Can New York City be Everyone’s Campus?

When touring colleges, The King’s College might have looked a little different from other colleges and universities. Instead of a campus built on a plot of land, King’s occupies three floors in a Lower Manhattan office building. If you were to look through some of the brochures, you would see the phrase, “New York City is your campus.” But is this really the case for all students?

King’s currently has one on-campus housing location in Downtown Brooklyn. The commute to school poses unique challenges and complicates daily functioning for students with disabilities looking to possibly attend King’s.

The most affordable and practical way for students to commute to school is, by far, the subway. No other mode of transportation in New York City is as comprehensive or cost-effective as the subway.

Still, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) public transportation system must take several strides to make the subway system more accessible. 

Why is the MTA in New York City so notoriously inaccessible? 

The MTA subway system is an artifact from a world before the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. While this law focused on protecting Americans with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace, it also mandated that public places be accessible to people with disabilities. 

The New York City Subway opened in October 1904, which means they were constructed long before the accessibility mandates. Most buildings in New York City were also built before the passing of the ADA, which further limits the accessibility of the city as a whole.

Currently, just 126 out of 472 stations are accessible. Thirty years since the passing of the ADA,  more than two-thirds of all subway stations remain inaccessible. 

City Point, the only on-campus housing location King’s offers, is described as “a fifteen-minute train ride from campus” on the King’s website. However, this is only true from the Hoyt Street station, which is currently inaccessible. 

“Most people use the Hoyt Street station, which is not accessible to me,” said Lauren Brooks, a Fall 2022 NYCJ Semester student who uses a wheelchair. “So, I either go to Jay Street-Metrotech, DeKalb Avenue or, if worse comes to worst, Atlantic Avenue, which is a 20-minute walk.”

ADA presented subway stations with a unique challenge when forced to transition to accessibility. Most stations are under busy streets, so reconstruction is constrained by the location of the tracks. But what do subway stations need to be considered accessible? 

The vast majority of stations are only accessible through stairs from the street level, the mezzanine, and finally, the platform. Stairs are not an option for someone who uses a wheelchair, crutches or a walker. Adding elevators for subway stations is difficult because construction is restricted by underground infrastructure, space available on street level, and space available within the station. Additionally, people with disabilities need escalators to make traveling from the station to the platform more accessible. 

The MTA must also address the gap between the platform and the train to improve accessibility. For someone using a walker or a wheelchair, this gap is hard to avoid when boarding and exiting the train. These gaps can often be too wide, too high or too low for someone to safely travel from the train to the platform or vice versa.

“If you were in the middle, the front or the back, we still need to work on being able to get a wheelchair or walker in safely,” said Christopher Greif, Executive Member of the New York City Transit Riders Council, in an interview. “We need to know what stations have this problem.”

Brooks echoes the problem of the gap between the subway car and the platform. 

“I was coming home one night, and because of the gap, my front wheels got stuck, and my friends had to push my chair up onto the subway,” said Brooks.

Aside from public transit, Brooks also faces the inaccessibility of New York City as a whole. 

“New York, in general, is terrible with accessibility,” said Brooks. “But nowhere is great. I'm from the LA area, so I'm not coming from greatness either. Broken or cracked sidewalks that pushed me onto the street, that's the norm here. I didn't expect a utopia. I would be silly to.”

On her TikTok account, Brooks documents the inaccessibility of establishments in New York City. One post, which showed a coffee shop entrance only accessible by a step, amassed 820,700 views.

For future students, there is hope. In June 2022, the MTA pledged to make 95% of stations accessible by 2055, 

Under the terms of the agreement, the MTA will add elevators or ramps to create a stair-free path of travel at 95 percent of the currently inaccessible subway stations by 2055. 

Andy Byford, who served on the New York City Transit Council from 2017 to 2021, was instrumental in the recent strides of modernization in the subway. He spearheaded the “Fast Forward” program, which along with signal improvements, aims to make 50 more stations accessible.

“Since Andy Byford was the president of MTA, there has been more accessibility,” said Grief. “More elevators, more ramps, bigger signages. They’re working hard to make sure public transportation is the safe way to travel.”

From Oct. 2019 to Jan. 2022, the Jay St. Metrotech station was used as an “accessibility lab” for new features intended to make navigating the subway easier for those with cognitive, visual or motor impairments. These include “tactile guideways,” colorful way-finding stripes on station floors and stairs, Braille signage and interactive subway maps. 

Officials are also testing five free apps to assist people with disabilities, such as NaviLens, which provides sign information in audio for visually impaired people. This new technology is a great first step in laying the groundwork for a more accessible future of public transportation in New York City.

“I would like to see them do more,” said Grief. “There are areas that need to be a little clearer and colors that need to be a little brighter. The screen that they have there is a start. I have to thank Andy Byford again because he started focusing on accessibility with knowledge.”

For prospective students at King’s with a disability, there is still work to be done to make the transportation system in New York City accessible for everyone to use. 

While King’s is not presently able to be everyone’s campus, at least comfortably, the groundwork is being laid for a more accessible future.

Drew Richardson is a contributor to the Empire State Tribune. He is a senior majoring in Journalism, Culture and Society and Business Management. He serves as the Production Intern at CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” show. This article originally ran at the EST this spring.

TKC Alumni Feature: Meet Michael Sheetz, The Space Reporter Who Also Surfs

On a recent Friday afternoon, Michael Sheetz hopped on a video call as he sat in the backyard of a modest French house. 

Calling from France, specifically Chinon in the Loire valley, to New York means he is six hours ahead and is enjoying the early evening with relatives. He had just finished covering a two-week-long space conference in France, and he and his wife decided to visit family there before heading back to the States. Though extremely busy, he made an effort to join the call. 

Potted plants and vine branches fill the backyard. Clouds cover the sky, but they don’t cast a feeling of gloom. Sheetz, wearing a simple gray shirt and a silver watch, brushed back his dark brown hair and clinched his scruffy jaw as he proceeded to answer question after question about his life back in America. 

As a California kid, Sheetz dreamed of places like New York City, Paris and outer space. Now a space reporter for global business news leader CNBC, his job encapsulates all those things. 

Growing up in Orange County, Calif., Sheetz had a normal childhood filled with baseball, surfing the Pacific and debate competitions. At a young age, Sheetz  subscribed to The Wall Street Journal and slowly became a news junky. He felt like he never fully appreciated his comfortable lifestyle in California until he moved across the country for college. 

Receiving the Founders Award, a full-ride scholarship to The King’s College, Sheetz moved to New York City in the fall of 2013, majoring in Politics, Philosophy and Economics with a minor in Journalism. 

“If there is any place I’m going to get exposure to what being a journalist looks like and being around other journalists, that's where I’m gonna have to be,” he said. 

