Category: newspapers

media, new media, New York, New York City, New York Times, news, newspapers

Leap: Get 12 Free Weeks to the Digital Version of The New York Times

Christa Avampato

Here’s my perfect Sunday morning: Waking up in a sunny room to coffee, CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, and Phineas.

The New York Times has been a big part of my life since I was a child. My dad relished the Sunday version. I remember him reading it cover to cover. We weren’t allowed to touch it until he was done with it and he was the only one allowed to touch the crossword puzzle, which he did in pen (as opposed to pencil.) Now you understand the yardstick I’m up against when it comes to measuring my own abilities.

How I Grew to Treasure The Times
One summer Sunday I remember seeing the travel section of The Times Magazine. I called every 1-800 number and ordered a catalog to the far-flung corners of the world that I hoped to visit someday and they started piling up in our mailbox in droves. It felt like Christmas. I kept them stashed away under my bed and I’d look at them every day, dreaming of the days when I’d get to travel. I think I was about 8.

And that sealed the deal for me. The Times and I were partners for life. It gave me the chance to dream of what life would, could, and should be when I grow up. I’ve been an avid reader of it all of my adult life. It is the #1 news source I go to.

Getting on the Inside
A few years after my travel catalog spree, my fascination with the organization behind the paper caused me to read Gay Talese’s The Kingdom and the Power. 5 times. (My mother always stressed that I was a “special” child.) I never dreamed of working there, but I did want to know what life was like on the inside of that hallowed institution.

At SXSW 2011, I went to see the documentary Page One and had the chance to meet David Carr, one of my journalism idols. (I highly recommend the film; it’s incredibly well done!) At the end of the documentary, I had an excellent sense of why they decided to change their policy and begin charging for their online subscriptions. The level of in-depth reporting they do around the world requires a good deal of funding. I’ve benefited from it for so many years and I decided in that moment that once the new pricing went into effect, I would become a subscriber.

Win a Digital Subscription to The Times
And now I want all of you to have that chance, too! As a subscriber, I have the opportunity to give away a free 12 week digital subscription to The Times to someone who doesn’t yet have a subscription and I want to offer it up to the readers of this blog who constantly support me and my endeavors. Just leave me a comment on this post and I’ll select a winner at random on Monday evening, letting you know who the winner is on Tuesday.

film, media, New York Times, news, newspapers

Beginning: Why I Decided to Re-Subscribe to The New York Times

Christa Avampato

I love the volume of news and information that literally flows through my hands on my phone. I can quickly and easily catch up on world events as I wait in line was and commute to work. I no longer print out directions or make lists for groceries and errands. I just store it all in my phone and it’s available whenever I need it. And still, I miss the newspaper on Sundays.

That changed today when my first paper Sunday Times in many years was delivered to my door. Two key events in the last few months led me to re-subscribe to The Times.

The front page
In March, I saw the premiere of the documentary Page One at SXSW. I was enthralled by the process that The New York Times goes through every day to decide what goes on the front page of the paper the next day. And the premiere, we learned that The Times would be moving to a subscription model of some kind in order to save its financials. After years of all we could read for free, the company had to make the bold move to protect itself in these turbulent media times. And in that moment I felt I had to subscribe to help protect The Times too. It is too big, too important, to fail.

A diary of epic proportions
A few weeks ago I went to the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival to see Tim Hetherington’s Diary. Diary is his autobiography in film form. When he submitted to the festival, he had every intention of being there for the Q&A. Sadly we lost Tim in Libya this Spring as he was there covering the unfolding conflict. His close friend, James Brabazon, described Tim as “a light so bright you could steer your boat by him.” He was nothing short of a genius with compassion and heart, and he spent a good deal of his career in journalism working for The New York Times among other top publications. My subscription money supports work like Tim’s, and it’s the least I can do after all that The Times has done for me for so many years.

My Sunday morning
6 days a week you’ll find me reading as many articles as I can on my phone and my laptop, taking in world-class digital content from The Times thanks to my subscription. (All subscriptions allow for full access to all digital content.) And on Sunday mornings, I’ll happily be on my coach, CBS Sunday Morning on my TV, coffee or tea in hand, Phineas next to me, reading The New York Times in black and white.

health, healthcare, home, movie, news, newspapers, social change, television

My Year of Hopefulness – Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez

Christa Avampato

I’ve been developing a habit of reading and listening to inspirational stories. I need to keep my courage and strength up in these tough times. We all do. On Sunday, I watched 60 Minutes because President Obama was speaking. I planned to shut off the TV and go through some of my weekly reading that had piled up as soon as President Obama’s interview was complete. Instead, I spent the remainder of the hour glued to the TV, getting to know Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez. 


