“Some Good News,” which began with Krasinski putting out a call for good news on his Twitter, gathers the various corners of the internet into one digestible, engaging news report. Imagine, a news aggregator, in the form of an interactive talk show where Krasinski is the host who brings together not only celebrities but also ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things.

There have only been three episodes so far, and Krasinski has proven that a home-made show (with his wife Emily Blunt behind the camera and their two daughters Hazel and Violet designing the SGN’s logo) doesn’t automatically mean low production, and I’m not talking solely about the technical aspects. With each release, SGN combines news pegs from across the web, mostly Twitter, with an eclectic collection of spectacles, whether musical, sports or good ole one-on-one interviews.

In the first episode of SGN, Krasinski gave the audience the impression that he didn’t know how this show would take shape exactly. But you only get one chance to nail a first impression, and Krasinski absolutely nailed it. Why? He called up Steve Carell, tasking him as the “Entertainment Correspondent” and exchanging witty banter with his former on-screen boss as “The Office” celebrates its 15-year anniversary. Needless to say, this tactic is effective at building a base audience for SGN, given the incredibly loyal fanbase of the continuously popular TV show, which includes many millennials and even Gen-Zers thanks to the age of streaming.

But that wasn’t all. The true hero of this episode, according to Krasinski, is a 15-year-old girl from California named Coco, who finished her last chemotherapy treatment and went home to a social distancing party put together by her friends, whose cars lined up on her street filled with cheers and balloons. In Krasinski’s interview with Coco, they highlighted the importance of bringing hope and light into this currently apocalyptic world, and once again, expressed their tremendous gratitude to hospital workers. Krasinski’s humility and kindness truly shined through, as he let Coco share her thoughts, creating a humble, humanizing tone that truly sets SGN apart from the plethora of at-home videos done by professional talk show hosts.

Krasinski took it up a notch in the second episode: he managed to arrange a surprise Hamilton performance on Zoom—with the original cast—and of course, the majestic presence of Lin-Manuel Miranda. This was part of Krasinski’s gift to his “Heartbreak Correspondent” Aubrey, a nine-year-old girl from Jacksonville, Florida, who was supposed to go see Hamilton live if it weren’t for the outbreak. Yes, my jaw dropped when the cast started singing the titular song of the musical. Even though I wasn’t fluent in this musical enough to be a hardcore fan, the mere act of more than 20 actors singing “Alexander Hamilton” all in synchrony—on video over Zoom—is astonishing and miraculous. Oh, did I mention Robert de Niro had a four-second cameo as SGN’s Meteorologist?

The original cast of Hamilton sings on “Some Good News”

The third and latest episode’s main focus is sports, the one form of entertainment that seems hardly possible to recreate indoors. Artists, DJs, singers can still perform and play instruments in the comfort of their homes, but players of team sports like baseball or basketball can’t just pull a solo match or play without physically being in one space. But Krasinski had an idea. After seeing how much the staff at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center missed the Red Sox games, the Boston native teamed up with the legendary ‘Big Papi’ David Ortiz to give Beth Israel’s COVID-19 unit workers “four tickets for life” to games at Red Sox’s home at Fenway Park.

And the surprise didn’t end there. Krasinski virtually arranged “the most sanitized duck boat in America” to transport a group of Beth Israel staff to Fenway Park, where they received a standing ovation and a round of applause from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and the entire Red Sox team. Krasinski also asked the staff to throw the first pitch in the 2020 Major League baseball season at the historic stadium for the very reason: they are the heroes who deserve all the honor in the world right now.

One consistent thread throughout the series is the enthusiastic shout-out to all the healthcare heroes who are risking their lives every single day so the rest of us can stay at home. From day one, Krasinski has made this a priority when selecting news to highlight, whether about police officers flashing their car lights outside hospitals in Spain to applaud the healthcare staff, or the NATO sailors at sea clapping in their command centers, ship decks and even underwater, to pay homage to those workers inland.

While Krasinski surely takes advantage of his well-connected network of celebrities to coordinate grand gestures and surprises, his show remains focused on regular people and the numerous ways they are saving the lives of many or bringing joy to others. There are multiple routes a celebrity can pick to put his influence to good use during this time, and what Krasinski has done is smart, strategic and respectful, having created a show that balances between news gathering and original content.

