About Borderlines

About Borderlines

Dozens of Newhouse School students deployed to New York’s border with Canada to report stories about the people, cultures, businesses and landscapes at the edge of two nations.
Published: May 30, 2019 | Updated: May 21st, 2020 at 1:15 am

More than 50 students at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications joined forces on Borderlines, an international reporting project on the border in Syracuse’s backyard.

Three dozen of those students fanned out along and across the U.S.-Canada border on April 5-7 and came back with stories about Indigenous people, security, business, government, history, and, of course, comparisons to the southern border.

Following the trips, students in the school’s News Editing and Web Journalism & Innovation courses handled editing, graphic development and digital production on The NewsHouse.

Freshmen, graduate students and students at all levels in between participated in the project. It attracted students from a majority of Newhouse majors and all of the school’s journalism programs including Magazine, News & Digital Journalism, Visual Communications and Broadcast & Digital Journalism.

Together, they produced Borderlines, a project that captures the beauty and complexity of the border between Canada and the United States, and the people who live there.

About Borderlines: Reporter interviewing Gill family at Rose Ridge Farms in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Freshman Louis Platt photographing David Gill and his father at the Rose Ridge Farms in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Photojournalism senior Alexandra Moreo served as Borderlines’ visuals editor as part of the Visual Editing & Project Development course under the guidance of VIS Professor Mike Davis. Graphic Design senior Emma Comtois designed the project logo. Journalism seniors Mary Catalfamo and Sabrina Brodkin devoted extra work as project coordinators and members of the Web Journalism & Innovation class.

Most Magazine, News & Digital Journalism professors contributed to the project by recruiting interested students, editing articles and offering input. MND professors Jon Glass and Greg Munno led the project and accompanied students to the border in April. Professor Seth Gitner provided significant support with digital design and CMS development. Professors Aileen Gallagher, Eric Grode, Gustav Niebuhr, Teri Weaver and Cheryl Reed were particularly helpful during the editing stage. Department Chair Melissa Chessher supported the project throughout, contributing time, money and encouragement. Academic Coordinator Jessica Tarrats was enormously helpful as always, particularly in managing our accommodations in the field.

The department is grateful to Newhouse alumnus David Flaum and his wife Jackie Flaum for their generous donation that helped to make this project possible.

Professors Munno and Glass, and the reporters who covered stories on the Mohawk Nation territory of Akwesasne, are also grateful to Jourdan Bennett-Begaye, a Newhouse alumna and reporter at Indian Country Today, for her guidance on story development, sourcing, language and style.

We also thank Elizabeth Calabria, the senior computer support technician at Newhouse who also oversees the equipment cage. The logistics of training and equipping a team of reporters this size for stills, audio and video was no small feat and required significant extra work.

There are many others worth thanking, too. Borderlines was truly a team effort.

Dedicated to Dean Branham

The students and faculty who worked on this project dedicate it to Lorraine Branham, who led the Newhouse School from 2008 until her passing on April 2, 2019. A fierce supporter of journalism at Newhouse and around the world, we hope these stories honor her memory.

Lorraine Branham, Newhouse School dean
About Borderlines: Team West in Niagara Falls, New York

Members of Team West in Niagara Falls, New York.

About Borderlines: Team North in Cornwell, Ontario

Members of Team North in Cornwall, Ontario.

Reporting & Visuals Team

Michele Abercrombie

Cleo Adebiyi

Engy Adham

Elizabeth Billman

Caroline Blair

Ashley Blanco

Molly Bolan

Olivia N. Bosar

Kate Brennan

Sabrina Brodkin

Micah Castelo

Mary Catalfamo

Jason Coupal

Colin Davy

Graham Dickie

Nhari Djan

Ghael Fobes

Quinn Gawronski

Molly Gibbs

Camila Grigera Naón

Brighton Harding

Lydia Herne

Malika-Budur Kalila

Aaron Kassman

Rebecca Lan

Patrick Linehan

Dan Lyon

Lauren Miller

Alexandra Moreo

Jishnu Nair

Muhammed Nomani

Amanda Paule

Justin Perline

Louis Platt

Meilin Quinn

Raven Rentas

Doug Steinman

Abigail Sterling

Gabe Stern

Digital & Editing Team

Danielle Agugliaro

Jo Allen

Eric Black

Madison Breaux

Weng Cheong

Madeleine Davison

Jaspreet Gill

Michaela Greer

Ashley Johnson

Tyler Lowell

Joanna Orland

Annie O’Sullivan

Keturah Raymond

Kennedy Rose

Melissa Rule

Ari Rosenfeld

Elizabeth White

Project Leadership Team

Jon Glass – Professor of Practice – Magazine, News and Digital Journalism

Greg Munno – Assistant Professor – Magazine, News and Digital Journalism

Seth Gitner – Associate Professor – Magazine, News and Digital Journalism & Visual Journalism