While at King’s, Sheetz took a few journalism classes and was encouraged by professors to explore the realm of business journalism. 

“Michael is a smart, talented, articulate guy who was an enthusiastic part of the King’s community and journalism program,” a journalism professor at King’s, Paul Glader, said. “He dedicated himself to journalism and business reporting and is seeing great results.” 

During college, he took up three different internships at CNBC – working in breaking news for CNBC.com, on the TV assignment desk and the production team on the show “Mad Money with Jim Cramer.” He described working there as drinking from a fire hose of daily information.

Since he lived in the city, Sheetz took a bus to Englewood Cliffs, N.J., to his job at CNBC throughout college. 

Along with those internships, he served as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, the Empire State Tribune, and worked there all four years of college. 

After graduating in 2017, Sheetz worked full-time for CNBC.com's markets team. He stayed due to the supportive culture of the company. 

As he began to gain more experience in journalism and reporting, he started to pull a few threads that would begin to unravel his future career opportunities. 

“Instead of trying to follow along with what everyone else was doing, I wanted to find something that no one was covering, that my editors were interested in, and something that I could really own,” Sheetz said. “I loved the idea that companies are made up of individuals and everyone from the janitor up to the CEO all make decisions that are personal to them through their own knowledge and experiences.” 

Sheetz always assumed that he would head back to the west coast to write for a newspaper after putting in his four years of college but realized his new passion would best thrive in the world’s financial capital. 

“Being in New York, you’re surrounded by Wall Street and all these big financial institutions. I loved the idea of trying to tell a little bit of the people’s stories behind all that money,” he said. 

Still looking for that specific thing Sheetz could call his own, he asked his editor if he could cover SpaceX launches that were happening over the weekend. He quickly realized that this $470 billion industry was not getting enough coverage. 

“[There is this] substantial existing industry where new companies created in the last 20 years are changing the game, some of them backed by billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and no one here is writing about it,” Sheetz said. 

He continued to pitch space stories to his editors and started covering the beat full-time. 

Though space is a broad topic, Sheetz focuses explicitly on the business and investing side. 

“It is a growing and changing beat. And today, I can hardly write about everything that is happening; there are so many companies newly public,” Sheetz said. 

Now, having over 170,000 followers on Twitter and launching a weekly newsletter, Investing in Space, Sheetz has pulled in an audience interested in space news. Though he has attended a fair share of rocket launches and space conferences, since working on the space beat full-time, Sheetz worked from home during the pandemic before returning to the office this fall.

For him, a typical day of work looks like sifting through hundreds of emails. He might watch a rocket launch webcast or tune into a press conference from NASA while writing articles.

“[Until recently], my entire existence of being a full-time space writer has been from a work-home environment,” Sheetz said.

Since he works as the news cycle requires, he has the flexibility to go back to his California roots.

Sheetz drives to Rockaway Beach in Queens a couple of times weekly to surf. But the news doesn’t stop just for him. At dawn, he packs up his surfing gear and also his laptop. After a couple of hours of catching some Atlantic ocean waves, he’ll head home or to the office – always ready for a call in case news breaks on his way.

The first paycheck he got at CNBC, he used to buy a fish surfboard. He now owns four; two fish surfboards and two shortboards. As the saying goes, you can take the boy out of California, but you can’t take California out of the boy. 

“I found a passion for using my free time to disconnect and stay offline and use that as an opportunity to recharge,” he added.

Sheetz and his wife, Joy, also a King’s alumna, have maintained a tight-knit group of college friends they often see on the weekends. 

“I have a great community of King’s alum that I’m close with; we have really stuck together in the Brooklyn area since then,” Sheetz said. 

“Michael has always shown up. Whether in high school to win national championships or to volunteer at church, he’s done so with excellence and a smile on his face,” Iain Coston, a friend of Sheetz, said. “Seeing him excel and shine at CNBC, lead new initiatives, and get hugs from Shaq is no surprise to me.” 

Now that the pandemic has subsided, Sheetz has returned to the office on a hybrid schedule, though he has enjoyed working from home.

Since international travel has loosened restrictions, CNBC deployed Sheetz to cover two exclusive space conferences in the South of France, World Satellite Business Week and the International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

Though Sheetz does not often travel for work, he could not miss the opportunity that two space conferences would be happening in the same city back to back. Sheetz moderated panels, interviewed many attendees and covered both conferences. 

But being a beat reporter is not always so glamorous. It's tough. Journalists are always in a competitive environment, wondering who will get the first exclusive or intel on the latest news. You have to be constantly on. 

“Overcoming the guilt of missing a story. Getting beat on a scoop or someone else getting an exclusive that I wanted,” Sheetz said. “I’m not omniscient. I can’t control the news; it doesn’t all flow through me. Which is what it feels like it should be.” 

Among many of his accomplishments, Sheetz started something at CNBC that no one else had attempted to take on full time.

“[My greatest accomplishment has been] building a beat from scratch. I didn’t invent space reporting, but no one was doing it full-time at CNBC,” Sheetz said. “That has been insanely satisfying. Having something that I built up, all the way to having a personal brand in space, to having CNBC be known for its space reporting.”

This article has been republished courtesy of The Empire State Tribune, the independent student newspaper at The King’s College in New York.

Prof. Clemente Lisi to release new book on the history of the FIFA World Cup ahead of Qatar 2022

A new book on the history of soccer’s World Cup, written by The King’s College journalism professor and veteran journalist Clemente Lisi, will be released on Oct. 12.

The publication of the book, “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event,” comes ahead of the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar. The quadrennial championship — the first time that it will take place in the Middle East — kicks off on Nov. 20 when the host nation takes on Ecuador.

“The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet in terms of both eyeballs and passion,” Lisi said. “This book details the history of the event, the emotion it evokes and offers up a preview of the upcoming tournament.”

Every four years, the world’s best national soccer teams compete for the FIFA World Cup. Billions of people tune in from around the world to experience the remarkable events unfolding live, both on and off the field. From Diego Maradona’s first goal against England at the 1986 World Cup to Nelson Mandela’s surprise appearance at the 2010 final in South Africa, these unforgettable moments have helped to create a global phenomenon.

In “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event,” Lisi chronicles the 92-year-old tournament from 1930 to today. He provides vivid accounts of games, details the innovations that impacted the sport across the decades and offers biographical sketches of all-time greats such as Pele, Maradona and Lionel Messi. In addition, Lisi includes needed, objective coverage of off-field controversies such as the FIFA corruption case, making this book an impartial history of the tournament.

Featuring stunning color photography, interviews and behind-the-scenes stories from the author’s many years covering the game and attending the last three World Cups, the book is the definitive history of this global event.

