Eileen Markey

My work

Eileen Markey

Bronx, N.Y. 10467

eileenmarkey[at]gmail.com

Journalism

Wall Street Journal, stringer for Greater New York section, covering crime and breaking news. Filed copy on the Leiby Kletzky story and numerous others on tight deadlines and with harsh competition. 

WNYC 93.9 FM New York Public Radio, I’ve been active at WNYC for several years, working in various capacities. See separate entries for details of producer work. I contribute articles, blog posts and slideshows to It’saFreeCountry.org, WNYC’s lively and innovative politics website. Covered the 2010 election season, filing original stories on voter turnout, primary and election night victory parties and daily campaign news, repurposed audio interviews and discussed stories on air. Helped ensure the site was engaging and informative when it launched in fall 2010 and contributed again during the Republican presidential primary battles of early 2012.
A reporter dedicated to bringing sometimes forgotten corners of the city to the attention of larger audiences, I’ve reported audio rich feature pieces focusing on The Bronx.

The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC Radio. Research, prepare and write segments for this premiere public affairs radio show. Tasks include brainstorming topics, booking guests, writing interviews, working with audio and updating show page on WNYC.org                              

WNYC 93.9 FM,  producer, WNYC newsroom. Working on both Morning Edition and All Things Considered, I wrote copy for the host, pulled and edited audio, conducted interviews and wrote stories for newscast on very tight deadlines. I also reported from press conferences and covered spot news, writing stories around collected sound.                                                

CityLimits.org, contributing editor Housing and Homelessness. Wrote investigative articles on subprime lending, the effect of the foreclosure crisis on working class neighborhoods, shifts in homelessness policy and the emergence of homelessness as a problem for Haitian earthquake survivors in NYC. In this dynamic and complex beat, she developed story ideas, maintained sources in and outside city and federal government, kept abreast of changes in law and developed expertise on banking and financial issues related to housing development and real estate. Her work for CityLimits on the limitations of the federal HAMP program and on the precarious financial position of multifamily rental buildings in NYC pre-dated major national publications by more than a year.                         Oct 2006-Dec. 2010

The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Daily News, The Village Voice, National Catholic Reporter,  freelance reporter.                      2005-present    

The Journal News, White Plains, NY.  Freelance writer. Wrote a variety of news and feature pieces for the Westchester County and Southern New York newspaper.                                                                       Sept. 2004-2006

Herald News, Paterson, N.J., staff writer. Municipal reporter for City of Paterson. I covered the police and city hall beats in this city of 150,000, courting sources, following stories and filing multiple times a day. Reported on the FBI investigation and eventual sentencing of the mayor, wrote about the drug trade and the neighborhoods enmeshed in it, uncovered labor abuses against immigrant workers at a factory (my reporting won them back wages). Uncovered abuse at a drug treatment facility, reported on disputes between city hall and the police union and did deep reporting on life in the neighborhoods of Paterson. After writing countless homicide and shooting stories, I retraced the path of a gun used in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old back to the North Carolina pawnshop where it was bought. In Paterson I learned how to be a reporter: curious, skeptical, indefatigable, wary and enthusiastic, and always, always listening.                                                          June 2000 – Nov. 2003

Newsday, Queens, N.Y., intern. Reported on breaking news, did legwork for multiple author stories including the funeral of Patrick Dorismond, who was shot by NYPD and covered the press conference in which Donna Hanover announced her separation from then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.                                             Jan. — May 2000

Union-News, Springfield, MA., staff writer. I covered two towns in western Massachusetts, filing daily stories concentrating on local government, schools and suburban sprawl.                                  March — Aug. 1999

The Cambodia Daily, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, assistant editor. Reported breaking news, national politics and general interest for the country’s bilingual newspaper of record.             Aug. — Jan. 1998

The Village Voice, New York, N.Y., intern. Worked for investigative reporter Wayne Barrett. Conducted interviews, did extensive document research and co-authored pre-election cover story on then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.                                                                                                          May – Dec. 1997                             

Research

Facting checking, research assistance for Robin Shulman, author of Eat the City.
                                                                                 Dec. 2011-Feb 2012

Center for New York City Affairs, reported on affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities for a publication of this New School University institute.                                                                                       2007

Research assistant for author Joe Flood, on The Fires. I conducted interviews and dug through municipal and court records for this book on the destruction of the Bronx in the 1970s.                                                            June-July 2009

Good Jobs New York, research analyst for subsidy accountability think tank. I researched and wrote a report documenting the revolving door between state and local economic development agencies that give out public subsidies and entities working to secure those subsidies for the New York Yankees’ new stadium.                                                                            Sept. 2006-May 2007

Teaching

Adjunct professor, Hunter College. Combining my knowledge of The Bronx and street-level journalism, I’m teaching the Neighborhood News/Hunts Point Express class at Hunter this semester. Students will learn nuts and bolts reporting and the social history of the South Bronx as they cover Hunts Point for the community newspaper.

adjunct professor, Long Island University. Sharing my reporting skills and passion for good writing, I’m teaching an advanced newswriting class this semester. Students will learn best practices as they report on neighborhoods from Downtown Brooklyn to Coney Island.

professor, Lehman College, CUNY College Now summer journalism program. Taught basic reporting to high school students, emphasizing media literacy, civic education and enterprise reporting. 

Adjunct professor, College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, NY Spring 2008. I taught a shoe-leather heavy reporting and writing class to communication majors.

Instructor, West Bronx News Network, Youth Journalism Initiative, Bronx, NY. Spring 2008. Assisting another journalist, I taught Bronx high school students reporting and writing in an after school program run by a small coalition of community newspapers.

Education

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, M.S. May 2000

Fordham University, B.A. Urban Studies/English. May 1998

Honors

2004 Finalist, NYC Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists Best Reporting, newspaper under 100,000 for my story tracing the gun that killed a 15-year old New Jersey boy back to the small North Carolina town where it was bought and resold.