Tales of the city
Writing about life through Newark's urban experience
Archived article from Feb 1, 2002
By Carla Capizzi
Journalism," observes Rob Snyder, director of the Newark campus's revitalized journalism and media studies program, "is a type of storytelling." In his view, journalists, like historians, provide a critical narrative of the people and events that shape our nation.
To make his point, he has students in his advanced courses read the works of 19th- and early-20th-century urban reporters, such as Jacob Riis or Lincoln Steffens, to understand the history of American cities. Or he asks them to compare Ernie Pyle's coverage of World War II with more recent media reports on the war in Afghanistan.
Even his "Basic Reporting" course has an unusual emphasis in that students look at journalism through Newark's urban prism, a perspective that ties closely to the campus's increasing focus on urban studies.
Snyder begins the semester unconventionally with an exhaustive walking tour of Newark to get students off the campus and out into their beat -- the city itself. They visit the downtown business area, the Ironbound section, City Hall and such landmarks as the Newark Museum, St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral and Penn Station.
Snyder challenges the students to find their stories here, in the city, rather than in the classroom. "Visit the Historical Society and tell us what they do for the city. Go to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and write a review of a performance. Watch the city government in action and explain what they do," he tells his class. "Make me see it; make us all see it."
Snyder also uses the city's diversity as a learning tool, assigning students to explain the feast of Ramadan by interviewing Islamic students and faculty or by visiting one of Newark's mosques to view a service. During the state's gubernatorial elections, Snyder dispatched his students to the headquarters of the political parties to observe the action and talk with volunteers and campaign workers. "Bring back word pictures of these events, sights and sounds" is his charge.
It's a teaching technique he was first exposed to in the 1970s during his own days as a student at Livingston College. He has vivid memories of Rutgers professors Jerry Aumente, Allen Howard, John Gillis and Carey McWilliams, who helped him think about journalism and society in new ways. "I hope as a teacher to pass on the excitement, discoveries and self-expression that these teachers helped me find," Snyder says.
"Journalism has changed -- it's much more interpretative than a few decades ago," he points out. "Journalists need to be able to research and report with great skill and to analyze with equally great skill. That poses challenges and problems."
The goal for modern journalists, he says, is to go beyond reporting facts to providing "analysis rooted in strong source material and reported gracefully."
Snyder, who has a doctorate in history from New York University, agrees with Columbia journalism Professor James Carey's contention that journalism and scholarship are two sides of the same coin. "Journalism and scholarship are both a search for a vision of the truth. Both are an attempt to communicate that vision to a wider public. If they recognize this, journalists and scholars can learn a lot from each other."
Web journalism, too, has a role to play in today's media world, Snyder contends. "There are some exciting sites out there, sites that offer topical, important information, such as the University of Virginia's 'X Roads' or the Institute of War and Peace Reporting site."
He plans to introduce this tool into the Newark program and is developing a Web site to showcase student writing and "allow student writers to reach a larger audience beyond Newark."
Snyder recently shared with Focus some of the writing his students have done over the past year. There were more good pieces than could possibly be included. Focus did, however, select a few excerpts that provide a glimpse of the dynamic learning experience Snyder's teaching methods encourage. The vividness of the writing and the accuracy of detail should make these budding journalists stand out when they begin their careers at newspapers, online or in broadcast media.
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