The book’s official launch will take place at The King’s College in New York City on Nov. 2. Details for that event will be made public later this fall.

“The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event” is published by Rowman and Littlefield. It is available now for preorder at Rowman.com, Barnes & Nobles, Target, Amazon and wherever books are sold.

Media who want to request a review copy can do so here.

Editorial Reviews for “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event”:

“Read this book! A masterful, must-read guide full of important well-researched information for those of us who want more history and context to better enjoy and understand the World Cup.”

— Steven G. Mandis, author of “The Real Madrid Way and What Happened to the USMNT”

“Clemente Lisi's new book, The FIFA World Cup, serves as a wonderful walk down memory lane for fans of the beautiful game's biggest event. Lisi fell in love with the World Cup watching the '82 tournament at his grandmother's apartment in Italy. I fell in love with the World Cup that same summer watching the epic Germany-France semifinal shootout with my grandparents in Germany. Millions of us have similar stories to tell. Lisi's passion for the World Cup comes shining through in his well-researched, entertaining book, perfect for both die-hards and casual fans alike.”

— Andy Clayton, Deputy Sports Editor, New York Daily News

“Clemente Lisi's lifelong passion for soccer shines through on every page. The book is a great resource for novice and expert readers alike. The World Cup is the rare sports event that even non-fans can unite around and with this book he has found the back of the net.”

— Dan Good, author, “Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever”

“The World Cup is unique and, with every succeeding tournament, the task of encompassing its goals and own goals, heroes and villains, magic and muddles becomes ever more of a challenge. Lisi has met that daunting test full-on and with an enthusiasm and love of the game which breathes through every page to render this a worthy addition to the genre.”

— Keir Radnedge, best-selling sports author, long-time columnist and former editor of World Soccer magazine

Spring ‘22 NYCJ students learn what it takes to make it in New York, studying and interning in the city as the pandemic eases

Students taking part in the NYC Semester in Journalism program have spent the past two months covering important local and national news stories as the world slowly emerges from COVID-19. 

This semester’s students followed in the footsteps of past NYCJ classes by participating in the unique semester-long, off-campus study program operated by the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College in NYC.

After two years when internships were remote, many are now hybrid while classes at King’s are back in person. 

“I would absolutely recommend NYCJ to anybody who thinks journalism may be a career they pursue seriously,” said Banks Halvorson, who hails from Covenant College in Georgia and is currently interning at the Brooklyn Paper.

“The experience of working with newspapers in the media capital of America is priceless, and the classes you take and people you meet are incredible. I was excited about this program, but it has blown all my expectations out of the water.”  

Students taking part in the 14th NYCJ cohort that chose to make New York their home this semester. The students are enrolled in classes, including History of Journalism and New York City with Prof. Clemente Lisi and Entrepreneurial Journalism with Prof. Paul Glader. Under Glader’s guidance, the students work 20 hours per week in a New York newsroom, earning six academic credits and pursuing bylines.

Paige Taylor, a student from Abilene Christian University in Texas, is currently an intern at Bold TV. She said her internship and courses — in addition to living in New York City — has made this semester a unique experience.  

“Living and working in New York is much more fast paced than I anticipated,” she added, “but I adapted very quickly and have actually grown to love the hustle and bustle.” 

Esther Wickham, a King’s student who is taking part in NYCJ this spring, said her internship at amNewYork and living in the city has given her a chance to gain valuable experience needed for her to get a job once she graduates. 

“I would definitely recommend the program! It grants you the opportunity that the current college you attend can't give you,” she said. “Living in New York City during your college years while pursuing a career in journalism with highly skilled and talented professors that have been in the journalism field for decades is a dream many have.” 

Camila da Silva, a student who attends the Sao Paulo-based Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Brazil, is spending the semester as an intern with Religion Unplugged. She said her favorite class was History of Journalism, a course that looks at coverage of various events in U.S. history, including the 9/11 attacks, and the beliefs, values and character that goes with working in a New York newsroom.

“It brings together what we can learn from the past and perspectives for building modern journalism,” she said. 

Both Taylor and Wickham are taking Religion Reporting this semester, giving students yet another chance to get bylines since the advanced reporting class works closely with ReligionUnplugged.com. The non-profit religion news website, which has offices at TKC, is part of The Media Project. 

“We have gone really in depth on reporting and getting outside of our comfort zone when it comes to reporting on topics we are not very familiar with,” Taylor said. “I have learned so much about reporting.” 

The New York City Semester program partners with more than 41 universities and colleges across the U.S. and the world. Students can apply to join the program for a future semester by clicking here. 

MPJI Advisory Committee Member’s New Book Shows Readers How To Challenge Health Care System

Journalist and MPJI advisory committee member Marshall Allen made big moves during the Covid-19 pandemic. After a decade reporting investigative stories about health for the non-profit news outlet ProPublica, Allen joined the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as an assistant regional inspector general. 

Also, Marshall has a new book out from Portfolio Penguin (edited by MPJI advisory committee member Bria Sanford) titled “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.” The book has led to many media appearances and speaking events in recent months. 

Marshall's worked as a Christian missionary in Kenya and attended Fuller Seminary before getting into journalism and investigative reporting. He has inspired hundreds of our students. And the MPJI lecture Marshall gave in 2016, was also edited into an opinion piece that ran in the Sunday Review section of The New York Times. MJPI executive director Paul Glader caught up with Marshall about his book and his new job. We remain grateful for his speaking and mentorship with our students in the past eight years.

Q: Hi Marshall, tell us about your new job and why you made the switch? Should we miss your bylines about outrageous practices in the health care industry? How does the new job align with your previous work?

My new job with the federal government utilizes my skillset as my investigative reporter, but in a different context. Now I have much greater access to data, interview subjects and other information, as I evaluate and inspect taxpayer-funded government health care programs and their role serving the public. I’ll still be reporting and writing and editing, but instead of stories my team and I will publish government reports that include recommendations for improvements. 

I won’t be writing for ProPublica, but I’m pleased that my new job allows me to continue the work as an author and educator. My book has had a successful launch and now I’m working on launching a curriculum of health literacy videos that are based on the book. My goal is to pair the book and videos together so American can be equipped and empowered to get a better deal on health care. The content shows people how to check their medical bills for inaccuracies and overcharges; win insurance company appeals; avoid unnecessary treatment and more. If people want to learn more about the health literacy videos, I just launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to complete their production. Please partner with me to bring them to life! I will also be writing more for my own website, marshallallen.com, and publishing Victory Stories – examples of individuals and employers finding ways to get the health care they need at a lower price, or fighting the system and winning. 

Q: So tell us about this book. What’s your main thesis? 

