Afi-Odelia E. ScruggsAfi-Odelia E. Scruggs

How I Raised Money for an Independent Reporting Project

Afi Scruggs — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:29:25 +0000

I’m scared of money. I don’t like to manage it, and I don’t like to raise it. So if I raised money for a reporting project, anyone can. Last year, I raised $1,000 for two stories and an audio piece called “Hard Times on the Unemployment Line: Out of Prison and Out of Work.” I [...]

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Does a Name Tell Race? Play the Name Game

Afi Scruggs — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:23:05 +0000

Wrong First Name Means No Job? Maybe so. Economist Marianne Bertrand found employers were twice as likely to contact applicants with so-called “White-sounding” names than those with so-called ”Black-sounding” names. But what’s a Black – White, Hispanic, or Asian – name? Do you play the name game? When you hear a name, do you assign a [...]

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90 Years in 90 days: Documenting Cleveland Heights Ohio

Afi Scruggs — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:37:30 +0000

Update I’ve only been working on this series a week, but the response has been fantastic. We’ve gotten followers, suggestions and comments. My favorites so far: The Bessers who recognized their grandfather’s store in our first photo; the children of Gail Kirschenbaum Bash, who contributed a story about her recycling efforts. I’m learning quite a [...]

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Ramadan Mubarak: The science behind breaking the fast

Afi Scruggs — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:09:51 +0000

During Ramadan, Muslims return to eating with a meal of dates and water or milk. The combination is traditional and nutritional. I produced this explanation of the science behind breaking the fast.

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Ramadan in the work-a-day world

Afi Scruggs — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:35:10 +0000

During an amazing week learning audio production at the Center for Documentary Studies, we were challenged to make short pieces on Ramadan for.www.prx.org PRX is the Public Radio Exchange, a distribution network for independent radio producers. We were also challenged to keep using what we’d learned, instead of letting it go stale and losing it [...]

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Afi’s latest audio essay: Ode to the Pencil

Afi Scruggs — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 02:28:43 +0000

Update: The post is being featured on the log-in homepage of www.prx.org, the Public Radio Exchange. I’m so thrilled. Now, I’m heading to the Center for Documentary Studies and its week-long audio bootcamp, “Hearing is Believing I.” Follow me on twitter at @aoscruggs.

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Spot.us and I: My foray into community-funded journalism

Afi Scruggs — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 03:36:05 +0000

How is independent journalism like independent film making? In both professions, the storyteller has to an audience for his or creation. Film makers accomplished that task by raising money for their projects, but most journalists didn’t. Now, however, all the old rules have been revised. And I’ve been hanging out with independent filmmakers, courtesy of [...]

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From text to photos: my latest work

Afi Scruggs — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:58:03 +0000

For the past four weeks, I’ve been generating slides shows for clevelandheights.patch.com and its sister site, beachwood.patch.com. The work, and accompanying pay, mark a definite transition in my transformation from print to multi-media journalist. Plus now, I can justify a better camera.

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