Tiffinbox

Get Into The Fray

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As an immigrant of sorts [I was born in NYC but grew up in India], with strong leanings to both the East Indian culture and the American way of life, I didn't, however, want to live a hyphenated existence.

Earlier this year, I signed on as the Image Editor for InTheFray a website run entirely by volunteers from different walks of life and in different parts of the country. The site's core mission is to tackle issues of identity and community in a diasporic milieu. While we may ping pong between terms such as “tossed salad” or “cup of soup” to describe the immigrant experience in America today, InTheFray attempts to help me make some sense of the various interactions and social relationships we maintain.

InTheFray needs your input, however. It seeks your writing and photography. And I am sending this call out to anybody who is interested in getting their work exhibited on a nationally known web site. While we may not be able to compensate you financially, the site does attract at least 10,000 unique visitors each month. That's a lot of eye balls, folks!

If you are interested in sending your work in, please first read our contributor policies posted here. This page also describes the four channels of the magazine — IDENTIFY, IMAGINE, INTERACT, and IMAGE — that accept content from contributors.

Each of these channels needs art and/or photographs for the stories they feature (usually about 1 photo/image for every 1,000 words). The IMAGE Channel, which is our visual arts section, features photo essays and other visual essays.

Please let me know whether you are more interested in contributing a photo essay to IMAGE or whether you would like to contribute photos on an as-needed basis for the other channels. If you're interested in contributing to IMAGE, please e-mail me, about your specific story ideas. If you are interested in contributing art and/or photos for the rest of our site, please contact Laura Pohl, our Art Director with your specific questions and ideas.

Rest assured while we are based in the US, InTheFray isn't an American-centric project. Currently on display, in the IMAGE channel, is a interesting photo essay on Tibetan exiles in Dhamasala, India.

True Calling

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Here are a couple of CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS worthy of your attention:

Monsoon Magazine is looking for “artwork, autobiographical sketches, essays, fiction, interviews, photography, poetry, reviews, and translations ranging from earthy to experimental.“

Catamaran Magazine seeks your “submissions of plays, poetry, short fiction, book and film reviews, essays, travelogues and photography. “

The Blair Witching Hour

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I just saw the teaser for the Jayson Blair interview on Dateline NBC. For those of us blessed to watch American television (I mean that with a pinch of sarcasm, of course), it runs tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

Jayson Blair is the outed New York Times journalist who fabricated a slew of stories. It could be an interesting hour with Mr. Blair, especially for those of us who are in the business of journalism. It's definitely an hour to reflect on what NOT to do. I can't imagine a photojournalist making up images (or manipulating them) for publication for as long as Blair did with his writing. The Gray Lady must have been asleep!

Make Some Noise!

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Via Simran Bhatia

Awaaz Magazine is launching with a new focus group! We're aiming to cater to South Asians in the 18-25 age group and address issues in the realm of Politics, Economics, Entertainment, Sports, Communications and other genres specific to the college or graduate student/young professional. To make our communications more effective we're looking for writers, editors and those interested in events management, or web positions from/near this age group. For those individuals who are interested (or have questions) please check out our website, for currently available positions, descriptions and requirements.

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Calling Literati

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The Seventh Annual Asian American Literary Awards

Each year, The Asian American Writers' Workshop honors outstanding achievement in Asian American literature through our Annual Asian American Literary Awards. Now in their seventh year, the literary awards are again taking submissions for eligible works in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. We encourage you to take part in this wonderful opportunity.

The postmark deadline for submitting work is Friday, April 16, 2004. Please read through the guidelines below to see if your work is eligible.

Books may be nominated by literary agents, publicists, or authors. All entries must be accompanied by an application form. To download an application, please check here.

To find out more about the literary awards, visit our website.

Thanks and good luck!
AAWW

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Honest to Goodness

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Via Jigsha Desai

HonestReporting.com uses one of AP photographer Enric Marti's images to convey to us how the media is manipulated by Palestinians.

I went looking for other stories about photojournalists on that site and I found a story called “Something Fishy at AFP,” taking a jab at how an Agence France Presse photographer covered the bombing of a suspected terrorist's home.

HonestReporting.com calls itself one of the largest media watch groups. I found the anti-Palestinian stance to be too much of a coincidence. So, I dug a little deeper to find out if the site was at all independent.

Give them credit for being, um, honest. HonestReporting.com says this about itself:

Since October 2000, in addition to fighting an anti-terror war, Israel has been fighting a media war. In news outlets around the globe, journalists regularly misrepresent Israel as the aggressor and Palestinians as the victims.

In response, HonestReporting was established to scrutinize the media for anti-Israel bias, then mobilize subscribers to respond directly to relevant news agencies.

While they make somewhat convincing arguments about the photographs and the methods used to “capture” the conflict in Israel, I get the feeling that they would rejoice the end of the Palestinian perspective altogether.

Is there bias in the media? You bet there is. If there wasn't any, it would all be rather boring. No one can deny that corporations, governments and individuals have agendas. Who narrates the story and how is of great consequence. But let's see these stories all played out in the open. What we should be wary of is the temptation to snuff out these different perspectives. And I think that's where I disagree with HonestReporting.com.

Play fair and, um, be honest!

Bountiful Bush

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Via Mediabistro.com

I have really enjoyed Gary Trudeau's long-running political cartoon – DOONESBURY. Trudeau's web site announced awarding $10,000 to whomever can prove that our commander-in-chief – “Dubya” – actually served his tour-of-duty with the Air National Guard. It's a contentious issue this election year here in the US; with the Democrats coming short of calling the President a liar and the Republicans hoping that this too shall pass.

The FAQ on the site answers the question by Trudeau is doing this. Don't forget to take the straw poll on the site.

On a tangent, did you know Ohio State University houses the Cartoon Research Library? Imagine working there!

Going Back To (J) School?

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For those of you considering school again – why wouldn't you in this soft economy when interest rates for school loans have been the lowest in history? – think about Columbia University's School of Journalism. Now, I am an alumnus of Indiana University, but my friend Prof. Sreenath Srinivasan has been instrumental in designing and sculpting the new media program at Columbia's j-school and he is doing some very exciting things there and I urge you to check the program out.

Should I ever find an opportunity to go back to school and retool, Columbia would be my top choice. Plus, the new dean is thinking of revamping the course structure all together making it a two-year program. I always thought a one-year Masters program was plain wonky. By the time you got your feet on the ground, especially in Gotham city, it would be time to pack your bags and leave. Two years seems like just enough time to get things done and actually learn something.

Imagine that – two years to sink your teeth into things like online reporting, designing websites, creating interactive multimedia presentations. If it runs right, it could be down right empowering.

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