How Long Island Flipped Red: More than a George Santos Story

Zoe Hussain

Project Description

For my senior capstone project, I focused on beat reporting on Long Island about systemic issues, such as zoning, segregation, and political campaigning. Throughout my project, I interviewed over 15 experts and residents of Long Island. My final project is a combination of a published article about a local politician's civilian militia initiative and data visualization from census, voting, and housing records.

What Form will your Final Project Take?

Published article in The Daily Beast, internship at The New York Post

Who was supporting you in your work?

Anjali Khosla guided me through the reporting process, helped me pitch my article, and led me to solidify the final product of my reporting.

Project Themes:

Research, Creative

How has this project has been impactful or transformative?

My published article in The Daily Beast generated over 1000 comments from residents of Nassau County and former police officers, and was the only national publication to publish anything on Bruce Blakeman's civilian militia initiative. Out of all my work in the Journalism and Design department, I am most proud of this piece for how it brought attention to a community I grew up in and have advocated for.

What would you do differently?

Manage your time! Come into capstone with an idea already somewhat formed

Short summary of your experience:

My experience doing this capstone, while challenging in terms of balancing my time with other roles and course work, was a rewarding way to begin my career in political reporting and make sense of themes I had already explored in my past reporting.

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