

—————-

I am the Publisher. I designed the site and oversee changes in layout, workflow, and staff. My office is just off Broadway in the back row of a coffee shop called Think. Most of my time is spent answering a slew of e-mails with staff each morning and throughout the day.

—————-

What is one thing people may not understand about the site?

—————-

Our news is delivered in the form of a collage and we don’t claim to be the final word. We stress that our writers dig into stories and always be accurate but we think the journalistic ideal of objectivity is a corrosive myth. We value perspective. We don’t try to hide it in a style of writing that acts as the neutral party.

—————-

Further, stories don’t end after they are published, and sometimes we will post a story even if we don’t have a great hold on it because we want to turn it over to the collected expertise of our readers- comments are always enabled. To some, this can make the site look scattered, opinionated, and incomplete but what some don’t realize is that this is the way newsrooms have and will always work. We cut the facade and bring our reader into our discussion because we think it’s an honest, engaging, and more intelligent way of understanding a beat.

—————-

Is it journalism?

—————-

That word is loaded but of course there is journalism on our site. We have scooped Washington Square News on numerous occasions. Something we do focus on (and will focus more on in the next iteration of the site) is expanding the opportunities to be a reporter. We only accept comments from those willing to provide a full name and email address because we see comments as a valuable potential source. Going online-only enables a lot more of these opportunities .

—————-

What is one post you’re especially proud to have featured on the site, and why?

—————-

For a school that considers itself to be a ‘A Private University in the Public Service’ it’s a basic assumption to think that, as the school grows more prestigious, its employees will gain. NYU outsourced its custodial staff to a management company that redacted the opportunity for next-generation custodians to take classes at the school.

—————-

We caught wind of the story and posted this. She made it a quick entertaining read and NYU’s Director of Public Affairs immediately hit the comments. I was able to ask some tough questions and we put pressure on the administration.

—————-

What is one question we should all be asking much more often about the current state or future of journalism?

—————-

How can we get a news beat to cover itself?

—————-

You wake up in ten years. Where are you and what are you doing?

—————-

I’m groggy and a little hungover. I wake up on a Lear Jet booking it to Singapore. That morning things got a bit testy, the Iran oligarchy initially greeted TehranLocal.com with approval but a few stories linked them with nasty headlines and they started leaning on the information bureau to shut the site down. Needless to say, our team managed to talk them out of taking one of my limbs, we set up servers off-shore, and I hopped on a plane with just enough time to make it to the launch of ShieldYourEyes.com, our new global Internet fashion magazine. I’m wearing spandex.

—————-

A screenshot of NYU Local's 'Collage' by staff photographer David Alvarez.

A screenshot of NYU Local's 'Collage' by staff photographer David Alvarez.

Read Full Post »

“A 24 Hour Website About the School . . . We Call Home”

Posted in College Media, Future of Journalism, Journalism, New Media, Student Newspaper, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 7, 2008 | 4 Comments »

I’m starting the latest post in purple, in honor of the newest entrant into NYU’s collegemediatopia: NYU Local, “a 24 hour website about the school and the city that we call home.”

 

NYU Local

 

According to a MediaShift post by the one and only Alana Taylor, it came into being two months ago, as an offshoot of a journalism class survey whose results set blogs afire. The student founders tell Taylor the site’s purpose is to report news quicker, bolder, more conversational, and more all-encompassing. In respect to the latter, she writes:

 

NYU Local hopes to let anyone and everyone contribute to the site and use it as a crowd-sourcing mechanism to allow naturally good and popular writers to rise to the top. The idea would be to remove the distinction of who is a professional and who is a citizen and let everyone contribute in the same way, using their real names and eventually building their own reputations.

 

Taylor links it to a larger analysis of the print-online divide, declaring in one sub-headline “College Newspapers Are Dying Too.” It’s the only statement in the post that made me cringe. NYU Local appears to be an excellent addition to collegemediatopia. Is it a signal of college newspapers’ demise? Absolutely not! Instead, it’s a great example of the power of the Internet in allowing students with a different perspective and journalistic ambitions to be heard. Pre-Internet, the alt media options for students were limited. During my time as an undergraduate, a student publishing an alternative paper on my school’s campus was forced to print, copy, and staple 8 x 11 sheets together to make a ‘newspaper’ that he secretly distributed. Those days are over. College newspapers, though, have many days ahead, online and in print. They are simply going to have to continue to reinvent to stay relevant and match the innovation of their competition.

 

About NYU Local, at first glance: A feel-good, inviting, slapdash-style. The posts boast personality and glints of new media attitude (seen most prominently in the headers). The content presentation appears initially scattered but slowly reveals a nice mix that is attempting to go beyond the standard vertical blog (including a content slider at the top, section links such as ‘City’, ‘Entertainment’ and ‘National’, and, most appealing to me, a “Photo of the Day” sider). The most recent featured photo is below:

 

NYU Local Photo of the Day

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 4,016 other followers

%d bloggers like this: