Earth Day / Papal Visit Packet Proposals

by Damon Beres

Earth Day
Profile piece: Christina Salvi, organizer in Recycle This! (which freegan.info describes as “a grassroots waste reduction & recycling activist group that works throughout the five boroughs of New York City to help New Yorkers rethink garbage and work towards a more sustainable city”), and a coordinator for Freecycle New York City; discussing what she does for the environment and waste-management, as well as providing more details on the two organizations she belongs to, would allow this profile to easily fit the bill as an Earth Day piece. Bill Nye the Science Guy, who is in a competition with next door neighbor Ed Begley for “greenest house,” would make an interesting profile for obvious reasons (Bill Nye!) but might also be used to show others how they could live greener.

News piece with a focus on good photos: “Project Earth Day” (April 24th at the Teknion Showroom), the culmination of a fashion design competition where “entrants will be judged on aesthetics, execution of design, and the incorporation of one or more "ecological design" principles, such as eco-labeling, or dyes and water consumption.” The “Queens is Green Fashion Show” (“Attend a free fashion competition that highlights clothing and accessories from local designers that not only look good, but are good for the planet”) would also probably be good. What could possibly make for better photos than fashion models adorned in, what, leaves and recycled cardboard?

Enterprise story: Another, more in-depth piece on freegans (can't escape them!) could probably fit the Earth Day bill, but there are a number of other issues that present themselves with the holiday; a look at how top companies, schools, etcetera handle the environment, for instance. The freegans piece might be nice because it's edgy and hip; young people eating out of the trash, squatting, and making free bicycles? It's Earth Day taken to the max!

Papal Visit
Profile piece: Rabbi Arthur Schneier, senior rabbi of Park East Synagogue and Holocaust survivor, who the pope will meet during his New York City visit. His Excellency Archbishop Celestino Migliore, who blessed an ambulance for the pope’s motorcade but is also Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, which Benedict will visit during his stay in New York. Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of Bishop Accountability (a website that documents sexual abuse in the church), might make for a good profile if the piece was to somehow relate to the pope’s stance on child abuse in the Catholic church.

News piece with a focus on good photos: Obvious answers would be the Mass at Yankee Stadium or the visit to Ground Zero. The actual meeting with Rabbi Schneier would also likely be worth photographing.

Enterprise story: A lot more could probably be said of the child abuse situation in the church. The pope explicitly commented on it on his way here, so a solid investigative piece (a stunt piece might be difficult, but would likely be an amusing read) that could provide hard facts on the history of the situation along with the church’s traditional stance would be worth reading; a lot of people might be surprised to learn that while self-mutilation automatically makes one ineligible for priesthood, there isn't much said about child abuse.