I love the twirl of the mouse after I hit “upload” on a Street Team story. It means, for just one second, I can relax and appreciate that I finished an assignment. Those seconds feel good!
Here is a quick update of what I have been working on the last few weeks.
Coming off of two blog posts on Public Housing and Gentrification in DC, I decided to take my camera down to Southeast. It was at Thurgood Marshall Academy, a public charter school that serves a 99 percent African American students and 70 percent free or reduced lunch – where I would ask what it is like to use your education to stay off the streets.
Next, check out this blog post I wrote for Media Future Now, a group that meets monthly in DC to talk about evolving communication tools with 21st century techniques like mobile technology and constant connectivity.
I wrote about the Street Team Super Tuesday project where MTV had 23 of my colleagues report live from polling places, caucuses and rallies using mobile phones. “Mobile Tech Connects Young People to Politics.”
Finally, check out this awesome article about the Street Team put out by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. The front cover read, “Cameras, Action and Accountability: Politics and the New Media.” Every time I see the photo of me looking paralyzed with confusion – and a wee frustrated, I am reminded it is the Nieman Reports and console myself that content speaks louder than vanity.Here is the article my Supervising Producer,
I came across a few videos from MTV News and Gideon Yago tonight. All of the ones I found were from 2006 and reminded me of the old school news breaks MTV News used to run. Except they weren’t 10 to the Hour — they were in depth and serious. And it seems like Yago got some traction within MTV News with a project called Iraq Uploaded.
The angle of how technology, pop culture and soldier stories merge — is a way I haven’t seen the war covered. With the video I considered how unprecedented and unknown territory it is for soldiers to bring digital cameras for their Iraq tours. Apparently some guys even strapped handheld digitals to their helmets. Don’t be surprised to see graphic stuff. This wasn’t made for Nightly News.
I heard a few months ago from the Department of Defense that the military evaluates videos recorded and uploaded in real time as a possible threat to OpSec, or, Operational Security. Same goes for blogs. This Lieutenant just had to take down his blog, while others, some active duty and some Veterans, continue to share their stories. It’s an all together an unprecedented issue for the Military.
“This doesn’t just close out a month when I (determinedly) worked through each weekend, it signifies a milestone in my Street Team tenure. I am half way through this journey. My production skills have greatly improved, but more than that, I think I found what a friend and mentor advised I do back in January.
“Erica, Humanize this War.”
With that advice, I thought – and continue to think, about the way to do it. For this video, and over time, I talked to dozens of Veterans. Read every article I could. And through conversation, absorbed anecdotes — about a confusing and unorganized war – from intelligence officers, artillery soldiers, explosive specialists and more.
I think around 3:30 of this video I discover in the most fundamental way why I question and care about the implications of the Iraq war on our generation. Here’s a rare look at the unraveling mind of a starving citizen journalist. :) Ok, you can cut the starving part.
4:13 A young deserter becomes a lobbyist
4:40 A civil affairs officer returns with his truth
5:26 What do the people on the ground, our front lines, really want and need?
Last Saturday was great. An afternoon I’ll always remember.
I produced a crumbled credential letter to get past security. I squeezed my pint-sized camera next to Reuter’s monster lens in the press bleachers — and I focused my camera. Not everyday do you get to cover Hillary Clinton’s concession speech. It was a close, confrontational and critical Primary race — and I would be there to witness the end of it. I remember keeping my cool while thinking, this shit is going to be historic.
Thanks to everyone who stopped to tell my camera their thoughts. Definitely post a comment and let me know what you think about Clinton’s campaign, her endorsement of Obama or what her next steps might be.
I’m a magnet to events with young demonstrators huddled by doors of buildings they aren’t allowed in. And over the last five months, some of the most fun I’ve had is when I couldn’t get in. Instead, I’ve needed to immerse myself in the crowd, buck up and start asking some questions.
Afforded no press badge, it’s all I can do - and perhaps, exactly what MTV’s wanted us to do. Reducing us amateur journalists to nothing more than one of the crowd, tests us to meet people we otherwise might not, and spotlight different takes on the issues and election. After all, each voice matters.
This Saturday, about 300 people gathered outside of a DC hotel to protest equal voting rights - most in regard to the MI and FL primaries. But after interviewing about eight people - I began to think about the bigger picture. What were they all saying? What did they have in common? And here’s what I came up with.
Each person, in some way shape or form, had an experience that left them, a relative or friend, feeling disenfranchised by our voting process. Whether they were turned away for not having the right ID or frustrated by the hanging Chad issue of 2000 - these people were pissed. Well, pissed - but also passionate. From a bright 17-year-old to a 35-year-old D.C. resident without a vote in Congress, each sent me the same message: this voting system is broken and we need to fix it.
