Investigative Reports | The Princeton Summer Journal

By Erick Arzate, Shemaiah Clarke, Miguel Diaz and Hunter Richards
with the staff of The Princeton Summer Journal

This June, in response to a federal judge’s ruling, the Obama administration made the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B One-Step available over the counter to people of all ages and genders.

But an investigation by The Princeton Summer Journal revealed that the vast majority of pharmacists interviewed in New York City did not know about this recent change regarding the rules for access to Plan B One-Step, the most common “morning-after” pill.

Of 49 pharmacists interviewed Wednesday in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, only 16 were even aware that Plan B One-Step was now available to everyone without age or point-of-sale restrictions.

And of those 16 pharmacists, only 11 were actually selling Plan B One-Step without any restrictions. Several of the pharmacists interviewed said they were still enforcing the now-defunct age restrictions and cited lack of guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the pill’s manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, as a cause of confusion. Continue reading →

By Ashley Jones-Quaidoo, Lesley Le Platte, Jeanne Li and Ellen Pham
with the staff of The Princeton Summer Journal

Like many aspiring journalists, Harvard University student Michelle Hu went hunting for media internships this summer. But as a student on financial aid, Hu had to consider money when making her decision. Hu simply couldn’t afford to take an unpaid internship.

In the end, she got an internship with Al Jazeera in Washington, and was able to pull together money to cover basic expenses—a $1,000 stipend from Al Jazeera and a $1,000 scholarship from the Asian American Journalism Association. Even with this funding, however, budgeting for the summer still wasn’t easy.

“I had to find a place with cheap rent,” Hu said. “Every time I bought food it was a conscious decision.”

At least Hu was able to find funding. With the economy sluggish and the news industry struggling, unpaid journalism internships seem more common than ever. And that means students from low-income backgrounds are facing a major barrier to entry in the industry. Continue reading →

The Princeton Summer Journal

A publication of the Princeton University Summer Journalism Program

Category Archives: Investigative Reports

New Plan B rules cause confusion for NYC pharmacists

Unpaid journalism internships may serve as barrier to profession for low-income students