We'd hoped to have Sarah Stuteville, Hunter Grad and co-founder of the
Common Language Project on our Indypendent panel Friday, but due to
scheduling conflicts she can't make it.
Below is a testimonial from Sarah about her extensive work with the Indy.

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Sarah Stuteville
The Common Language Project

www.CLPmag.org <http://www.clpmag.org/>
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When I first moved to New York City four years ago with vague plans of
studying journalism I had no idea how or where to begin. I enrolled in the
media studies program at Hunter College, but frankly its overworked adjuncts
and defunct student paper didn't
offer me many opportunities to actually get out in the field and learn how
to report, write, and publish.
I stumbled on The Indypendent by chance. I was planning to attend an
immigrant rights march in Queens and someone at a party mentioned that it
might be the kind of story The Indypendent would want. That was, really, the
first article I ever published and I imagine the editorial team could tell,
but despite my obvious inexperience they kept encouraging me to contribute.
John Tarleton specifically spent many
hours talking with me about potential stories, guiding me through the
reporting process, and helping me edit and rewrite my work.
But not only did The Indy nurture my interest in journalism and encourage me
in ways that my huge commuter school never could, it also allowed me the
opportunity to write about issues that mattered to me and produce the kind
of investigative pieces that really honed my reporting skills and built my
experience as a writer. When my journalism program insisted that I receive
some of my degree credits from outside internships, I tried a few beyond The
Indy. Though those internships were occasionally interesting, I was back at
The Indy as soon as possible after a semester of updating links and writing
about parking problems in Bay Ridge with other publications.
At The Indy I was writing about everything: labor movements in Bushwick,
court cases in The Bronx, policing schools in Queens, and deportations in
Brooklyn's Little Pakistan. I learned new York City through The Indy, its
neighborhoods, politics and people through the Indy. Over the past three
years The Indy has taught me how to be a reporter in one of the most
challenging and exciting cities in the world.
By the time I graduated I did so with a couple of awards as a direct result
of my work with the Indy and more experience as a writer and reporter than
most of my peers. I feel confident about the next step, which is a
journalism project in Asia called The Common Language Project in part
supported and sponsored by the Independent Media Center (IMC).
I would encourage anyone interested in Independent media and in covering
some of the best stories that New York City has to offer to become a
contributor for The Indypendent. For people just learning the trade in New
York City, there isn't a better place to develop a love for journalism.

  "Stuteville Wins Undergraduate Aronson Award"
   http://hunter.cuny.edu/news/2005.shtml#stuteville
  Sarah Stuteville wins a 2004 Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
 along with Seymour Hersh, Naomi Klein and Frank Rich…

  Sarah Stuteville in The Indypendent:

  "Refusing to Be Illegal: Immigrant Labor Tour Rolls Into Queens"/Oct. 2003

http://www.indypendent.org/2003/10/15/refusing-to-be-illegal-immigrant-labor-tour-rolls-into-queens

  "The Military Solution: Can Junior Cadets Save Troubled Kids/March 2004
   http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=1363

  "Trouble in Little Pakistan"/May 2004
  http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=1470

  "The Dirty Dozen: Three Strikes, You're Out of Public High"

http://www.indypendent.org/2004/09/22/the-dirty-dozen-three-strikes-youre-out-of-public-high

  "The Trials of Miguel Malo"/Nov. 2005
  http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=2367

  "Enemy Mine: A Cambodian Veteran's Personal War Against Landmines/March
 2006

http://www.indypendent.org/2006/04/04/enemy-mine-328-award-winning-indypendent-reporter-sarah-stuteville-tells-the-story-of-a-cambodian-veterans-war-on-landmines

  "Sex Workers in the City of Joy"/June 2006
http://www.indypendent.org/2006/06/30/sex-workers-in-the-city-of-joy

  "Walking Out of Slavery"/June 2006
http://www.indypendent.org/2006/07/01/walking-out-of-slavery

  "Bitter Harvest"/July 2007
   http://www.indypendent.org/2007/07/25/bitter-harvest

  Sarah Stuteville & The Common Language Project
   www.clpmag.org

  Sarah Stuteville on Learning Journalism at The Indypendent:
 http://www.indypendent.org/?pagename=testimonials