“Never Pay the First Bill” is a how-to guide to help individuals and employers hack the health care system. My main thesis is that the health care system has been preying on us financially, but with the right tactics we can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars per health care interaction – without compromising the care that we need. Americans pay twice as much per person for health care compared to the citizens of other developed nations. Plus, we still have about 30 million people who are uninsured. And our outcomes are much worse! 

Our ridiculous health care costs are not justified. Often they are driven up by middlemen who are marking up the cost of medicine so they can make money. There’s a lot of profiteering in the industry and it’s costing us. Working Americans and employers are the hardest hit by our country’s out-of-control health care costs. They are paying much more than they should because of billing errors, overcharges, unnecessary treatment, unjustified prices and more. 

My book boosts people’s health care financial literacy so they can avoid the costly pitfalls that surround them in the health care system. I’m already seeing people save big money by putting the tactics in the book into practice. It’s been really rewarding to see people equipped and empowered and standing up for themselves and winning. 

Q: It sounds revolutionary in some ways to empower people to challenge big corporations in this manner. Do you feel like a lonely voice in this cause or do you sense the revolution is being televised and picking up steam? 

This movement is definitely picking up steam. People know they’re being exploited financially by the health care system. Americans say year after year that the high cost of health care is their number one financial concern. It’s so bad now that about 1 in every 5 Americans has medical debt in collections! The health care system has pushed our backs against the wall and individuals and employers are ready to try new things. The industry is filled with so much waste, and it’s been so abusive to the public, that it is ripe for disruption. And when individuals and employers put the tactics into place that I write about in my book, they are dramatically reducing the cost of their health care, while improving the quality of the care they need. 

Q : You wrote about your own experience using these techniques with your father’s health care and you express a righteous indignation and sense of justice as people seek transparency and accountability from healthcare providers and insurers. How does your Christian faith inform this sense of justice? 

Each of us is valuable as a person because we are made in the image of God. Every person’s life is precious. So when even a single person gets ripped off by the health care system it’s a violation of what’s right and just – and causing harm to a person who is created in God’s image. In this case, every American is paying much more than they should be for the care that they need. And in many cases the costs are so high people are unable to get the care they need. 

My book’s argument is built on what’s moral and fair and ethical. Right now, what we see happening on the financial side of the health care system is legal, but it’s not ethical. For example, let’s start with the hidden prices. It’s not right to hide the price of a procedure or test from a patient at the time of service, and then hit them with a massive bill that’s many times higher than it should be. And yet, this type of overcharges are standard in our health care system. It’s also not right to raise the prices on drugs like insulin, which diabetics need to survive, without making any improvement in the drug itself. But this has also been standard practice. It’s also not right for hospitals to make billing mistakes and refuse to correct them. But this is a daily occurrence. 

The health care system doesn’t give consideration to patients who are not given prices up front, or have unfairly priced insulin, or get overcharged due to a billing mistake. Those patients get sent to collections or even sued by some hospitals. They might have their wages garnished or need to declare bankruptcy. It’s an incredibly unfair situation. 

The dirty secret, which is well known by people in the industry, is that the cost of health care does not have to be so high. Experts estimate that the system squanders about 25% of what we spend – on overcharges, administrative bloat, unnecessary treatment, our inefficient claims processing system and more. The solution is not for the health care system to keep demanding more money. The solution is for the system to make better use of our money. 

There’s a tremendous amount of moral force behind the argument I’m making in the book. I am quite simply saying that it’s not OK to cheat people and overcharge them just because they got sick. And when a person who is being exploited or overcharged stands up for themselves, they also have a tremendous amount of moral force behind their argument. And if they persist and use the right tactics there’s a good chance they will win their argument. 

Q: We appreciated that your book had specific advice for readers but also was full of data and reporting - not just how-to opining. Can you tell us about your reporting and writing methodology? 

I’m careful to make sure what I report is accurate and fair. For example, when I tell stories of patients being harmed by the health care system, I have the patient waive their privacy rights for the sake of my reporting. That way I can reach out to their hospital, insurance company and doctor, to make sure I get the full story. When things get complicated, as they often do in health care journalism, I call experts who can guide me to make sure I’m not going beyond what’s true when I write. I’m also meticulous with my fact checking. I run every detail by the subjects who are in my book to make sure I presented everything correctly, in fact and in the tone of the writing.

I’m also careful to make sure the tone of what I write is not sensationalized. I know it sounds strong for me to say our system is exploiting our sickness for profit. But I have documented this so many times and in so many ways that this is quite honestly the most accurate way to frame what is happening from the point of view of the public. I can speak with this much authority because I have investigated this industry for more than 15 years and have done my homework.  

Q: What impact do you hope and believe the book and your new job will allow you to make in coming years? 

Marshall Allen

The OIG job gives me an incredible amount of access to information and the influence to identify ways to improve the delivery of health care in our government programs. It will take me some time to learn the process, but I plan to make the most of the opportunity. With my book and video curriculum, I want to equip and empower working Americans and employers, so they can be protected about the financially predatory practices of the health care system. No one is coming to our rescue, so each of us needs to boost our health care literacy so we can protect our money and make sure we still get the care we need. It’s already happening, and I want to bring it to scale nationally. 

The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute is a home of journalism-related programs and majors at The King’s College in New York City. In addition to its academic programs, it hosts events and provides resources to its students, alums, friends and donors. The institute is named in honor of the legendary reporter at The New York Times who was an exemplar of standards, ethics and style in the craft of journalism and was a kind friend and mentor to those of us who knew him.

An Actor Discovered How Creatives Can Build A Personal Brand on TikTok

Brittin Ward works at The King’s College in NYC as Educational Ventures and Services Administrator. In that role, he helps organize several academic programs at King’s including the Summer Academy for high school students each July and the NYC Semester programs in Journalism and Theater for visiting college students from 41 partner schools.

We knew that Brittin is an aspiring actor, who stared in several theater productions at King’s and in New York City since he graduated from Kings in 2018. So we were excited to learn that Brittin has made the most of the Coronavirus pandemic by applying his theater skills and interests to a TikTok, where his videos have gained millions of views and hundreds of thousands of followers. Brittin maintains a humble and studious attitude about this social media virality. And he agreed to answer questions about what he’s learning on TikTok that other actors, creatives and journalists might appreciate.

Q - How did your life in theater change when Covid emerged last March, April and May?

A - Theater stopped--everything stopped. I love theater and acting and suddenly I was not able to participate in any of it for the foreseeable future. Other than a couple of Zoom improv classes I had no creative outlet. I was not in any shows at the time, but I was a member of a performing choir that stopped due to COVID. Like everyone else, I felt a bit lost. My dream has always been to have a career in theater, and though I've done a couple of professional shows, I still have not hit my stride with performing. I don't have an agent and am not equity, so like most other actors in the city I'd been in the trenches trying to get booked. I was already fighting discouragement with the rejections and failure of "making it" as an actor when COVID hit, so when it became clear that my dream was in limbo and it was uncertain when theaters would re-open, I realized I needed to shift my priorities.

Q - How did you decide to get involved with TikTok and why?

A - Prior to COVID, I had been growing increasingly interested in social media and the format of entertainment being delivered via the internet. The Actor's magazine "Backstage" and other actor publications have really been emphasizing the importance of having a presence on social media (here's a 2020 article from them on why every actor needs to be on social media). I made a TikTok account in December of 2019 because of the popularity the app was gaining and I posted a few videos to the app, but I was uncommitted prior to the pandemic. Once the theaters closed and I could not perform anything in person, I decided to spend all the found time I had in making videos for the internet and trying to build an audience. I decided to specifically start putting all my efforts into creating TikTok content because I knew that it was the fastest growing social platform in 2019-2020, it had the highest demographic of teen users at the time, and because I regretted missing the wave with Vine (a popular video app that died in 2016). I thought that if I could get good at keeping an audience engaged through short videos, it would help my storytelling skills and increase my understanding of what it takes to build an audience. Since I was trapped at home in quarantine anyway, I decided it would be a good way to have some sort of creative outlet while growing my understanding of how to keep people entertained.

Q - Tell us about how your audience grew there and what you learned from that audience?

A - It took a solid couple months of uploading consistently videos that barely broke 100 views before one took off and gained over a couple thousand views. From there it was probably another month and a half of posting before one of my videos broke the 100k views mark. As I continued to consistently post throughout the year, that window between the successful videos would grow shorter. Eventually, after about 6 months of posting with a few viral videos, I had gained a following of 40k. Up to this point, I had a general idea of the kind of audience I attracted (a younger demographic), so I started focusing my content more on what I thought they might find engaging. Taking the time to really work through that helped my growth and I was able to produce successful videos on a more consistent basis, ending the year with 590K followers. Consistency was the most important part of the growth. I posted videos daily for a few months, then pulled back to every other day once I started feeling burnt out.

I learned quite a lot from the audience, but I would say the two most important things would be: never-ending improvement, and consistency are key. There is always something I could improve in my videos whether it be lighting, sound, pacing, dialogue, etc. Also being consistent with the upload schedule and the kind of videos I posted were the most important factors of growth.

Q - Tell us about the process of figuring out what kinds of posts do well and play to your strengths? E.g. Do you do dances? Songs? Skateboard tricks? Monologues?

A - I quickly realized that I was (regrettably) not a part of the class of creators who could simply hit record, strike a couple poses, look attractive, and get millions of views. Nor was I a dancer. So, I took stock of what I was good at and how I might incorporate that into my videos. Being from a theater background, I was very familiar with conflict and motivation (i.e. what is the conflict of a story and what is motivating the characters to act), so I decided to try and incorporate that into my videos. I tried a basic skit where I played two characters fighting over something they both wanted (a yellow balloon), and I tried to keep the conflict at the center of the video. Conflict with high stakes engages an audience, and that was my first video to hit 1 million views. From there, I did a ton of research on how to make entertaining videos, what keeps people engaged, attended workshops, listened to podcasts--everything. I ruled out trying to do monologues or straight theater scenes as I saw other actors doing that on the app but found the videos to be pretty cringy. Not that my videos aren't cringy, but I had more fun going the direction I did.

Q - How might other young artists and actors think about personal branding and craft on platforms like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram?

A - I am still trying to figure this out myself. I definitely think it's important to be on social media as an actor, since so much of the world relies on it. But I also see so many actors on social media only posting "actor" content, which I find really one-dimensional. As performers, our bodies are our instruments and our faces are our brand. As such, I think it's easy for us to be so self-focused that we get tripped up by what people actually enjoy or are entertained by. We post as a way to put ourselves out there, to show we're working on theater stuff, to say how happy and grateful we are to be involved in such-and-such production or Zoom play. But that does not attract an audience. That's "selfish content". The best thing you can do is offer value to people, whether that be information, entertainment or inspiration. Offering content that is valuable to people is what attracts them to follow you. I believe this is true across all social platforms.

Brittin Ward and his brother Titus

Q - What kind of discipline or time commitment have you developed and what might other people develop?

A - Each video I posted in the latter half of the year took around 3-4 hours to shoot, edit, and post, so it definitely required a good amount of discipline. That also does not include the time it would take to come up with a video idea and plan out the video. It sounds silly since it was only for TikTok, but I would literally storyboard my videos and break them down into increments of 5-10 seconds and plan what action I wanted to happen at which segment of the video. I basically spent all my time outside of my day job working on my videos.

Q - Why is it important for artists to build self-marketing skills?

A - Honestly, being cut off from theater was really great for me as it forced me to take stock of the direction my career was going and think creatively about how to entertain people. As an actor, I am my own business so it is solely up to me whether I succeed or fail. If I don't have the drive to keep picking myself back up after each failure and continuing to pursue my dream, it will not happen. Self-marketing is crucial for actors and entertainers, but I would emphasize the importance of not just self-promoting. No one likes that. But everyone appreciates a chuckle at a funny video, or feeling inspired to try something new because of a video they watched. I don't know who said this originally, but my dad always told me "people won't remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel.”

Q - When the pandemic is officially over (what a wonderful thought!) do you expect to remain as involved on TikTok? Or do you expect to channel your creative energies elsewhere?

A - I've really enjoyed building an audience on TikTok, and I will continue to post there, but I would also like to turn my attention to other platforms. With videos restricted to being 60 seconds long, I have a hard time creating content that connects with people on a deeper level. I don't think it's possible for a TikTok to have the same impact on a person as a great podcast or youtube video. You just can't go deep (whether it be comedy, inspiration, etc.) in 60 seconds. When the Pandemic lifts I will go back to auditioning and trying to book stage roles. However, I will continue to devote plenty of my time to making videos. I feel like I am only just now beginning to understand how all this social media stuff works, so I'd like to see what I can accomplish in another year.

- Edited by Paul Glader, executive director of MPJI.

MPJI is based at The King’s College in New York City. MPJI provides education, training and professional development projects for journalists at the high school, undergraduate and professional levels. It is named after the late John McCandlish Phillips, a legendary reporter at The New York Times.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @JMPjournalism and LinkedIn at McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute.

Limited Edition Newspaper-Themed Covid Masks From Grandma Geri

By Paul Glader

Strolling through the hallways at The King’s College in NYC one day, we discovered one of our students, Bailey Kaufman, wearing a newspaper-patterned Coronavirus mask.

“Where did you obtain that cool mask?”

“My grandma made it!” she said.

