Marist College students create a video about New York City’s reservoirs

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A drum roll, please!! 

As a thank you for your donations to NewsMatch and your patience, I’ve saved this video from students at Marist College for you to enjoy.

Before I share it, let me introduce it.

Back in the fall, Jeffrey Basinger, a professor at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., called me and asked if Delaware Currents would be interested in collaborating with student journalists on a documentary project. I responded with an enthusiastic “yes”!

Aside from my interest in helping students, I was intrigued by Basinger’s goal: to create a collaboration among news outlets in the general area of the school. (Yes, I know that area is largely around the Houston River and I’m focused on the Delaware but, hey, I could at least hear him out!)

I have been a devoted fan of another collaboration project — NJ News Commons — launched 10+ years ago by the Center for Cooperative Media, based in Montclair State University in New Jersey. 

It is a collaborative built on the understanding that instead of individual news outlets competing for scarce readers/resources, we can build a journalism ecosystem that multiplies our impact.

I really love one of its slogans: “Collaborate or die!”

Many of you have heard my concerns about the dismal state of news, with almost all news outlets — TV, newspaper, news websites and radio — suffering from layoffs and shrinkage.

Amid the gloom, online startups (like Delaware Currents) provide some glimmer of hope. Collaboration among news outlets is another.

Teams of Bassinger’s video students were assigned to the various media outlets that agreed to be partners for what might eventually become a regular part of the news ecosystem hosted at Marist.

The team assigned to me were students Matt Carpenter, Jack Geary and Neel Viswanathan.

First, we had to think about what they could do that wasn’t too far from home base. From the beginning, we knew that the friction created by New York City’s need for water and the “upstate” communities that would be affected by that need could create an interesting starting point.

And, especially, the reservoirs.

Here’s the result: a video prepared by those students called Troubled Waters. I hope you enjoy it!

A tip of the hat to the other Marist people behind the project: Jacqueline Reich, dean of the School of Communication and the Arts, and Kevin Lerner, associate professor of communication/journalism.