At this point in the internship, I feel as though I’m settled in. 

I feel more comfortable doing my job and have stacked up four projects I’m working on independent of my regular, weekly obligations. I am still doing some work for my story about the Toonseum, have an interview set up to start getting to work on a profile of a local comedian, and have been in contact with PR folks for two other stories, on long-form and one short-form. It feels good to have cool, meaty projects like this in progress, alongside the regular work I have to do.

One of the short lists for this week is longer than usual, which means I get to do some original reporting. I am set up to be interviewing an actor in the area for the write-up, which I am excited to do. The Critic for this week was the most enjoyable for me, because I got to attend 3 Rivers Comicon, a really awesome comic book convetnion. I interviewed a rectruiter and father who is also a big daredevil fan, if I can make any assumptions based off of his costume. 

Another week, another round of good work. 

My second week at the City Paper added more responsibility, but also more fulfillment.

Because I already proved I understood how to write the Short List, I was given five to write. I find the events I am told to write about interesting. One of the events was a Comicon I had already planned to attend. Another was a lecture from a famous reporter I had already been aware of form following the news. This reporter is April Ryan, a black reporter who had some infamous run-ins with President Donald Trump and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. 

The Everyone’s a Critic art event I went to was an interesting lecture from Hip-Hop artist Hollyhood about sexism in hip-hop. She was very knowledgeable and eloquent, even though, unfortunately, the event was poorly attended. 

This week I also got to work on a traditional story. I did an interview about and did some research on upcoming efforts from the Toonseum to expand their educational resources for kids. 

That was the big development from this week: I began to add in traditional reporting to my regular schedule. 

My first week at the City Paper came with some pleasant surprises. 

First are the simple things. I get my own cubicle, which is great not just because of the actual cubicle but also because of the air of professionalism that comes with it. There’s a great view of the city in the newsroom, and a nice kitchen. 

Aside from those things, I was impressed with how rewarding I found the work. As was already explained in my original job interview, as the Arts and Entertainment intern, I am in charge of working on short blurbs about upcoming events every week as part of the paper’s “Short List” section. These small pieces of writing usually don’t require a lot of original reporting, but I enjoyed doing them nonetheless. There’s a certain art to putting together information as succinctly and clearly as I’m required to, I have to play close attention to stuff like word choice, phrasing and organization I ways I never quite had to before. 

I am also required to do the weekly “Everyone’s a Critic” feature, which requires one to attend an art event every week, find an attendee, and ask them about their thoughts on the event. Along with that, you also get a photo and some basic information about them. I was required to attend the opening of an art gallery at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, and there I was introduced to a kind of art I wasn’t aware of before. 

I had a good first week. 

VARYING ACCOMMODATIONS ARE MADE ACROSS CITY CAMPUSES

BY MATT PETRAS

On transgender student Cris Wildman’s emails, mail, and student ID at Duquesne University, the name on display is the female name assigned at birth. However, when trans student Heather Leasure signs up for a room at Point Park University, she can room with other women despite her state records identifying her as a male.

In 2016, a year filled with controversial legislation concerning trans rights, colleges in Pittsburgh are tasked with creating a welcoming atmosphere for transgender student.

“Overall, it’s a climate that is really rapidly improving,” said Peter Crouch, describing his own college, the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus. Crouch is transgender and the president of Pitt’s LGBT club, called the Rainbow Alliance.

Read the rest here!

Pittsburgh City Councilmen Dan Gilman and Bruce Kraus crafted a bill that would ban conversion therapy, a harmful practice implemented to change sexual orientation and gender identity for minors in Pittsburgh.

“It’s something I’ve been looking at since I took office three years ago,” Gilman said.

The bill was introduced by the councilmen on Nov. 29. Gilman and Kraus expect the bill to pass; preliminary voting is Wednesday, Gilman said.

Read the full article here. 

Brandishing a high-quality camera in his hands and a smartwatch on his wrist, freshman cinema production major Matt Metrovich sat down for an interview Sunday afternoon. He always has a camera like that with him and often breaks the ice by asking people if they would like their picture taken.

“I’m really awkward, and I embrace it,” Metrovich said.

Any awkwardness aside, Metrovich is already the CEO of his own photography and video company, Metro Digital, which rakes in good money for the young entrepreneur and has a large following on Instagram.

Read the full article here. 

I Hate Fairyland #1
Written by Skottie Young
Art by Skottie Young
Colors by Jean-Francois Beauieu
Published by Image Comics

Do you ever worry that human beings will eventually use up all of the cool ideas?

It’s a silly fear that haunts the deep recesses of my mind from time to time that is constantly pushed further and further back as independent artists get to work on new properties. The latest example is I Hate Fairyland from Skottie Young over at Image Comics, based around a premise so neat and original that it’s downright annoying it only recently came into existence.

Read the full article here. 

Point Park students were present at a recent Donald Trump rally downtown to both support and protest the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. The large crowds on both sides eventually led to confrontations and police involvement.

“There is tremendous love in what we’re doing,” Trump said during his rally.

The campaign announced Monday, April 11 that Trump would be giving a speech at this rally in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at 7:00 p.m. Before the rally, at 5:30 p.m. Fox News’ Sean Hannity hosted a town hall roughly an hour long with Trump at Soldiers and Sailors in Oakland. Trump called the town hall a “big, beautiful show” in his speech.

Read the full piece here