We asked if Grandma Geri could make more? And, yes, Bailey spoke with her grandmother, who graciously agreed to do so. Now you can have one of these limited edition masks, while supplies last, for your donation to MPJI of $75 or more here. Each donation supports both MPJI and Grandma Jeri’s thread, cloth and thimble fund.

Meanwhile, we also wanted to learn more below about Geri and why she makes these masks.

Name: Geri Lanc

Birthdate: 1/3/1946

Location: Born in Columbus, Neb. now lives in Lincoln, Neb.

Glader: How did you start making masks and where did you find this newspaper-oriented fabric?

Lanc: I started making masks when virus first hit and Bailey needs masks for going back to New York City. We originally found the fabric at Hobby Lobby and when we went back to make more we found a similar pattern off of Etsy. 

Glader: How long have you been sewing and how did you learn how to do so? 

Lanc: I have been sewing since 1966. My husband bought me my first sewing machine. Then, I bought a pattern one day and taught myself. 

Glader: Please tell us about your sewing machine, sewing room and practice of how often you sew? 

Lanc: My sewing machine is called a new home and is in a sewing cabinet with table attached. My sewing room is an all-purpose room and recently I have moved my dogs’ beds in there to keep me company. I only sew when someone in our family needs something hemmed or made for them. 

Glader: Do you read newspapers and, if so, which ones?

Lanc: Yes. Columbus Telegraph, The New York Times, and Lincoln Journal Star.

Glader: What is your perspective on news and information in the U.S., especially local news during your lifetime? 

Lanc: Living in David City area there wasn’t a lot of access to news. From what I have seen things have gotten hectic and is less relaxing to read compared to 50 years ago. You have to keep up with things or else you’re lost. Back then, the sheriff’s department would have a write up every week in the newspaper and it was big news to us. 

Glader: What should friends of The King’s College and McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute know about you, Bailey and the rest of your family? 

Lanc: I am a middle child of 9. I was a farmer’s wife working side by side with him on our farm. Once the farm crisis hit, we were involved with a bank that went bankrupt so I went to work since they froze our funds which led me to go to Columbus to work in an office. My son, Greg, took over our farm after my husband passed away. My daughter, Brenda, is my first born and Bailey’s mother. When my daughter graduated high school and went to college, she left the farm life and went to Lincoln. My daughter gave me three beautiful grandchildren. I believe everyone should learn how to sew and I have bought my first two grandchildren sewing machines as wedding presents. Bailey is my youngest grandchild and I am so proud of how hard working she is and chasing her dreams in New York City. She has been involved in sports, academics, and fashion. She studies Business Administration and minors in Media Studies. 

Glader: What message would you like to offer to journalism students (and other majors) at The King’s College as we head into the holidays and 2021?

Lanc: Be safe and wear a mask!

Glader: In your hometown, what is the situation like regarding Coronavirus infection rates and carefulness with masks? 

Lanc: It is pretty bad out here. Lincoln is bad, but some of the smaller towns are worse. These small towns around us do not take it as seriously and some of the people here in the city. I refuse to go out to eat in any of those towns since some of the servers do not wear masks. 

Glader: How are you doing managing health and safety for you, your friends and family during this pandemic? 

Lanc: I don’t see my family often. I have my dogs and will take them for walks out at the acreage instead of city. I just had my yearly checkup and so far, at my age, I don’t take any pills and am perfectly healthy. My social life is down to zero except for the occasional phone calls to my sisters or Bailey. I keep my mask on me at all times and will rarely go to the grocery store, but when I do I pick up necessary items. 

Glader: What did you think of Bailey’s decision to attend The King’s College in NYC? And what do you think of her decision now that Bailey has studied here for a while?

Lanc: This was a big opportunity for her and I knew I’d miss her all the time. When she first told me that she was going to go to continue to play soccer in New York City I was excited for her! It’s not like I could drive up and visit her. I love New York so much and wish I could just live with her. Since she has been there for a while I have always worried about her from what I watch on the news. I know she will never come back to Nebraska to live and I will miss that but it is an opportunity to go wherever she desires. Bailey is a smart and determined girl whatever she chooses to do she is committed and puts her all into it. 

Would you like a mask of your own? Donate today:

• With donation of $75 you will receive a newspaper-printed mask

• With a donation of $250 you will receive a a newspaper-printed mask, and MPJI tote bag, and pen

• With a donation of $500 you will receive a mask and a choice of book (Blindspot, The City)

  Click here to donate and specify MPJI in the dropdown menu: https://www.tkc.edu/donate/

Thank you for supporting MPJI and student journalism!

Q & A with Alumna and New York Time's Fellow Reporter Sydney Franklin

By Paul Glader

Sydney Franklin is a reporter covering design, architecture and real estate in the fellowship program at The New York Times this year. Earlier in her career, she attended Milligan College in Tennessee, which is a partner school to the NYC Semester in Journalism (NYCJ) program. When she was an undergraduate at Milligan, she spent a semester at the Washington Journalism Center, which closed in 2015 to merge with NYCJ and reboot in NYC. Sydney is one of the more than 300 alumni of the two programs from 41 partner schools of NYCJ, a program that helps bring students from diverse backgrounds and geographies to learn and intern for a semester in the nation's largest and most important media market. We caught up with Sydney to hear more about her journey to The Times and into her niche covering design, architecture and real estate.

Tell us about your fellowship at the NYT and what beat you are covering

I'm a reporter on the Real Estate desk. The fellowship program aligns fellows with the desks most suited to their backgrounds. For me, real estate made the most sense after spending several years in design media covering architecture and cities. I consider the beat to be the missing link in my tool kit in terms of writing about the built environment, so I’m here trying to learn as much as I can about how selling and buying real estate affects the socioeconomic landscape of the city.

Photo submitted by Sydney Franklin

There are 35 of us total in the fellowship class and we all are having wildly different experiences at The Times (think photography fellows jetting off on Air Force One vs. me calling real estate CEOs from my kitchen). We'll be here for a year then the next class will take over. Unfortunately, until there is a vaccine, I won't have the pleasure of working at The New York Times in-person… inside one of the coolest buildings in the city and of course, one designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano...my dream!

Please explain your journey to Milligan College and Syracuse and into your coverage area now at the New York Times?

Photo taken by Lauren Turner

After taking an undergraduate course on the intersection of media, the arts and religion, I decided I wanted to become an arts journalist. I knew Syracuse's Newhouse School had the first program in the country dedicated to this specialty, so I made it my mission to get in. Once there, I narrowed down my focus even further to architecture and design reporting, studying mostly in the School of Architecture to begin my education in this very dense, complicated field. My program had previously graduated alumni doing big work in New York, some of them in communications at major architecture firms and others serving as editors at the top design magazines. I followed in their footsteps in some ways but broke out into mainstream news this past year with the fellowship at NYT. I've always wanted to find my way back to newspaper reporting so I could use my depth of knowledge on cities to help tell the kinds of stories that locals need to know about the place they live...and in a pandemic where interest rates on mortgages and apartment rents have dipped to record lows, there are so many important real estate stories to share out there.