Meet Mr. Lopez, a columnist for the LA Times. A good guy whom you imagine might be your neighbor, a fellow parent at your child’s school, if you’re lucky he’d be your boss or colleague. Now meet Mr. Ayers, a homeless man in LA. He suffers from the disease of paranoid schizophrenia. And he is a brilliantly gifted musician. Cello, violin, and trumpet. Gift enough to be admitted to Julliard. Gifted enough still to keep up with the LA Philharmonic whose members now rehearse with and provide lessons to him when he visits them at the concert hall. 

After his first year at Julliard, Mr. Ayers went home and began showing signs of his illness which was rearing its ugly head inside his wonderfully gifted mind. As a last ditch desperation move, Mr. Ayers followed the advice of psychiatrists and subjected her son to electric shock treatments. It is a barbaric treatment that was at one time, not all that long ago, accepted as a viable tool to manage the disease. Instead, it sent Mr. Ayers into a downward spiral from which he has never returned. 

Mr. Lopez and Mr. Ayers met three years ago. Mr. Ayers was playing his cello in a park as Mr. Lopez roamed the streets trying to come up with a story for his looming deadline. What struck Mr. Lopez in addition to Mr. Ayers’s virtuosity, was that he wasn’t playing in the park for money. He was just playing his cello for himself. Mr. Lopez would learn that Mr. Ayers played to forget, to chase away the frightening effects of his schizophrenia. He needed to, wanted to drown out his deepest, darkest concerns. Thus began a 3 year friendship that continues and flourishes so much that it caught the attention of Universal Pictures and has been turned into a movie, The Soloist, featuring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The movie will open in theatres on April 24, 2009.  

My father was a clinical psychologist so I know a bit about diseases like paranoid schizophrenia. I can tell you that it is a heartbreaking disease to see and experience up close, and it is even harder to see the strain the disease places on families and loved ones of the person who has the disease. To hear the story of Mr. Ayers, to hear his incredible musical gifts mixed with his equally incredible demons, we have to believe that in all people, regardless of circumstances, there is good and not-so-good. 

It was a reminder to me that too often we cast aside the mentally ill in this country as if they have nothing to offer society. They are hidden away, forgotten, ignored. Their basic needs like healthcare and shelter too often go unfulfilled. In our society, they have very few vehicles to raise their voice, to come together, to stand up, and to be counted. Let’s hope that The Soloist is not just another feel good story at the box office but that it actually raises awareness that inspires action. On the movie’s website, there are links to help you get involved in the efforts to end homelessness and help those with mental illnesses.   

To read the 5-part series written by Mr. Lopez about Mr. Ayers, click here.

The above photo depicts Mr. Nathaniel Ayers playing the violin. I found the image at: https://christaavampato.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/1865563850_9f4c68c464.jpg?w=300
finance, media, news, newspapers, technology, youth

The Big Money

Christa Avampato

With the markets in turmoil, it’s easy to think that the sky is falling. For many, jobs are being lost, retirement plans postponed, and savings and investment values plummeting like lead balloons. All this unrest is yielding one very positive result – the growing interest and understanding about the financial system by very young people in this country.

Slate.com, the witty if conceited and sometimes down-right nasty, has launched a new site to cater to the Facebook set interested in keeping up with the business news of the day, provided its packaged up in their language. The Big Money is a bit short on slick design, though the content is intriguing. They’re covering all the major topics like the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, with some other interesting, timely, and generation X- and Y-targeted info like a socially responsible investing guide.

Viewed side by side with publications such as The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, The Big Money clearly goes after breadth over depth, though if they’re trying to attract younger generations this is the path of least resistance – give them a surface understanding and allow them to dig in deeper where they deem necessary and interesting. Don’t overwhelm them because they’ll tune you out, and give them just enough information to be conversant around the office about today’s top stories. The goal is to raise their awareness of the financial shifts happening today that are sure to have huge impacts on their lives for decades to come.

The Big Money is a publication that has clearly done its homework, knows its customer, and knows who they are, and more importantly who they aren’t. No brand can, or should, be all things to all people. The Big Money seeks to turn this latest economic downturn into a learning opportunity for very young adults that will build their lifelong interest in their financial well-being. If that’s the case, then mission accomplished.