This is an Independent Blog. I am an Independent Journalist.
My name is Adam Polaski, and I am a junior journalism major at Ithaca College, currently enrolled in the "Independent Media" class in the Park School of Communications. The famed Jeff Cohen, He Who Denounced Cable News, is my professor. And let's be honest: it's pretty sick to be learning about independent media from someone who hasn't only studied the field, but also personally knows almost all of the heavy hitters in this growing, massively important sect of journalism.
From Arianna Huffington to Josh Marshall to Matt Drudge - yes, even him - the big players in Indy Media have proven time and time again that, given some time to build and some resources, media from the non-corporate world can cover news, break stories, spark intelligent debate, get people talking, inform the masses, and affect change just as well as traditional old fogies like The New York Times and The Washington Post.
I'd love to someday have as great a journalistic empire as one of these non-corporate revolutionaries (and let's make sure we're clear here - "great" is a synonym for "important and influential," not "massive and money-making"), so this semester is all about studying up on their secrets, tips and histories.
At Ithaca College, I work for the "alternative" magazine, Buzzsaw magazine, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary at the college. Founded in 1999 as a way to question authority, have an opinion while telling stories, mock hypocrisy and generally kick journalistic ass, Buzzsaw has been a great way for budding young journalists to explore narrative reporting and experimental storytelling. This year I'm the editor of the Upfront section, the largest section that deals with each issue's central theme, which ranges from the concrete ("Family," "Transportation," "Obsession") to the pretentiously abstract ("The Hidden Issue," "The Ownership Issue," and yes..."The Independent Issue").
In addition to working for Buzzsaw, I'm on the boards of several student organizations, including Habitat for Humanity (the international organization that advocates for affordable housing and builds houses for deserving families), Water for Sudan (a fundraising group for freshwater wells in southern Sudan), the United Way Stone Soup Philanthropy Corps (a student fundraising and grant allocations group), and IC VoiceStream (Coed a cappella awesome). This year I'm also a one-to-one Big Brother through the Ithaca Youth Bureau, and I work with S.W.I.F.T., a student food salvage organization.
My writing is available in other places around the Web: my personal blog is called AMPedand deals with a variety of topics, primarily film/television analyses and LGBT-focused journalism; I began a blog with a classmate last fall calledPocket Full of Change to highlight poverty, hunger and homelessness relief efforts in Tompkins County; I documented my adventures in Buenos Aires, Argentina in AMPed in Argentina; and I manage a blog committed to highlighting community outreach efforts in the Philadelphia area called "Citizen Kind: The Blog for the Community-Conscious Main Liner" at Main Line Today magazine.
Contact me for more information at [email protected].
From Arianna Huffington to Josh Marshall to Matt Drudge - yes, even him - the big players in Indy Media have proven time and time again that, given some time to build and some resources, media from the non-corporate world can cover news, break stories, spark intelligent debate, get people talking, inform the masses, and affect change just as well as traditional old fogies like The New York Times and The Washington Post.
I'd love to someday have as great a journalistic empire as one of these non-corporate revolutionaries (and let's make sure we're clear here - "great" is a synonym for "important and influential," not "massive and money-making"), so this semester is all about studying up on their secrets, tips and histories.
At Ithaca College, I work for the "alternative" magazine, Buzzsaw magazine, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary at the college. Founded in 1999 as a way to question authority, have an opinion while telling stories, mock hypocrisy and generally kick journalistic ass, Buzzsaw has been a great way for budding young journalists to explore narrative reporting and experimental storytelling. This year I'm the editor of the Upfront section, the largest section that deals with each issue's central theme, which ranges from the concrete ("Family," "Transportation," "Obsession") to the pretentiously abstract ("The Hidden Issue," "The Ownership Issue," and yes..."The Independent Issue").
In addition to working for Buzzsaw, I'm on the boards of several student organizations, including Habitat for Humanity (the international organization that advocates for affordable housing and builds houses for deserving families), Water for Sudan (a fundraising group for freshwater wells in southern Sudan), the United Way Stone Soup Philanthropy Corps (a student fundraising and grant allocations group), and IC VoiceStream (Coed a cappella awesome). This year I'm also a one-to-one Big Brother through the Ithaca Youth Bureau, and I work with S.W.I.F.T., a student food salvage organization.
My writing is available in other places around the Web: my personal blog is called AMPedand deals with a variety of topics, primarily film/television analyses and LGBT-focused journalism; I began a blog with a classmate last fall calledPocket Full of Change to highlight poverty, hunger and homelessness relief efforts in Tompkins County; I documented my adventures in Buenos Aires, Argentina in AMPed in Argentina; and I manage a blog committed to highlighting community outreach efforts in the Philadelphia area called "Citizen Kind: The Blog for the Community-Conscious Main Liner" at Main Line Today magazine.
Contact me for more information at [email protected].