How did your semester at WJC help you in your career journey? How important was it for you to study in a major city like DC or NYC?

My semester at WJC in Washington, D.C. was the foundation for everything I'm doing today. It sparked my love of major cities and my interest in politics at the local and national levels. I interned for Street Sense Media, which reports on homelessness in D.C. and empowers people experiencing it by allowing them to take part in the organization's business model. Folks who are homeless are as much part of a city's fabric and future as anybody else and I learned how to pay attention to their stories through my beat.

What advice do you have for NYCJ students from our 41 partner schools who are spending a semester in NYC in an internship and classes?

My advice is to learn how to take micro risks. You’ve already done something big by making the decision to move to New York for this program. From here, keep building on that by making small moves every day to reach your goals, whether you want to report a certain story, meet an influential editor, or secure another internship or job. Reaching those goals will require a series of somewhat calculated and bold risks. People want to help you in this industry, so don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.

We see a challenged media industry but also an innovative one. What hope do you think exists for young people in high school or college or are considering a career in the news media today and in the future?

One of the redeeming qualities of the news industry right now is that it’s made up of people from all backgrounds, veritable experts in their own unique life experiences. You don’t have to climb the traditional ladder of journalism to get to an editorship at a major paper. Yes, you need the reporting and editing experience, but you can pursue other passions in tandem with your writing goals. One of my fellowship colleagues has a Ph.D. in immunology and is our science reporter at The Times. Let that inspire you for the future. There are some really smart people out here making the industry more innovative simply by existing in the space. There’s space for you, too.

What do you do for fun in NYC?

In pre-pandemic times, one of my favorite things to do was go to concerts. Nowadays, I'm enjoying watching the seasons change by going on longer walks in my neighborhood or even hikes outside the city. I also coach youth lacrosse in my spare time, which is something I've continued to do this fall but socially-distanced.

As someone who writes about urbanism and architecture, what are three of your favorite locations or neighborhoods in NYC?

Photo submitted by Sydney Franklin

I love this question. One of my favorite vantage points in New York is the view of FiDi from the Staten Island Ferry. I also love driving on the West Side Highway where you get a quick glimpse of all sorts of big architecture all the way from the George Washington Bridge down to Tribeca. Cycling on the Greenway works, too! My favorite building is the Bank of America Tower by Bryant Park. One time, driving home from a hike, my friend pulled out a special app that allowed us to change the colors of the antenna from our car. It was like magic.

For others who enjoy reading and thinking about urbanism, what publications - magazines, websites and newspapers - do you like to read (besides the NYT)? What related authors and thinkers do you recommend on the topic?

I highly recommend following Curbed, which now operates under New York Magazine. Justin Davidson is one of the funniest and most accessible critics out there, as well as Alexandra Lange (find her books too). I am on the advisory board of an online publication that highlights the stories of women in architecture called Madame Architect. It's so inspiring.

Paul Glader is director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute and co-director of the NYC Semester in Journalism (NYCJ). If you are a journalism professor or student interested in the program, email pglader@tkc.edu.

Fall ‘20 NYCJ Students Use Internships to Cover Elections and COVID-19

NYCJ Fall 2020 students Destinee Evans and Marlena Lang having a lunch meeting with Prof. Paul Glader and Prof. Clemente Lisi

Students who are part of the NYC Semester in Journalism (NYCJ) program have had plenty of success in their internships this Fall, covering the recent presidential election and the ongoing pandemic for a number of news organizations.   

This semester’s students followed in the footsteps of past NYCJ classes by participating in the unique semester-long, off-campus study program operated by the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College in NYC.

“I am most proud of two articles that I wrote for my internship at Newsweek. The first was my very first article about mail-in ballot controversies around the nation,” said Marlena Lang, a Biola student who is part of the magazine’s newly-formed fact-checking team. “I was proud of this article because not only was it my first, but it is also the longest one I have completed after spending two days researching and writing it.

Lang said the other piece she is most proud was about the Pfizer vaccine “because I pitched them the idea and then completed the research and wrote the article.”

Destinee Evans and Marlena Lang in Battery Park

Destinee Evans, a student from Olivet Nazarene University, said her internship at the New York Daily News allowed her to cover COVID-19 and its impact on the Big Apple.

“During this internship, I have been able to interview families of people who may have just lost a loved one but getting to tell amazing stories about the people they love has been rewarding,” she added. “It can be a lot to take in sometimes but getting over the fear of talking to new people is something I will take with me throughout my career.”  

Students taking part in the eleventh NYCJ cohort that chose to come to New York in person this semester took advantage of TKC’s hybrid model, a mix of both online and in person classes as well as their internship. The students are enrolled in classes including Entrepreneurial Journalism with Prof. Paul Glader and a course called The City taught by Anne Hendershott. The City course – required of all NYCJ students – also serves as an elective for King’s students.

Under the guidance of Prof. Clemente Lisi, a former editor at the New York Post and New York Daily News, the students work 20 hours per week in a New York City newsroom, earning six academic credits and pursuing bylines.

Being able to live and work in New York City remains a huge appeal to students.

“Living in New York has been an amazing experience that I was worried would not happen,” Evans said. “Getting to go different places in the city with new friends has been fun. I know it’s not the same as semesters in the past but it is still something that I will cherish.”

The New York City Semester program partners with 40 universities and colleges across the nation and globe. Apply to become a partner school by contacting Paul Glader at pglader@tkc.edu. Apply to join us as a student for a future semester by clicking here.

Arne Fjeldstad Scholarship Brings International Journalism Students To The King’s College in NYC

Carol Wambui is the fourth Arne Fjeldstad Scholar, who received a scholarship to be part of the NYC Semester in Journalism (NYCJ) at The King’s College in NYC. She is studying Journalism at the Multimedia University of Kenya. During her time at King’s in the NYCJ program, she is interning at ReligionUnplugged, an award-winning non-profit news outlet that covers religion.

After a Norwegian journalist and minister named Arne Fjeldstad died of a blood clot in his lung in 2014, MPJI director Paul Glader had the privilege to meet Hilde Margrethe Sæbø Fjeldstad in Kristiansand, Norway and other family members of Arne in 2015. 

Glader and Hilde spoke and prayed about how they might honor her late husband, Arne, his focus on reporting about religion in public life and his legacy of caring for journalists around the world. Arne was a Lutheran minister and a night editor at the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. Arne helped develop The Media Project, an international network of working journalists who care about good journalism, particularly religion reporting. Arne was beloved by many people in Africa, India, Latin America and other corners of the globe. 

