“Reporting on the Times” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Harrold’s film will be shown at Northeastern University in November.

Watch the show.→

Watch the video.→

Reports emerged last week that the Depart­ment of Jus­tice had secretly obtained two months’ worth of phone records of jour­nal­ists at The Asso­ci­ated Press as part of a larger inves­ti­ga­tion into a failed al-​​Qaida plot. The news sent shock­waves through the news industry and put the Obama admin­is­tra­tion on the defen­sive. Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Robinson, Dis­tin­guished Pro­fessor of Jour­nalism in the Col­lege of Arts, Media and Design and a cur­rent Pulitzer juror, explains how this news is indica­tive of ongoing ten­sions between the fed­eral gov­ern­ment and the press, and what that means for the Amer­ican public.

1. The Department of Justice’s investigation into the AP stems from a 2012 report on a bombing plot last year involving the Yemen arm of al-Qaida. How do news organizations balance publishing classified information with government concerns about national security?

There’s always a tension, particularly in the area of national security, between the public’s right to know and the government’s need to keep certain things secret. But most people, and certainly everyone in Washington, know that most things that are classified really have no need to be.

People in power—including the White House—discuss and disclose classified information all the time. When it suits them and their agenda, people in government are more than happy to leak details with little or no consideration that they’re breaking the law as much as someone who is leaking really sensitive information. But when someone leaks information that makes them look bad and which wasn’t authorized, that’s when the government engages in what I consider to be a reckless effort toward tracking down the source of the leak. Not only does this kind of government action deter whistleblowers, but it also deters news organizations and reporters, who now face the prospect of jail time for simply doing their jobs.

Specific to this AP story, there wasn’t even a national security concern: The AP held its story until the government had assured them that it wouldn’t do any harm. It’s not like they were racing into this recklessly. And that’s how every case that I know of in recent years has gone. The New York Times, for example, dealt directly with the government before it published its Wikileaks documents, discussing in depth what should and should not be published. When national security is an issue, there are always prior discussions with the government in which the government gets to make its case whether certain information will impact national security.

2. The AP case is unique in that the news organization, a cooperative entity supported by news organizations across the nation and around the world, is in a position where it is reporting on itself. What concerns must a news organization consider when facing such a circumstance?

The biggest concerns that any editor has when his or her news organization is the subject of the story are proportionality and fairness. The fairness one is obvious: You have to cover yourself with the same sort of tough questions you apply to every other kind of institution. The Boston Globe, for example, is going through this right now as its reporters cover attempts by various groups to purchase the paper from the New York Times Company.

The issue of proportionality is unique here, because the AP is an association made up of pretty much every mainstream news organization in the United States. So beyond the First Amendment issues this investigation raises, the story has consequences for the general public, which receives much of its news coverage—particularly its coverage of Washington—from the AP. Another reason this is such a big story is because this is only the latest example of this administration seeming committed to making it very difficult or impossible for investigative reporters to do their jobs, particularly on national security issues.

There’s this impression, particularly on the right, that Obama is in bed with the press. But the relationship between Obama and the press is horrible, the worst of any president going back to Ronald Reagan. Reporters are being given nothing, they’re viewed with contempt, and now the White House is finding new tools like social media to get its message out there. This isn’t a story that’s just about the press, and I think that’s something we in the media don’t do a good enough job at explaining. We don’t write that the government is making it harder and harder for the press to get records and information on behalf of the public. This all comes down to our right to know what the government is doing, and these developments ought to be a matter of grave public concern.

3. In response to the Justice Department’s investigation into the AP, President Obama and the White House have asked Sen. Chuck Shumer to reintroduce a press shield law, legislation that would offer greater protection to journalists trying to keep their sources and communications confidential. What are your thoughts on reviving that legislation?

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney came out and said the president had asked Shumer to resubmit his shield law legislation, which was last considered back in 2009. Carney described the president as “a strong defender of the First Amendment and a firm believer in the need for the press to be free in its ability to conduct investigative reporting and to facilitate a free flow information.” But the fact of the matter is that Shumer’s shield law legislation, which was filed in 2009, failed principally because the Obama administration tried to water down its protection of journalists, particularly in the area of national security. The administration wanted to maintain its power to prevent and investigate leaks, which it has done more than any previous administration combined. Attorney General Eric Holder has gone after cases like this AP one with vigor.

This article was originally posted by news@Northeastern

Now, Japan is sharing the lessons it learned responding to that disaster—now known to many simply by its date, 3/11—with a trav­eling exhi­bi­tion making its sole United States stop at North­eastern. The show, “How Did Archi­tects Respond Imme­di­ately After 3/11?—An Exhi­bi­tion on the Great East Japan Earth­quake,” is on dis­play and open to the public through June 12 in the lobby of Inter­na­tional Village.

