About

My name is Charlotte Cusumano and I am a senior at Hunter College. I have spent the last four years studying journalism but I only started learning recently. Journalism isn’t just writing in a magazine, or in a newspaper or on a blog–it is about asking questions and being curious. When I started to ask questions I found out I wasn’t just interested in writing. I was interested in writing, editing, publicity, coming up with ideas, developing programs or campaigns and talking to people. And with all those things I just named, I can talk to people, reach people, touch people and learn about new people and new things, which is why I fell in love with journalism in the first place.

But just because I am finally understanding what the media can do and the power that it has, doesn’t mean I know how to navigate through the system. I am a novice. I am just starting to attend press screenings and conferences and learning to talk to the big guys. I’m sending unsolicited pitches out, feeling a bit too happy when I use lingo like “dek” and “TK,” going to forums and networking events and sometimes still writing for free just to get my name out there.

What better way to document my travels through the NYC media landscape than to blog about it. At school, I visit various journalism classes and talk about the benefit of working at the paper, where to look for internships and how to survive out here. I see people writing down what I say and then emailing me more questions and I am actually helping them. So let’s see if this works, maybe I can actually help you too.