Here is my video from the event that day. I hope I fairly represented the many voices I heard and in some way, inspire you to think that hey, this really does matter.
They aired of the first Safe Sex PSAs in ‘85, covered the Persian Gulf War in ‘91, registered 37,000 new voters in ‘96 and documented genocide in Sudan in ‘04.
But now all the focus is on The Hills and Real World, which is why it is hard to believe MTV is still at the forefront of what is relevant to us. With full disclosure, I didn’t realize (until I got this gig and had to become familiar with MTV again), that significant political and social trails are still being blazed. Big ones. Right before your eyes.
Let me back up to share with you how I came to this post by admitting how sheltered my childhood was - (I did grow up in Indiana).
The year was 1996. Sixth grade. I saw the orthodontists more than my homeroom and was at the primo-awkward stage in life. Yes, it was *awesome. Note that sarcasm.
I was home on a summer day flipping through the channels and my eye caught Fiona Apple’s Criminal music video. I couldn’t help it, I was mesmerized for too many reasons to mention. Fifteen seconds later, my Mom walked into the room. I flipped the channel. She turned it back on — and what followed was total awkwardness. The next thing I knew, my Mom was on the phone with the cable company, and the channel was blocked. My life would forever be changed.
As I would learn a decade later, the video, Fiona said, was about ”feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality.” Now that I think of it, it is ironic that this video was about guilt. Something my Catholic upbringing made me all too familiar with.
That was a tragic afternoon but one that has informed, perhaps in the most backwards way, my adolescence and now young adulthood. The irony is that ten years later, MTV has come back into my life. If my Mom were here to share this adventure with me, I’m sure she would be proud. And here’s why.
As one soldier told me, “Erica, it’s a fast and furious world.” That it is.
This week’s video draws from footage from the Winter Soldier event last March and brings into the story the shortcomings of the GI Bill, in particular what it offers soldiers for education. As I reported for MTV, three former Presidents, a dozen U.S. Senators and fourteen Nobel Prize winners went to college on the GI Bill. The last time it was updated was back in the 80s, when we were at peace, not war, and soldier were less likely to serve multiple deployments and then choose to move on.
From my work on Veteran issues I’ve heard a lot of talk about why they joined. Some did out of patriotism, and felt, after 9/11 it was their undisputed duty. Others, and perhaps the most common thread I’ve heard, is the cost of education. A shot at a four year university that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to pay for.
I can trace my fascination with GI’s, the cost of education and war, back to Indiana University. For three years, my next door neighbor was ROTC. From our manicured front lawn, I would watch my peers walk in and out of the former Fraternity house. In uniform and up with the sun, they would practice marching orders and do endless push-ups. A part of me felt sorry for them, perhaps not rightfully so, but still — because I wondered if a commitment to our armed forces was their best option to pay for a four-year university.
Not long after those careless afternoons, the war broke out. I remember having profound realizations that several of those students — soldiers — would now be sent to fight a war. And I questioned. Were they recruited – in a bigger picture by the Pentagon – with the knowledge a war was on the brink? And Is college tuition the new draft?
Today, 57 Senators are supporting a large increase to the GI Bill for public university tuition. In a letter I obtained from the Senate, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Senator John McCain, who is on the fence, to consider how the bill might hurt retention.
“The Department estimates that serious retention issues could arise if the benefit were expanded beyond the level sufficient to offset average monthly costs for a public four-year institution.”
Here’s my video. Hope you’ll check it out and let me know how Congress should approach GI Rights while we fight two wars and send soldiers on multiple deployments.
Quick Disclaimer: No one is perfect, especially EricaAmerica. I misspelled “Sergeant” at 1:26. Take total responsibility, but am so tired from I am calling it a day and putting the effort into research. I totally need an editor. One man band life is hard.
Sorry guys, I didn’t actually get to watch this one. Either way, I wanted to post McCain’s May 7th appearance on The Daily Show.
Speaking of McCain, his daughter, the McCainBloggette, is still at the blogging which seems to have taken off. In her March 9th YouTube report, she told more than 75,000 viewers that during a party at her family’s ranch in Sedona, reporters from the Politico brought her mom flowers.
Check out her recent video from a weekend at the family ranch. Is this what Crawford looks like?
