ForeignPress.org interviews Prof. Sissel McCarthy

Laila Gad came to Hunter College to prepare for a career in medicine. But after she took a course titled Peopling NY through the Macaulay Honors College, Gad became fascinated with climate change and its effects on public health. She decided to add a second major in journalism, to explore this interest and to find ways to write about it for a wide audience. Gad, whose family is Egyptian, was also motivated by the persecution journalists in her home country experience. She notes that journalists in Egypt face censorship and imprisonment for their reporting. For her, she said, journalism offers a way “to talk about stories that I know are always being suppressed.” The Macaulay Honors College junior received this year’s Pulitzer Center Student Reporting Fellowship, and will use it to report on heat and aging in Singapore over the summer. She sees this as a developing field of research and she wants to be on the “pioneering front” of covering it. Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

Professor Alyxaundria Sanford remembers traveling to New York for the first time to intern for the “Today Show.” While there, she became interested in national news and the variety of topics covered in a morning broadcast. After getting a taste of being a journalist in the city, she knew she would be back. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Sanford studied journalism at Ohio University, where she focused on broadcasting. After graduating in 2008, she became a news producer in Dayton, but she had grander ambitions. In 2009, she returned to New York to attend graduate school at CUNY. “I’ve always been that headstrong and go straight to what I want,” said Sanford. Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

Award-winning documentary filmmakers Andrew Robinson and Dominic Smith visited Hunter College and the Roosevelt House on Tuesday, April 18th to talk about their film The Vanishing, Invisible Forest: Telling Climate Stories. Funded, in part, by the Pulitzer Center, the project focuses on vanishing kelp forests, a natural aquatic habitat, and how their disappearance—due to rising Earth temperatures—affects aquatic life. Smith and Robinson touched on how they used underwater videography to research and capture the damage being done. Friends and collaborators since college, the pair founded Smith Robinson Multimedia in 2019 to produce science and outdoor documentaries. Their recent work focuses on the climate crisis. “When you go outside now, every story becomes a climate change story,” Robinson said during the presentation on Tuesday. He and Smith aim to tell these stories with a new angle. Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

Hunter College’s journalism program has grown significantly in recent years, with more students enrolling, working journalists coming in to teach and new courses being added to the curriculum. Professor Sissel McCarthy, distinguished lecturer and director of the journalism program, said that when she joined the department in 2015, the curriculum was heavily print- and text-based. She updated the program to include courses on reporting across platforms such as radio, TV, podcasts and social media. Today, there are 133 journalism majors and minors compared to just 45 in 2017. “We’ve almost tripled,” said McCarthy. Nine courses have been added to the program over the past eight years, including Data Journalism, where students learn to access, comb through and visualize data for their stories. According to Prof. McCarthy, Hunter is one of the first CUNY schools to offer it as part of the curriculum. Core classes like Reporting and Writing I & II have been modernized to teach students how to develop their online presence by creating their own websites where they can publish their work. News Literacy in the Digital Age has also seen major changes, namely opening up to all majors and being approved as an alternative to English 220 for general distribution requirements. Speciality courses for upperclassmen have been made available as well. Courses such as Social Justice Journalism, taught by Professor David Alm for the first time this spring, trains journalists on how to best identify and report on issues affecting underserved and marginalized communities. Another new course, From College to Career: Get Hired In Journalism, will be offered in the Fall 2023 semester. Taught by Professor Jeanie Ahn, the course aims to help students chart their paths after Hunter and prepare for their first internships or jobs in the field. “It’s going to really give students the edge that they need to get a job in this competitive job market,” said Prof. McCarthy. Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

Although ChatGPT had been making headlines for months, I somehow managed to avoid it entirely. I am what you would call “old-school.” I drive an old car, I write my thoughts in an old journal, and I still get magazines and newspapers delivered to my house. Artificial intelligence was far removed from my reality. So, when I began to explore the world of AI, specifically ChatGPT, I was both intrigued and overwhelmed. The idea of delving into this cutting-edge technology was certainly enticing, but also daunting. ChatGPT, which launched in November 2022, is now listed as the fastest-growing consumer application in history, with over 100 million monthly active users since January. Developed by OpenAI, the software’s website displays an extremely simple interface while ChatGPT continues its “free research preview” phase. After I created an account, the website (ironically) asked me to verify my humanity by checking a box. Then it was just me and an empty search bar. I’d heard about the software helping students to write essays, job seekers to polish their resumes and even journalists to generate interview questions. I thought I would give the latter a shot, seeing as I am a journalism student myself. I asked it to generate questions concerning the future of ChatGPT and journalism. Within four seconds, it generated 10 extremely relevant questions for me. It felt wrong. I felt like I’d stumbled onto a dirty secret. From there, the AI wormhole grew as I tested the limits of the machine. While in public I felt the urge to peer over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching me – I couldn’t bear the shame of being seen using such a controversial program. Then one day, when I tried to use the site on campus, I discovered the school’s WiFi had blocked access to ChatGPT. I couldn’t help but wonder, how else was Hunter College navigating the use of ChatGPT in its classrooms? Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

Want to have your photo featured on The Arrow’s homepage? We’re hosting a Student Photojournalism Contest! All majors are welcome to submit images that tell an important story in New York City. Submissions must be taken by Hunter students, and portray real people, places, or events as they are — not staged or rehearsed. Email thearrowstudentmagazine@gmail.com with your image and your full name to enter the contest. Submissions are due May 1. The winner of the contest will be announced May 12, and their photo will be featured on the home page of The Arrow. We can’t wait to see what you send us! Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

Applications for the Deadline Club scholarship are due March 26th. Last year the club disbursed six merit-based scholarships of $2,500 each. The number and size of scholarships available this year is yet to be determined. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in journalism or journalism-oriented communications programs within 50 miles of Columbus Circle in New York City. Recipients will be determined by a panel of journalism and communications professionals and educators. They’re looking for students who have demonstrated, through scholarship and practice, “a potential to contribute to the highest standards and goals of the craft,” according to the scholarship webpage. Read more on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

In February, Hunter journalism students toured MSNBC, where they saw the inner workings of the television studio, control rooms and newsroom. The visit was organized by the Roosevelt House’s JFEW program, which offers mentorship and financial support to young women pursuing careers in public policy and public service. Dr. Basil Smikle, director of the public policy program at Roosevelt House, invited students with an interest in media and journalism to join him at MSNBC. “As someone who has just begun having an interest in journalism and broadcast TV, this visit was helpful in showing me the different roles people have in this area of work,” said Allison Patino, a junior media studies major at Hunter. Read the full article on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.

The Association of Business Students at Hunter College (ABS) is accepting applications for a new content chairperson until March 5 at 11:59 p.m. The successful candidate will lead biweekly news discussions on the ABS website, ensuring that all news is from reliable and reputable sources. They will then write up the ideas discussed in clear, journalistic blog posts. Working with the website chair, they will make sure all content is accurate and up to date. They will also be responsible for writing articles on any topic related to business. A weekly e-board meeting is mandatory as well. This position is open to all students, but journalism students looking to advance their writing, demonstrate their leadership skills and bolster their portfolios, especially on the business and finance beat, are particularly encouraged to apply. Read the full article on Hunter’s journalism website. Link in bio.