Neirad Goes Behind the Times

by Pat Luongo - 12/07
NEIRAD enilno edition

Neirad’s crack team of reporters has made it to The New York Times.  No, they have not landed jobs on the place that publishes, “All The News That's Fit To Print." The Advanced Journalism class took a field trip to “The City that Never Sleeps” to visit The New York Times headquarters.  The class, along with a select few Intro Journalism students, was given a tour of the brand-new home of the newspaper. NYT Investigative Reporter Mike McIntire spent the morning with the students allowing them unfettered access for a behind-the-scenes glimpse on December 4.
“I was surprised how organized the newsroom was when we visited. I was expecting it to be more chaotic,” DHS freshmen Joe Simonson said.
The class was suitably impressed by “Movable Type,” a public art display in the lobby that featured many tiny digital screens posting facts about the paper, building, and even snippets of articles reporters were working on that very moment.  The class then proceeded to the Page One Meeting Room, where the editors meet to discuss which stories will land a spot on the coveted front page; the morning news meeting began just minutes after the class exited the room.  Inside this hallowed space, Mr. McIntire went into detail about the process the staff goes through to put together the nation’s third largest paper. Mr. McIntire also talked about the specifics of his job on the investigative beat.
“An investigative reporter has to dig deeper into a story to find aspects that some people are hiding,” Mr. McIntire said.  “Right now, I’m working on the political desk to try to find information about the candidates in the upcoming Presidential election; information they may not want to be known by the general public.”
After a short “Q & A” Mr. McIntire led the class on a newsroom tour. The journalism students were even able to get a sneak peek of “The New York Times” Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. who just happened to be roaming the newsroom.  The group then proceeded to the next floor, where Photo Editor Roger Strong gave the aspiring journalists a firsthand look at the process photographers and photography editors go through to make sure the pictures are fit for print. The class also saw a display of Pulitzer Prize-winning photos of the war in Afghanistan from 2002.
The tour then proceeded to Pulitzer Hall where plaques honoring 95 prize-winning reporters are displayed.  The awards date back to 1918.  After admiring the impressive journalistic accolades, the class then proceeded to a conference room where visiting dignitaries meet.  The room is filled with autographed pictures of important figures in history who have visited the Times, such as John F. Kennedy, Chiang Kai-shek, Bill Gates, Winston Churchill, George W. Bush, Amelia Earhart, Ronald Reagan, Charles Lindbergh, and Mikhail Gorbachev to name a few of the luminaries that have graced the Times over the years.
“One reason why I want to show you this room is because I can’t think of another one like it in the entire world,” Mr. McIntire said.  “These people visited the newspaper because they had important ideas or events that they would like to have the newspaper to cover.  It has become tradition for them to sign a picture of themselves as a memento to hang in the room.  The only person who did not to sign a photo was Cuban President Fidel Castro because they forgot to ask him before he left.
After the tour, the class headed to Henry’s on the corner of Broadway and 105th Street for lunch before heading back to DHS, wrapping up a busy, yet adventurous, day for the student journalists.