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BYLINE ROUNDUP: Recent coverage of the 2008 Election

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With Election 2008 almost upon us, it’s time to take a look at how South Asian journalists are covering this year’s historic, and seemingly-never-ending-but-nearly-over presidential race. We're also including opinion pieces and broadcast work, on-air and off. Here's a sample of what they've been covering recently.

Aman Batheja has been covering local elections, blogging and writing stories including "In the first five days of early voting, 149,234 cast ballots in Tarrant County" for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. On Tuesday, he’ll be on the ground looking out for equipment malfunctions and long lines while keeping readers up to dated on all the latest election news at the Star-Telegram's Politex blog. Among Aman's finds for the blog is this McCain/Obama pumpkin carving.

Seema Mehta has been tracking VP hopeful Sarah Palin for The Los Angeles Times. In this article Mehta reports from Ocala, Florida, and other locales, where "the crowds adore Palin, who bounds onto the stage in heels to songs such as 'Redneck Woman' by Gretchen Wilson and '9 to 5' by Dolly Parton."

Manu Raju, a reporter for The Hill, which covers all things Beltway, has been intensely following an Election sideshow: the trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Stevens is 84-year-old Republican and was convicted by a jury for not reporting $250,000 in gifts. His re-election efforts are central to the question of whether Democrats can claim a filibuster-proof Senate tomorrow. In this article, Raju suggests that Stevens has a bleak future, even if he does get re-elected.

Rajen Anand and Joydeb Roy wrote an op-ed, calling upon voters to support Obama, in India-West. The same issue has a pro-McCain piece by Dipka Bhambhani, in which she compares Obama's appeal with that of Hitler ("Several scholars have made the comparison between the mania pre-WWII and the Obama worshipping.")  Download page_08.doc

Ro Khanna, a San Francisco-area lawyer who ran for U.S. Congress in 2004, showed his support for Sen. Barack Obama through "The strengh of Our ideals," an op-ed for India Currents. 

BYLINE ROUNDUP: Financial Meltdown edition

SAJA's webcasts on the U.S. Economy in Turmoil, featuring SAJA journalists and others... Listen here: Webcast #1 (Sept. 23, 2008); Webcast #2 (Oct. 6, 2008)

[With coverage of the financial crisis booming among South Asian journalists in the US and beyond it's time for a resurrection of our Byline Roundup, as compiled by new SAJAforum contributor Meena Thiruvengadam...]

As a business reporter covering the U.S. Treasury for Dow Jones Newswires in Washington, D.C., these are some of the bylines I've been paying attention to in order to keep track of the credit crisis. You'll find some SAJA regulars as well as a few new names who've been distinguishing themselves with their recent work. If you've got a story you'd like us to highlight on this or another topic in a future edition of byline roundup, e-mail arunvenu [at] gmail.com

• Neil Shah of The Wall Street Journal's London bureau has been tracking the performance of European stocks, the fallout of the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy and the actions of Europe's central bankers. Among his Journal bylines in recent weeks is this piece from Wednesday: "Ireland, "France Aid Banks, as Jitters Go Global."
• Krishna Guha, Washington-based U.S. economics editor for the Financial Times has been closely following the actions of the U.S. Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Among his many recent bylines is "Political impasse places onus firmly on the Fed", which examines actions the Federal Reserve may need to take in order to stabilize financial markets after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a $700 billion financial industry rescue package early this week.
• Sudeep Reddy, Washington-based economics reporter for The Wall Street Journal and alumnus of SAJAforum's Byline Roundup, has also had a busy few weeks in bylines. Among his work is this look from Sept. 29 at what the total taxpayer cost of the proposed bailout could be: "Ultimate Cost of Plan To Take Years To Determine".
• Aparajita Saha-Bubna, a New York area reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, has been covering the plights of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, placed under the watch of the Federal Housing Finance Authority early this month, and the efforts of big three automakers seeking government assistance. Saha-Bubna a few weeks ago provided this insightful look at losses Fannie and Freddie employees faced as the companies' share values plummeted: "Fannie, Freddie Employees Suffer Losses As Stocks Plummet". In Wednesday's edition of the WSJ, she looked at automakers hope for a piece of the bailout pie: "U.S. Auto Makers Seek Bailout for Bad Car Loans".

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 8

Time for another installment in our "The Week in Bylines" series (see earlier editions). On most Sunday nights, we publish a collection of interesting/unusual bylines stories by South Asian journalists in the U.S./Canadian media. Even though it's about bylines, we also highlight work on TV and radio (in front of, and behind, the camera/mic). This is not meant to be a definitive, exhaustive collection. Instead, the idea is to show you the range of work that SAJAers are doing. Send us items you'd like us to consider, including your own: saja[at]columbia.edu (if we miss it one week, we will add it the next).

