Advertisement
Published: December 2nd 2010
Edit Blog Post
This school year I along with a hand full of Mass Communication majors received the opportunity to go to New York City for a few days in October. New York City is probably one of the most important cities a mass communications major could visit, and we took advantage of this by visiting landmark companies in media and entertainment while we were there.
My favorite thing about NYC was the diverse atmosphere, the fast paced environment, and lastly the cheesecake. The diner in our hotel was filled with people speaking different languages. When people were not speaking a different language they were rushing. I was ran into or bumped so many times I lost count. Time Square is expected to be constantly busy, but everywhere I went was crowded with people in a hurry to get somewhere; from the subways to the restaurants. The different accents and languages I heard constantly made me smile and sometimes just bust out laughing. I was even asked at one point if I knew where Junior’s, a legendary cheesecake place, was and the women had an accent I had never heard of. I answered her though; I knew where Junior’s was because I love
cheesecake!
I take a lot of pride in my culture as well as in its history so our trip to the Paley Center turned out great for me. The speaker/tour guide first sat as down and discussed political advertising with us. I learned about different tactics that were used as well as how the change in the way we see media changed how people see politicians. The invention of the TV and the idea of a president basically selling himself to the people were just a couple of the things that she touched on. The opportunity to listen to as well as watch actual political ads from the past helped me get a better idea of how times have changed as well as why politicians have to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the media.
The best part about our visit to the Paley Center was an event that they were having while we were there, Paley Docfest 2010. I love documentaries, so I could not wait to see what kind of documentaries they were going to be showing. Freed Riders, the story of brave college kids riding in buses to the Deep South to
protest the horrible laws in favor of discrimination in the Deep South, was the documentary that they would be premiered that night. The idea of actually seeing a documentary before everyone else was a great experience especially since it was one particularly about African American History. The video was great, it made me cry and it also made me laugh. The movie lasted around 2 hours and afterwards there was a panel discussion with the director and even an actual Freedom Rider, whose hand I got to shake after the video.
The Visit to the International Radio & Television Society Foundation was also one of my favorite stops. The foundations is pretty much where media and radio professionals come together and have panels and events, basically they cater to different media and radio interests. Joyce Tudryn was our speaker and is the president of this foundation. Ms. Tudryn talked to us mainly about the job market and what it takes physically to get into the media industry as well as what it takes mentally. The lecture she gave us was not formal at all, we were allowed to ask questions at any time and she talked to us like
she knew us. Ms.Tudryn really stressed how sharpening our skills are important, but then also having the confidence to show those skills was critical. Never take no for an answer she said to us over and over. The idea of just doing what you feel you love to do, or following your bliss was also something she talked to us about by telling us the story of how she followed her own bliss when it came to sharing her own artwork in an actual gallery display.
The tour of clear channel studios was another stop that was another place where I just absolutely enjoyed being there. Mark Rivieccio gave us a tour of the Z100, Q104.3 and Power 105.1. I watch MTV2’s SuckaFree Countdown, a hip-hop countdown show. The host of the show is also one of the DJ’s at Power 105 and even though he was not there at the time we visited, it was still neat to see where and how he does his radio job. DJ Clue, a mix tapes DJ as well as owner of Desert Storm Records is also a DJ at Power 105. Hip hop originated in New York City, and I enjoyed
being where many great artists have also been.
Music means a lot to me, so much to me that visiting Brooklyn, New York is on my bucket list. Brooklyn is birthplace of some of the greatest rappers ever, Jay-Z, Biggie, and Foxy Brown just to name a few. The first day I arrived in NYC I was instantly looking for signs that pointed to Brooklyn. The evening before our last night in NYC I got to go to Brooklyn, not the exact boroughs I wanted to go to but none the less still Brooklyn. Two other girls and I took a subway across the water and ended up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY. Flatbush was finally a place where I felt like there were normal people, not a whole bunch of expensive stores where you can barely afford to look through the window.
The whole atmosphere in Brooklyn is different, I loved it. The stores ranged form Dollar General type stores to a random Macy’s on the corner. The style of the people was exactly what I expected to be, very very hip hop inspired. Junior’s cheesecake was also located not too far from where we got off the subway at. On our way back to the subway, we decided to stop and listen to some men preach on the side of the street. The main guy speaking kept referring to himself as jesus, which should have been our first clue to keep walking. The group of men was dressed in bright colored robes and they all had beards, we found out that they were The Black Israelites, basically a hate group. They basically feel like eventually the tables will change and white people will become servants to black people like the way things were during slavery. The whole incident was interesting but disturbing at the same time.
The art of Brooklyn was another thing that absolutely amazed me, Brooklyn is known for its murals. I did not get to the mural of B.I.G. (a deceased rapper) or the mural of Tupac (another deceased rapper). I did see a couple of beautiful murals though. I definitely got the sense of pride that these resident have for their city, you can see it very clearly through the artwork. The best artwork of all though was that that was made by me on the way back to Manhattan from Brooklyn. The dark black sky made for a great backdrop for the light up Brooklyn Bridge. I have seen the Bridge several movies and of course plenty of music videos but to see it in person meant a lot to me, this was like a dream. I guess I’m kind of weird like that, this whole trip all I thought about was Brooklyn and I loved it.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.073s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0419s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb