By Ben Cook
StreetWise

Three years ago, Rob Federighi was walking near NBC studios, where he worked at the time, and decided to buy a paper from a nearby StreetWise vendor as he had often done before.

As he took the paper to a local coffee shop, he wondered who the vendor was as a person. Where did he come from? What was his story? Rob figured that if he was having these questions, then no doubt other people were, too.

"I think a lot of people have a vague understanding of what StreetWise really is, and are filled with questions like, 'Why do people sell StreetWise, as opposed to just panhandling?'"

To understand StreetWise better, Federighi approached Deneen Weinz and the board of directors to get the go-ahead for a project to chronicle StreetWise vendors in a film.

Through an audition process, six vendors were selected: Linda Fisher, Everett Atkins, Metrone Quisean, Tyrone Moore, Don Nelson and Lonnie Lloyd. The film also features former vendor and current StreetWise employee Gregory Pritchett.

By Rosette Capito

Columbia College Chicago journalism students gathered recently in the Convergence Newsroom to hear a panel of Spanish-language journalists speak about their publications, Extra and Hoy, and the growth of the Spanish-language media.

"There is a demand [for Spanish-language media]," said Abel Arciniega, production manager of Extra. "Within the next five years I can see more publications and possibly another Hispanic channel."

Along with Arciniega, Jessica Del Curto, managing editor of Extra, and Alejandro Riera, an editor with Hoy, spoke about the many issues the Hispanic community faces. Their papers cover the issues that general media does not cover despite the growth of the Hispanic market in Chicago.

"The traditional general market newspapers are still behind in recognizing and acknowledging the reporters of this community," Riera said.