The Week in Bylines, March 16, 2008:

• Moni Basu, a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is back reporting in Iraq (she's been the several times to cover the war) and has been filing a series of stories. Among them:
  Family Reunion in Iraq: Bond on the Battlefield: March 12, 2008
  GI father, daughter disarmed by tears and love.
  Two Years After Life-Saving Surgery: Baby Noor's Troubling Future: March 9, 2008
  The family knew their baby girl would never walk, and that underneath the smile that melted hearts lay a bitter truth: Noor al-Zahra was destined for hardship. But Noor had been just a baby, cradled in her grandmother's arms, when she came to Atlanta for a life-saving operation more than two years ago. Now, as she grows older, an even harsher reality is revealing itself. 
• Vauhini Vara, a Silicon Valley reporter for the Wall Street Journal, had a big front-page story about one of the hottest tech companies around: Facebook.
  Facebook CEO seeks help as site grows up: March 5, 2008.
  Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Inc.'s 23-year-old chief executive, is finding that he and his company have to grow up at Internet speed. The latest sign: He has poached a top Google Inc. executive, Sheryl Sandberg, to help expand his social-networking company.

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 7

Time for another installment in our "The Week in Bylines" series (see earlier editions). On most Sunday nights, we publish a collection of interesting/unusual bylines stories by South Asian journalists in the U.S./Canadian media. Even though it's about bylines, we also highlight work on TV and radio (in front of, and behind, the camera/mic). This is not meant to be a definitive, exhaustive collection. Instead, the idea is to show you the range of work that SAJAers are doing. Send us items you'd like us to consider, including your own: saja[at]columbia.edu (if we miss it one week, we will add it the next).

The Week in Bylines, March 2, 2008:

• Arun Rath wrote, produced and directed a documentary for the PBS/Frontline TV series about one of the most disturbing stories to come out of the Iraq war. The show, from WGBH in Boston, aired on Feb. 19 across the U.S.
  Rules of Engagement is "the untold story of what happened in Haditha, Iraq, and how it forced the U.S. military to confront the rules of war in a way it never had to before." At that link, you can watch the full documentary, see web-only video, see a quiz and analysis and a lot more.
  Read the transcript of a live chat with Rath at WashingtonPost.com.
• Angela Shah, a business reporter for the Dallas Morning News, had an in-depth story about the making of Villa-O, a Dallas restaurant, from conception through opening night.
  Villa-O: From Conception to Opening Night - Feb. 14.
  Here's Shah's sidebar on Robert Columbo: Restauranteur Brought Lessons Learned From All Over to Dallas
• Saeed Ahmed, newsdesk editor at CNN in Atlanta, has a quirky story about elections in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, India.
  Hitler, Frankenstein Battle for Votes in India - Feb. 25.
  

  Think Barack Hussein Obama has it rough campaigning for president with a name like that? The Illinois senator has nothing on Frankenstein Momin. Or Billy Kid Sangma. Or Adolf Lu Hitler Marak.

  The three men are among dozens of others with equally colorful names who are competing for legislative seats in Meghalaya, a remote northeast Indian state, on March 3.

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 6

Time for another installment in our "The Week in Bylines" series (see earlier editions). Every Sunday night, we publish a collection of interesting/unusual bylines stories by South Asian journalists in the U.S./Canadian media. Even though it's about bylines, we also highlight work on TV and radio (in front of, and behind, the camera/mic). This is not meant to be a definitive, exhaustive collection. Instead, the idea is to show you the range of work that SAJAers are doing. Send us items you'd like us to consider, including your own: saja[at]columbia.edu (if we miss it one week, we will add it the next).

The Week in Bylines, Feb. 17, 2008:

• SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY, filmmaker and long-time SAJA member, made a six-minute video about President Musharraf of Pakistan for NYTimes.com (credits also include Adam B. Ellick and Salman Masood).
  Voices on Musharraf - Feb. 16: President Musharraf's approval rating is at an all-time low in advance of  Monday's parliamentary elections.
• SAMIR PATEL, an associate editor at Archaeology magazine, has a six-page feature about "Queen Anne's Revenge," the flagship of one of the most notorious pirates of them all.
  Blackbeard Surfaces - March/April 2008: For the piece, Patel went diving with the team on the wreck as they raised one of his cannons from the sea floor. He also took the pictures. Click on the image below to see the first spread. The link is only to an abstract of the piece; to read the full story, you will have to get it at a newsstand near you.