Akira Muto, Consul Gen­eral of Japan in Boston

“This is a kind of oblig­a­tion, to share what we went through during and after the earth­quake with the inter­na­tional com­mu­nity,” Akira Muto, the Japanese consul gen­eral to the United States sta­tioned in Boston, said Tuesday evening at the exhibition’s opening recep­tion. “We wanted not only to engage the experts in the field, but also the students—the young people just get­ting started looking at issues like this. And we hope that it sparks fur­ther col­lab­o­ra­tion between nations on these chal­lenges that we all face.”

The exhi­bi­tion, orga­nized by the Japan Foun­da­tion, was brought to North­eastern by the Con­sulate Gen­eral of Japan in Boston, Northeastern’s Gallery 360, the North­eastern Center for the Arts, and the Col­lege of Arts, Media and Design. A meeting last fall between Muto and North­eastern Uni­ver­sity Pres­i­dent Joseph E. Aoun led to the uni­ver­sity hosting the trav­eling exhibit.

Tuesday’s opening recep­tion fea­tured remarks from Muto and Xavier Costa, dean of the Col­lege of Arts, Media and Design. Costa said the exhibit is impor­tant because it shows how archi­tects can play a cru­cial role in emer­gency pre­pared­ness and response.

“This exhibit fea­tures a strong com­pi­la­tion of the great chal­lenges Japan faces and how archi­tects can be impor­tant respon­ders to those chal­lenges,” Costa said.

The exhibit fea­tures work from archi­tects in Japan and around the globe.

Japan’s loca­tion in the Pacific Ocean makes it par­tic­u­larly sus­cep­tible to nat­ural dis­as­ters like earth­quakes and tsunamis. As a result, the country has his­tor­i­cally paid par­tic­ular atten­tion to dis­aster pre­pared­ness and resiliency, ensuring that the public is pre­pared through reg­ular emer­gency drills and pro­tected by infra­struc­ture able to with­stand mas­sive dis­as­ters, said Susan Gill, who works in the consulate’s infor­ma­tion and cul­ture sec­tion. Though the prepa­ra­tions aren’t always per­fect, Japan believes the lessons they have learned, par­tic­u­larly during and after the 2011 earth­quake, are impor­tant to share with the inter­na­tional community.

The exhibit is split into four sec­tions, doc­u­menting issues of emer­gency pre­pared­ness, tem­po­rary housing, recon­struc­tion projects, and for­eign pro­posals. Its curator, Taro Igarashi, Tohoku Uni­ver­sity pro­fessor of archi­tec­ture and building sci­ence, said the exhi­bi­tion focuses par­tic­u­larly on archi­tec­tural advances after November 2011, show­casing projects intro­duced across Japan.

“What you do after a big disaster—an earth­quake, a tsunami, a super­storm, or an act of terror—can be very sim­ilar even if the cause is dif­ferent. Bringing this exhibit and show­casing Japan’s response pro­vides what we hope is an oppor­tu­nity for shared under­standing in thinking about architecture’s role in dis­aster response and resiliency,” Gill said. “It fits in nicely at North­eastern, where people are thinking about these issues and gen­er­ating new ideas and solutions.”

This article was originally published by news@Northeastern.

The researchers analyzed the filesharing of some 173 computer games over a three-month period between 2010 and 2011, initially setting out to study videogame piracy because “despite the substantial debate about digital game piracy, there is minimal objective information available about the relative magnitude of piracy, or its distribution across different countries nor across game titles or game genres”. Both sides of the debate agree that game piracy is common, but the numbers vary dramatically between reports. The Entertainment Software Association claims that it had tracked almost 10 million illegal downloads of around 200 games in December 2009. Meanwhile TorretnFreak reported 18.14 million downloads for the five most downloaded PC games on BitTorrent in 2010, with a further 5.34 million downloads of the five most downloaded console games.

To learn more about the study, read the full article at Wired UK.

Additional coverage of the issue and Anders’ research can be found in an article at Forbes.

The challenge’s goal was for 3,500 alumni to make a gift toward any­thing they loved about their expe­ri­ence at North­eastern, and to do it by March 31. In return, McWade, a 1983 grad­uate and senior exec­u­tive at Putnam Invest­ments, promised to make a $100,000 gift to the university.

The goal was met and MacWade gave $100,000 to sup­port what he loved the most about his alma mater—the Col­lege of Arts, Media and Design. And he didn’t stop there. Ener­gized by the huge turnout of his fellow alumni he issued another chal­lenge: in return for sup­port from an addi­tional 500 alumni he would raise the amount of his own gift by an addi­tional $15,000. The April 5 dead­line was once again met with unex­pected turnout of pas­sionate Huskies and MacWade kept his promise.

All told, Mis­sion: MacWade brought in more than $400,000 from 4,785 alumni donors since the chal­lenge was launched.