As Hilde and her daughter, Silje Marie, visited New York City in 2015, Hilde said she believed in what the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute was doing to teach and promote quality journalism through its programs at The King’s College in NYC and as the home of The Media Project, of which Professor Paul Glader now serves as executive director. She said she would love to see a scholarship that honored Arne and allowed students from the global south to participate in the NYC Semester in Journalism (NYCJ) program. 

Hilde Fjeldstad (right) with her mother and Prof. Paul Glader (left), executive director of The Media Project and the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute, during a visit in Kristiansand, Norway, in 2015

Glader and team began raising money to make it possible for a student from Uganda, Gertrude Too-Rom, to attend the program. Then, in 2016, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson (Roberta being the chairwoman of The Media Project) agreed to fund an annual scholarship ($20,000 in value) for at least one international journalism student from the global south to attend the NYCJ program. Since then, the NYCJ program has hosted two annual Fjeldstad Scholars from Uganda, one from Kenya and one from the Republic of Georgia. 

The scholarship funds either two $10,000 scholarships to help students attend NYCJ or one $20,000 scholarship. The scholarship(s) covers the bulk of tuition and housing for students (leaving costs for transport to NY, food and a small amount for tuition). In some rare instances, one student may be selected for the scholarship each year and fully funded. The students will be placed in a newsroom internship in NYC for 20 hours per week (receiving 6 academic credits). Most often, the Fjeldstad Scholar will serve as an intern at ReligionUnplugged.com, the award-winning, non-profit news outlet connected to TheMediaProject.org and an important outlet for TMP members to report on religion in public life around the world. The Fjeldstad scholars also take three classes at The King’s College with other students in the NYC Semester in Journalism program, who come from 40 partner schools around the US and world.

Silje Marie Fjeldstad (left) and Hilde Fjeldstad (right) the daughter and wife of the late Arne Fjeldstad, during a visit to New York City in 2015.

Colleges and universities that would like to become a partner to the NYCJ program so their students can compete for the Arne Fjeldstad scholarship can write to Paul Glader at Pglader@tkc.edu. And students who would like to apply for the scholarship can do so at https://www.tkc.edu/nycs and should be in touch with Eleni Glader at eglader@tkc.edu about their application.

We spoke with our current Arne Fjeldstad Scholar, Carol Wambui, who is from Nairobi, Kenya, and is interning at ReligionUnplugged.com as part of her internship. 

What first sparked your interest in journalism? What led you to consider pursuing it in college?

From a young age, I have always been fascinated by the media, from news anchoring to news reporting. I did not know much about journalism then but I was sure it was what I wanted to do, even if it was not full-time. Just before graduating from high school, we wrote down our courses of interest and the colleges where they were offered. I wrote out my choices, and journalism was at the very top. When I received my high school grades, and was accepted to enroll in a journalism program at college, it was almost a confirmation of my destiny. Back in high school, I had done some basic newswriting and reporting after major school functions, but that was all I knew about journalism. An opportunity to learn more excited me.

How did you hear about NYCJ and the Arne Fjeldstad scholarship? What made you decide to apply?

Stella Ogigo, a former editor at the Kenya Broadcast Corporation in Kenya, who has also worked with Professor Glader in the past, mentioned the program to me and advised that I apply. I knew that an opportunity to study journalism in the U.S.—a place of diversity, advancement and exposure—was exactly what I needed for my career. I believed God had blessed me with a rare opportunity, so I took it. I applied and I am so grateful that I was accepted.

“Becoming one of the people who is shining a light on religion across the globe is a beautiful thing and I cannot wait to learn more and grow in this.”

- Carol Wambui, Arne Fjeldstad Scholar

What do you hope to gain from your time in New York?

During my time in New York, I want to learn everything that was not taught in my college classes—from the field work experiences to my writing skills. I want to learn and enhance my reporting skills, whether by live-recording or writing as both will help me in my investigative journalism. I believe that studying in one of the biggest cities in the world will not only enhance my career, but also my view and perception of the world, of successful journalism and of life in general.

How will you bring the skills you have learned here back to Nairobi?

My time at The King’s College is giving me a true journalistic eye that I will bring back to Nairobi. I am learning to work with diligence and excellence at my internship with Religion Unplugged. I believe I will practice and even show others how to make journalism in Kenya better than before.

You are interning at ReligionUnplugged (a publication of The Media Project, which Arne led). What are you learning about the importance of religion coverage in the news?

Honestly, I had never thought about religion coverage before starting this internship. The only religion news coverage I ever knew of were the videos I made with my church. When I joined Religion Unplugged, it was like my eyes were opened to religion reporting. I am sure there are other people out there like myself, who probably have not learned the importance of religion coverage. Becoming one of the people who is shining a light on religion across the globe is a beautiful thing and I cannot wait to learn more and grow in this. I feel like a lot of people need to know what is going on in their particular religions as well as in other religions and that is exactly what Religion Unplugged is doing for the world. I am happy to be part of it.

What are some of your future journalistic goals?

I am interested in moving into investigative journalism, and would like to take journalism into a whole other level of finding and fighting crimes. This is not a well developed field in Kenya, and I hope to be among the few who can grow it and make it something huge. I hope to have a media network at some point in my career where I can host different types of media coverage like sports, investigations and religion, and mediums like print, radio and broadcast. I would want to help highlight any sort of journalist worldwide starting from my home country. I hope to help not only future journalists, but also people with other career interests, by offering scholarships and sponsorships to advance in their education. These are some of my many future goals.

What has surprised you about New York City? 

New York City is nothing like I imagined, read or watched in the movies. I guess seeing things with your own eyes makes all the difference. I think it is one thing to hear or even read about something, and it’s another to actually experience something. I came in winter, and the weather is like nothing I have ever experienced before in my life. With extremes of up to -3 degrees Celsius, I definitely wasn’t ready for the cold. 

How is Nairobi different from New York and what has been the biggest challenge to living here?

New York boasts a diversity of cultures and religions that makes it unlike Nairobi or any other town in Kenya. Nairobi is my city, my town—I literally know almost every corner of the city. I know how to get around Nairobi, which is not the case in New York. Still, I am learning little by little how to get around. I am naturally adventurous and curious, which has made aligning with how things work around here much easier. I am always ready to learn or experience something new. I am happy in New York, even with its many differences.

Carol Wambui, on the roof of her apartment building overlooking Brooklyn, NY.

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Meet our previous Arne Fjeldstad Scholars:

Gertrude Too-room, Spring '17

Uganda Christian University

Keta Bagashvili, Spring '18

Caucasus University, Georgia

Ruth Rose Akongo, Fall '18

Uganda Christian University