  

• RAJU CHEBIUM who covers the Congressional delegation of New Jersey for
  Gannett's six newspapers in that state and also writes about transportation issues nationally, has had some election articles worth noting.

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 5

It's been almost a year since we last visited our series called "The Week in Bylines" (see earlier editions). We are now relaunching this, with a plan to publish by every Sunday night, a collection of interesting/unusual bylines stories by South Asian journalists in the U.S./Canadian media. Even though it's about bylines, we will also be looking to highlight work on TV and radio as well (in front of, and behind, the camera). "The Week in Credits," however, sounds like something to do with the subprime crisis (which several desis have been covering). This is not meant to be a definitive, exhaustive collection. Instead, the idea is to show you the range of work that SAJAers are doing. Send us items you'd like us to consider, including your own: saja[at]columbia.edu (if we miss it one week, we will add it the next).

The Week in Bylines, Feb. 10, 2008:

• MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN, a student at the University of Maryland, wrote about the first meeting of a pair of legendary names in U.S. journalism history.
  Bradlee, Ellsberg finally meet, chat about Pentagon Papers - Diamondback Online - Feb. 8
  It seemed unbelievable that the two men hadn't yet met. Their careers had collided in the most public way, shaping the way Americans understood the Vietnam War and the freedom of the press. But when Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and Nixon-era whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg first shook hands, it was in the green room at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center last night.
• SULEMAN DIN, a reporter at the Star-Ledger in New Jersey, wrote about a tragic consequence of a new bridge.
  Taller bridge sees a rise in suicides
  The number of people who have committed suicide by jumping from the Victory Bridge has sharply increased since the new, taller span opened in Middlesex County in 2005, and now state and local officials are examining ways to stem the disturbing trend. At least a half-dozen people have leapt to their deaths from atop the new 110-foot-tall Victory Bridge, which links Perth Amboy and Sayreville and soars 90 feet above the previous span. Another person attempted suicide and survived.
• NEIL MUNSHI, a student at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, wrote a piece about new information about dinosaurs.
  New clues portray dinosaurs as adolescent mothers - Boston Globe, Jan. 28
  New research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds support for the idea that dinosaurs had babies starting in adolescence. For an animal that died young - roughly between ages 15 and 30 - such teenage pregnancies would have helped the species survive, scientists said.
• SUMI AGGARWAL, an associate producer at CBS News "60 Minutes" worked on the Hillary Clinton interview segment that ran on Feb. 10.
  Sen. Hillary Clinton tells Katie Couric she's the best candidate to go against the Republican nominee in November because she has experienced the negative ad campaigns the Republicans are sure to run and Sen. Barack Obama has not. But Obama, in a separate interview with Steve Kroft, says running for the Democratic nomination against the "Clinton Machine" is just as tough.
• SHAILA DEWAN, who covers the U.S. South out of Atlanta, wrote stories about various tragedies man-made and nature-made.

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 4

Yes indeed, it's the latest SAJA Week in Bylines, Volume 4, featuring the work of Jyoti Thottam, Mohamad Bazi, Raju Chebium, Anusha Shrivastava, Raghavan Mayur and others. Okay, so we hibernated for a few weeks there but notice how these bylines have that special Spring Scent, like a warm towel straight out of a long-lost dryer. To see previous editions of the Byline Roundup, click here. Have a byline for us? Send it to arunvenu[at]gmail.com, and as always, many thanks to Rupa Dev for finding bylines.

This week, we're highlighting the recent work of former SAJA President Jyoti Thottam, a senior editor with Time magazine who mostly deals with business coverage and globalization. In 2004, she wrote the cover story on offshore outsourcing.

For the April 9 issue, she oversaw Time's 44-page special issue on climate change: "The Global Warming Survival Guide: 51 Things You Can Do to Make a Difference"

We asked Jyoti a couple questions...

Tell us what's it like to put together an enormous package like this?

It started, even before I was involved, with a long list of ideas for possible stories on global warming put together by Time's science reporters and writers. I started work on this in mid-February, figuring out the bones of the package: four basic pieces - Jeff Kluger's lead story on mitigation (What Now?), the section on global warming innovators, 51 Things We Can Do, and Mark Hertsgaard's story on adaptation.

To get the reporting going, particularly for the 51 Things section, I asked our reporters and correspondents all over the world to contribute ideas and reporting. In the meantime, I worked closely with our art and photo staff to come up with the look of the package, and consulted with Time.com to figure out how to produce the package for the Web. There were nearly 30 people involved altogether, all of whom were working on stories for the weekly magazine at the same time. The stories started coming in in early March, and we closed the 44 pages in three stages over the course of two very busy weeks. This was also the first special issue to be part of the redesigned Time, so that added another set of challenges. The whole thing was finished on March 26.

