Abraham Cahan was born in small village in Lithuania and raised in its capital city, Vilna. A Lithuanian Jew, he spoke Yiddish; but because his country was under Russian rule, Cahan learned Russian in school. Cahan resented czarist Russia and became a Marx enthusiast. Upon the assassination of Czar Alexander II, Jews became scapegoats and were no longer safe so Cahan emigrated to America. Cahan arrived in the United States at 22, settling in the rapidly growing Jewish community residing in the Lower East Side. Quickly, he could speak English fluently. He became a leading writer, editor, and lecturer for the socialist movements, having many of his articles that denounced czarist Russia and provided insight into Jewish life in New York published in papers like the World and the New York Sun.
In 1886, Cahan created a Yiddish newspaper emtitled, Di Neie Tzeit meaning, "The New Era" but it was short-lived. Upon the failure of this paper, Cahan devoted his time to writing literature, publishing two novels, Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto and his renowned The Rise of David Levinsky. In 1897 Cahan returned to journalism once again, serving as editor for the new socialist paper, Jewish Daily Forward. When he was rendered unable to gain full editorial control, Cahan resigned but after a brief hiatus, returned to the Daily Forward at which he retained full editorial control for nearly half of a century. In charge, Cahan made changes to the paper, focusing less on long articles on Marxist economics and more on human interest stories that could appeal to average reader. Most of Cahan's success with the paper resulted from his feature called "Bintel Brief"--in English, "a Bundle of Letters"--serving as one of America's earliest advice columns.
Initially a non-profit paper, the Jewish Daily Forward garnered large profits under Cahan's editorship, having published 12 editions in various heavily-Jewish populated cities. Though it had staunch supporters and significant readership, the paper's original base began to erode with second and third generation Jews--it's still published today but not like it once was. Cahan gave the Daily Forward character---the paper's tone, style, and copy crafted by the skillful hand of Cahan himself. It helped pave the way for American Jew's to achieve their current stature in society. Abraham Cahan wanted to be remembered as "the best foreign language editor in the United States." And for that, we do remember him today.
Sources:
American Journalists by Donald A. Ritchie
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/cahan.html
The name Margaret Bourke - White rang a bell in my mind. At first I could not place why it was vaguely familiar, but then I realized that the name was used in the movie "Gandhi", and that she was the women who followed the iconic figure and documented a huge movement through photography.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Bourke - White was an accomplished woman. She attended four prestigious universities: Columbia, University of Michigan, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve) and Cornell. While attending Cornell, Bourke discovered her passion for photography. Initially, it was a hobby, and eventually it became her career.
In 1927 she moved to New York and became an industrial and architectural photographer. "She soon gained a reputation for originality". Two years later, she was hired to work for Fortune Magazine. In 1936, she joined Life Magazine as one of their first photographers.
Bourke traveled far and wide for her assignments. She captured images in Germany, the Soviet Unions and of the Dust Bowl. She was also the first female photographer to be attached to the army when she photographed images of World War II for Life Magazine. Afterwards, she traveled with troops through South Korea and then to India. She shadowed Mahatma Gandhi during Partition and recorded the "mass migration caused by the divide of sub continent Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan".
She was truly an artist and a trailblazer for photojournalism. She impacted the industry by providing visuals behind compelling stories and issues, making them overall more powerful and impactful.
Career Fair -
ReplyDeleteNervousness and eagerness lingered within the ballroom. I had never seen such a long line of students, all dressed in business formal attire. I, myself was quite nervous, an emotion I rarely experience. Although this was the time and place for many of the upperclassmen studying journalism to place themselves within the industry, I did not feel as though someone would tackle me for my spot in line. Everyone was collected and calm on the surface, prepared to impress companies by their talent, not their ruthlessness.
For a freshmen, attending a career fair is overwhelming. Its foreign and we don't know what to expect. I was fortunate enough to have a rounded experience. I spoke to some who were excited to hear my anecdotes and accomplishments and who gave me valuable advise. Others, delivered a practiced response once they found out I was a freshmen. Overall I understood what I would need to do to stand out amongst all the well qualified applicants once I apply for internships and jobs.
I found the experience as a whole to be useful and informative. I know how to be more prepared for the next one, and hopefully even land an internship.
Ralphn Emerson McGill was an American journalist who was born on February 5, 1989 in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. He attended Vanderbilt University, but was suspended during his senior year for publishing an article that was critical of the university's administration. This caused him to not graduate.
ReplyDeleteAfter his brief stint in WWI, he landed a job in the sports department in the Nashville banner, and eventually moved up the rankings onto becoming the sports editor. He also served as an assistant sports editor of The Atlanta Constitution. McGill was most prominently known in if time for his anti-segregationist writing. This was obviously a big deal at the time due to the time period and also where he was writing from. Being in the south, Georgia, specifically, meant that the area was segregated and had a lot of racial tension in the state. Many of McGill's articles wanted people in Georgia to accept the change in segregation and urged white southerners to end is.
During the 1950's and the 1960's, McGill became a national voice in the area of segregation for his column that appeared in hundreds of newspapers. He joined in the area of politics, working alongside President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson. They admired his passion for change and for being an anti-segregationist and sent him on trips to Africa to persuade leaders that the U.S. was working to improve its civil rights.
In 1959, Ralph McGill was presented the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Another one of his accomplishments was his name being referenced in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" as one of the few whites that understood and sympathized with others of the Civil Rights Movement.
Career Fair
ReplyDeleteThe career fair was a great experience for me because it was one of, if not the first time I was able to see a vast variety of journalists and companies in the same area. This fair allowed me a get a feel of what to expect from other companies, and also what they expect from me. You definitely have to be on your game as soon as you walk in there and you have to impress in the limited time you have.
Before going into the fair, I was a nervous I could be. I wasn't really sure what to expect when it came to talking or meeting people, so I walked around a little bit and tried to talk to people I knew to help calm me down and get a feel of what I was doing. Thankfully, the first person I talked to was a sports managing editor so it was exactly what I was looking for and exchanged information. There were a couple other hit and misses while I was there, but this will drive me to become a better writer and become a better journalist so I can be the person people are looking for and impress right off the bat.