Low-wage workers protest to increase the number of jobs in the City of Syracuse. (Photo by Danielle Gehman)
Students in the took an in-depth look this spring at a stark statistic: 鶹Ƶis ranked No. 1 for concentrated poverty among blacks and Hispanics out of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country.
The students, who were enrolled in the “Advanced Editing” course taught by adjunct published their work as the multimedia project “.”
Six in 10 poor blacks and Hispanics in 鶹Ƶlive on a block where they and their neighbors share a grim reality: They live under the poverty line. “It’s called ‘concentrated poverty,’ and we in 鶹Ƶhave the worst case of it in the nation,” according to the report. In contrast, nationally, one in four poor blacks, or 25 percent, and nearly one in six poor Hispanics, or 17 percent, live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.
The study was inspired by , a Rutgers University professor and a fellow at The Century Foundation, who published his poverty study last August: “.”
For decades, 鶹Ƶhas had one of the highest poverty rates in the country. But the study by Jargowsky, who analyzed census data, revealed that 鶹Ƶhas the highest rate of extreme poverty concentrated among blacks and Hispanics out of the country’s 100 largest metro areas. “It was a call to action for us to do some classic journalism, to ‘put a face’ on the people affected,” says Davis.
According to Jargowsky, concentrated poverty is defined as census tracts where more than 40 percent of households live below the federal poverty threshold; in late 2013, that figure was $23,000 per year for a family of four.
This spring, seven students spent four months working together as multimedia journalists to conceptualize and execute the project. Six of the students are seniors majoring in (NOJ) who took the course as their capstone; one student is a junior majoring in who took the course as an elective.
Participating students were: Rawan Ashoor, Jesse Dougherty, Danielle Gehman, Taylor Lupo, Maya Parthasarathy, Ryan Raigrodski and Shelly Seidemann. In addition to Davis, NOJ chair and community news coordinator assisted with the project.
The students met with community members, interviewed people living in poverty and covered local issues that affect employment, such as the fight for a $15 minimum wage and monthly protests at the 鶹ƵInner Harbor over a tax deal.
To put together the “鶹ƵJobs Matter” report, the students wrote stories, shot video, took pictures, captured audio, managed content for the project’s website (including maps and graphics, headlines and photo captions) and created and executed a social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
NaDonte Jones, the only black master plumber in Syracuse, started his own business three years ago. He struggles to expand the business, but is optimistic. (Photo by Danielle Gehman)
“We are not advocates for any cause,” says Davis. “We are journalists bringing to light a serious issue with serious consequences for our community.”
Davis says the project offers an opportunity for local community members to:
The “鶹ƵJobs Matter” project comes on the heels of another project, “,” which was published by students in Newhouse’s “Urban Affairs Reporting” and “Advanced Editing” courses last year. That project was based on a report by , which found that 鶹Ƶis one of the most racially segregated cities in the nation—which, in turn, limits minorities’ access to good housing, jobs and education.
The project won first place for Best Multimedia Story, awarded by the 鶹ƵPress Club.