For my 23rd birthday, my Dad sent me a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In it, he wrote, “To Erica, Wash. D.C. From Dad 5/8/07.” Today, I carry it around in my Street Team backpack. I don’t know, it just feels right. If I’m ever in a bind and need to remind the force that I’m just doing my job, I’ll have backup. That’s right, I have rights. And I’m not about to let them be chipped away.
As much as my friends joke with me, we do. We all have rights. And though at times it sounds a little silly (dependent on when you yell out the statement, just ask my colleagues) there is never anything outlandish about the term, “I have my rights.” But today, more than ever, it’s important to realize what those are because they are being chipped away and justified.
So what are our rights? Well, when it comes to the First Amendment, we have the right to freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. We are also protected under the Bill of Rights to equal protection under the law (regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin), the right to due process, and the right to privacy.
When I went out and interviewed people last Monday about civil liberties and what they thought, I was up against the wall. Some of the responses were reiterations of the administration. “Well, in terms of national security, if it’s necessary, I’m OK with it.” Really? “Ok, I thought.” But once this war on terror is over, you’ll still have lost those rights. Are you OK with it then? More importantly, are they being taken away for the right reasons?
U.S. News & World Report picked up my Green Apple Fest video, which is just rockin’ news. They called it “A Star, the Pope and Earth Day.” When I was interviewed for a MTV News story about my experience, I had to gush about the interview with Chevy Chase and how off the wall it was.
In other news, techPresident, a political blog at the forefront of technology and election news, put together a humbling article on The Street Team and a bit of my work. For the sake of chronicling all of this awesome stuff, here’s the link to that too. It’s called “MTV News Still on the Cutting Edge of Political News.”
God I need to start sleeping more. Can’t wait (well, maybe I can) until a long nap in November. On the other hand, I’m having so much fun. I’m banking on the adrenaline (and nutritious meals from my roommate ;) to get me through this wild ride.
While 21-year old Iraq Veteran, Paul, aims to add normalcy back to his life, the war transcended on Washington, DC. At the start of the sixth year of war on Iraq, March 19, a mix of people gathered within an ear shot of the White House to demonstrate dissatisfaction. Join me as I explore how courage and activism bridge unlikley partners in the fight against US Occupation of Iraq.
Tonight I’m going to Landmark E St. Cinema to check out an early viewing of Body of War. The 87 minute documentary is about 26-year old Veteran and Kansas native, Tomas Young. The film, (hit the circuit at the Toronto Film Fest) came together through a collaboration of unique names like Ralph Nader, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and Co-directors Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro.
I got an early copy of the Body of War soundtrack at the Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldier event. The album is honestly the best collection of political music I’ve heard since, well, spinning old records of my parents. My favorite songs on the album are Pearl Jam cover of Masters of War, Bruce Sprinsteen’s Devils & Dust and Lupe Fiasco’s American Terrorist.
The movie is on a nationwide — grassroots — if you will, tour, with Tomas, wheelchair, pills, complications and all - and Donahue and Spiro. Though the movie is about the life of Tomas as a paraplegic, it’s also about the build up to the passage of HR 411, the Iraq War Resolution of 2002.
After DC, the third stop on the tour, Tomas will go to New York, Philly and Boston.. Los Angeles, San Francisco & Seattle and then a finale in Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Louis.
In January, I discovered I have an unlikely connection to the War in Iraq. His name is Paul, and not forty miles away from me, he was serving time in the Quantico Brig (military prison) for deserting the Marine Corp after a tour in Iraq.
Though we had only met once before, I decided there was only one thing to do. Go visit my second cousin and get the story. Here is Part I of a two Part series, which can be seen below or, here on MTV.
Last Friday night, I charged my batteries, packed my gear and went to bed early. I knew it would be a draining next day. I was right.
Since January, I have been learning about individual stories of men and women in the military who are resisting the war. First, I met a cousin I had only know through distance, in the most unlikely of places: the Quantico Brig where he was serving time for deserting the Marines. “Jesus,” I remember thinking when a family member told me his story, ”I have to hear his story first hand.”
So the journey of discovering an underground movement, which started with Paul (you can expect to hear his story soon) — and now, with the weekend Summit “Winter Soldier” — a public movement of GI Resistance has begun. The story of Paul, which has inspired me to tell stories like his, led me to the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and a four-day program bringing hundreds of young Vets together to testify about the criminal nature, and what they call immoral disposition of this war.
The video you are about to see sets up what I hope will be a full eight months of reporting the untold, under-reported story of GI Resisters. These men and women are hardened by war but driven by a duty. Although this duty is not one condoned by the hand of the largest, most powerful military in the world, it is a duty nonethless that same hand nurtured.