“This gift is a fan­tastic example of  how col­lec­tive giving can move our uni­ver­sity for­ward. It was inspiring to see alumni empow­ering other alumni to give back to their alma mater through annual giving,” said Diane MacGillivray, senior vice pres­i­dent for uni­ver­sity advancement.

“The suc­cess of Mis­sion: MacWade illus­trates how much this uni­ver­sity means to every one of us. Mike put out the chal­lenge and thou­sands of his fellow Huskies answered the call, making a gift to sup­port what they love most about North­eastern,”  said Jack Moynihan, vice pres­i­dent for alumni rela­tions and The North­eastern Fund.

As part of the chal­lenge, alumni could offer their sup­port to the North­eastern Fund or to a spe­cific area of the uni­ver­sity most mean­ingful to them.

The North­eastern Fund is the engine that sup­ports the university’s momentum on many fronts. Annual gifts sup­port oper­a­tional and aca­d­emic resource needs that con­tinue to grow as the campus expands and evolves, and annual gifts also serve as impor­tant resources to sup­port teaching, research, and schol­ar­ship priorities.

“We all have a vested interest in this amazing uni­ver­sity, and because of your involve­ment today’s stu­dents, those who are fol­lowing in our foot­steps, will enjoy the same incred­ible oppor­tu­ni­ties we had at North­eastern,” MacWade said in thanking alumni for their support.

This story was originally posted by news@Northeastern.

“I was in a posi­tion where I wanted to do some­thing dif­ferent and get involved,” said Dick­inson, now a third-​​year communication studies major at North­eastern. So she started a Tumblr blog called “We Are The Kids” and began writing about her effort to break into the business.

She quickly built a loyal fol­lowing, amassing some 25,000 readers. Today she spends a few hours each day posting infor­ma­tion about intern­ships and answering ques­tions on topics ranging from finding a good col­lege music industry pro­gram to securing an intern­ship with scant expe­ri­ence in the field. When she doesn’t know the answer to a ques­tion, Dick­inson finds an industry expert who does.

For example, Dick­inson recently con­ducted an inter­view with the press coor­di­nator for the Warped Tour based on ques­tions posed by her fol­lowers. The strategy has helped her build a net­work of industry con­tacts, which could come in handy when she applies for co-​​op positions.

Dick­inson is cur­rently working with IDEA—Northeastern’s student-​​run ven­ture accelerator—to develop a busi­ness plan for the blog, which also helps readers find jobs in the music industry. “Having this team behind me is exactly what I need right now,” she said. “I’m not looking to make a living off of this, but I do think there’s a lot more I could do with it.”

Dickinson’s readers often approach her at con­certs, telling her of their deci­sion to major in music industry or the great job they found through her blog.

“I started this project trying to learn more about the industry and find intern­ships for myself,” Dick­inson said, “so there’s nothing better than having people tell me I’ve made a dif­fer­ence in their lives.”

This article was originally published by news@Northeastern.

This year, awards were presented during the reception. The first award was the Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal, which is awarded to graduating senior who has shown an affinity for leadership, performed willing service for the school or department, and gives promise of real professional merit through his or her attitude and personality.

This year’s winner was Matthew Stoner, B.S, 2013.

Also presented was the AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate. The American Institute of Architects awards an engraved medal and certificate of merit to the top-ranking graduating student in each architecture program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. A certificate of merit is awarded to the second-ranking graduating student.

Chris Slater, M.Arch 2013, was the AIA Henry Adams Certificate winner.
Jessica Wilcock, M.Arch 2013, was the AIA Henry Adams Medal winner.

Congratulations to all our graduates!

Micro apartments could be a creative solution to the issue of affordable city living for young, single professionals who want to have the urban experience but often can’t afford the high cost of living in some of our larger, denser cities. Small scale, contained apartments would provide alternatives to living with lots of roommates or having a long commute. These small-scale units do come with issues and one big one is how to use common space effectively to allow all residents to have opportunity to expand their living areas occasionally.

Marciano, Munroe and Matthew all see the potential advantages but also are aware of historic precedents where designs like there have gone wrong. They feel the best plan for micro housing would be part of a larger, mixed-income, mixed use structure.

Check out the full article on The Atlantic Cities here.

Check out the full article on The Boston Globe here.

Today, Fichera leads Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s effort to transform an underdeveloped section along the city’s waterfront into the new Innovation District.

The chance to build a neighborhood from scratch doesn’t come around often. Fichera got involved in Boston’s Innovation District—a hub for startups and high-tech companies—as a designer with the design firm Hacin + Associates, where she started as a co-op. After graduating, she quickly transitioned to full-time employee, focused on developing new public spaces to foster networking and creativity.

“Being the Innovation District manager is kind of a dream come true—a way to turn my side obsession into a full-time job.”

Original Post: http://www.northeastern.edu/magazine/fast-track-in-public-service/