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 3

Welcome to the latest edition of the SAJA Byline Roundup - the freshest bylines from across the SAJAverse. See the explanation of how this works below and send in your suggestions to arunvenu[at]gmail.com (we want to hear about ethnic press and TV, student pieces, etc, etc, etc).

• Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post's Baghdad bureau chief: "Marriages Between Sects Come Under Siege in Iraq."
• Nisid Hajari, foreign editor of Newsweek, reviews Dennis Bock's new novel in The New York Times Book Review: "The Doctor's Dilemma."
• Rummana Hussain in the Chicago Sun-Times on a Special Olympics fundraiser: "Really Big Chill"
• Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy in The Journal News of Westchester: "Pleasantville parent devoted to helping find treatment for Down Syndrome."
• Shilpa Banerji in DiverseEducation.com: "UCLA Expert Challenges the Asian-American Model Minority Assumption."
• Vinod Sreeharsha, a contributor to McClatchy Newspapers - and one of the only (or is it only?) South Asian-American journalists based in Latin America - wrote about two presidents in "Chavez denounces Bush in a rally in Argentina."

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines - 2

Welcome to our latest, award-worthy installment of the SAJA Byline Roundup, featuring the work of Moni Basu, Neal Justin, Sam Bhagwat, Shaheen Pasha, Martin Bashir and others. If you're wondering what this Roundup business is all about, see our first Byline Roundup.

Thanks to all of you who sent us your work these last few days, and once again, thanks to Rupa Dev, who's always rooting around for worthy bylines. Please send your suggestions for items (including broadcast pieces and op-eds) to arunvenu[at]gmail.com, with "SAJA Byline Roundup" in the subject line. And post your comments below.

This week, we're highlighting the recent work of Diya Gullapalli, a reporter at the Wall Street Journal who covers mutual funds for the paper's Money & Investing section (prior to joining the paper, two and a half years ago, she was an i-banking analyst at Lehman Brothers).

Diya produced three articles out of a recent trip to India, including one about Indian-Americans who are investing in Bollywood and another about '"India's Warren Buffett," Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Since they're only available to subscribers on the WSJ's site, we've linked to other sites that carry the articles:

• "Mutual Funds: Inside India's Rally" (Feb. 5, 2007)
• "Indians in US find new sideline: Bollywood moguls" (Feb. 21, 2007)
• "Indian Mogul Rises to Status of Money Icon"

Diya told SAJAforum a little about how it all happened...

BYLINE ROUNDUP: The Week in Bylines

[ March 1, 2007: The second week's roundup is here. ]

Feb. 22, 2007: Welcome to our first SAJA Byline Roundup, featuring articles by Shankar Vedantam, Viji Sundaram, Chitra Ragavan, Fareed Zakaria and others.

The idea here is to highlight recent work by SAJAers, whether or not there's anything desi about it. We're taking suggestions, and it doesn't matter if the byline's from a big or small publication or broadcast outlet (and although we call it "the week in bylines," we're not rigid on dates). We also welcome pointers to stories on which SAJAers served as producers or editors. We will, however, try to keep the work of SAJA Board members to a minimum, unless they do big, national stories. We're also noting op-eds. We will list the journalists and their stories in no particular order and will try to put the spotlight on one and interview him or her to get the story behind the story. If we miss your work this week, we'll get it into our next roundup.

Please, pretty please, if you do e-mail us at arunvenu[at]gmail.com: put the words "SAJA Byline Roundup" in the subject line. Many thanks to Rupa Dev for combing the SAJA galaxy. And send us your feedback below.

This week, we're highlighting the work of Washington Post reporter Shankar Vedantam, who's established an outstanding column there called the "Department of Human Behavior" (you can see all his columns, back to Aug. 2006 at that link). He tells SAJAforum...

"The basic idea behind my column is that everyday news events are a great window into deeper issues. An election can tell you a lot about how people form and maintain groups, a controversy about a sports star in the soccer world cup final can tell you about the culture of male relationships, and a disaster can show you how the groups we belong to influence us at a subtle level in a crisis. Each week, I pick a topic in the news and then go looking for insights from the social sciences that speak to that news event. I avoid opinion and talking heads as much as possible and rely on experimental results.

"My preference for empirical data makes the column harder to report and write, but I want to draw a clear distinction between genuine insights that are supported by solid evidence on the one hand and punditry/pop-psychology on the other. Besides finding it online, readers can also see the column on Page Two of the newspaper every Monday.