The Craft of Research

It’s been a busy month and I’ve yet to post any news, so here goes.  For starters, I bow to your reporting efforts…

Evan Buxbaum wrote about a plan to bring a Gourmet market to Melrose.

Erin Horan has news on a Baptist church and some Black History Month profiles.

And Minty Grover is also on the Black History Month profiles beat.

Speaking of profiles, I finished mine on Staten Island hoopster O.D. Anosike; only you know how a clip search made it better.  And as long as I’m citing my own work, see if you can figure out the background research I did on this profile of a woman boxer.

Last but not least, here’s the promised Facebook page I mentioned in class that includes a number you can call to check if someone is a Level 1 sex offender in New York.

The bonus: Next time we’ll be discussing how to find video and graphics for use in your stories.  For a preview, watch the segment below that I helped out with just yesterday!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Welcome (and for some, welcome back) to “The Craft of Research,” the official research blog for the Spring 2012 Broadcast Craft class of Marc Kusnetz and Susan Farkas. It’s the spot for research lessons, handouts, news, tips and whatever else comes up during the semester, including links to your work.

For example, I know Evan Buxbaum, Sarah Pizon, Martin Burch and (especially) Minty Grover have been busy during the past month.

My name is Jack Styczynski, and this is my eighth semester teaching at the J-school. When I’m not here, I’m a researcher at NBC and the New York Times. My full professional story is here. Personally, I love college hoops, everything New Orleans, gospel (disco!) music and the spring semester…because there are no beat memos!

Let’s get back to work!

On duty in Studio 3A at NBC, home of MSNBC dayside programming.

Eli Chen has been busy, busy, busy detailing more on protesting gardeners, the arrest of five and a grassroots recycling initiative; Gwen McClure followed up an earlier story on a controversial housing development; and Evan Buxbaum reported on a different kind of fight for South Bronx boxers.

This week’s bonus: The NYPD Facebook story we discussed Tuesday, in case you missed it.  And this was one of the tools I used.

Before we gorge on turkey, let’s celebrate some more bylines.

The latest from the Mott Haven Herald includes: Eli Chen’s story about the fight to save a community garden; Evan Buxbaum’s article about a new documentary center in Melrose; Patricia Rey Mallén’s report on the closing of a beloved local restaurant; and Alex Robinson’s piece about a participatory budgeting exercise.

The bonus: Remember when I said comparisons are vital to give context to numbers in stories?  I had a short but sweet example last week.