For his work on ‘Some Good News,’ Krasinski definitely deserves a Dundie Award, that’s for sure. In the meantime, I’ll tune in every Sunday to get my weekly dose of good news with the other 1.91 million subscribers of this show.

Hoa P. Nguyen is a graduate student in the Magazine and Digital Storytelling program.

The post There’s still ‘Some Good News’ during pandemic appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Yes, but hold that thought.

The first case of coronavirus emerged in Vietnam around the Lunar New Year in late January, a popular time for Vietnamese people abroad to return home. Since then, the one-party state has received praise globally for quickly recognizing the gravity of the virus and implementing preventive measures early even before the W.H.O declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. This includes closing down schools, sending people who enter the country from hard-hit areas like the U.S and Europe to army-run quarantine camps, (my sister has been in such a camp for almost two weeks now since she flew into Hanoi from Boston), closing borders temporarily in late March, administering tests for people even with mild or symptoms or spreading useful hand washing tips through a catchy tune that’s gone viral on YouTube, TikTok and other Western media (such as this shout-out from late-night talk show host John Oliver).

Early action has proven to be effective in containing the virus as of now, but does this mean Vietnam is out of the woods?

If you take a closer look at what’s actually happening in the country, you might find that the government has only been aggressive in stopping the virus at entry points to the country: airports. There has been very little social distancing imposed nationwide, and current measures still leave out a considerable portion of the public.

The Hanoi City Council only mandated non-essential stores and businesses to close on March 28, with the exception of gas stations, banks, malls, supermarkets and other grocery stores. Schools have been closed from kindergarten through university for the last two months but both government and private employees haven’t been required to stay home or provided with guidelines to work from home (Both my parents still went to work and attended meetings with dozens of people until March 31). Those who are staying home aren’t guaranteed paid sick leave, unless they have certified sickness or in this case, are tested positive for COVID-19.

Signs of continued spread can be observed through the latest lockdown of Bach Mai hospital, one of Hanoi’s top medical centers, putting a strain on the triage system across the city. According to reports from Bloomberg, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered authorities to track down 40,000 people who came in contact with people at the hospital before the lockdown, which will potentially bring up the number of cases reported thus far.

Due to the late commands with regards to social distancing, the impact of this outbreak on small businesses and service workers across the country still hasn’t fully materialized. As Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc announced on Monday that major cities should prepare for a lockdown, people will soon face the economic consequences if this virus spreads at a much higher rate.

While issuing more directives to control this outbreak, the Vietnamese government has also recently picked up on the international spotlight it has received for taking reasonable actions well before many Western countries even cared to respond. An analysis on Vietnam’s early success published by the World Economic Forum attributes Vietnam’s no-fatality record to its authoritarian regime with “large and well-organized military and security services” as well as “a culture of surveillance.”

This could be perceived as a fallacious endorsement of the Communist Party, without regards to its record of violating human rights and freedom of expression in Vietnam. Not only does the government limit independent media to favor state propaganda, it also cracks down on dissidents and activists who dare criticize the Party by banning their work from being circulated, sending them to jail or in some cases, and forcing them into exile, according to a 2019 report by Human Rights Watch.

Another deep-dive by The Diplomat highlighted how Vietnam’s Communist Party is keeping this pandemic under control: promoting radical transparency of people tested positive for the virus by making public the identities of the infected—their age, travel itinerary, occupation as well as how they contracted the virus. The article shows that those who disobey enforced quarantine will face harsh criticism on social media and in the news.

Speaking of infringing on human rights, should we forgo individual’s rights to private medical records during this extraordinary time for the supposed public good? Does publishing exactly who got the virus without one’s consent help mitigate this crisis?

Although public health is at the top of the news at the moment, and it’s undeniable that Vietnam has executed commendable actions to manage the outbreak, we should not perfunctorily applaud the country’s one-party system as if this government structure has always worked for all of its citizens in every aspect. Celebrating a one-party system in the middle of a global outbreak might inadvertently serve as gratuitous approval for such a regime.

Until we flatten the curve and treat active cases successfully on a much larger scale, let’s keep fighting this battle collectively because one country’s victory doesn’t automatically mean a foolproof model for all.

Hoa P. Nguyen is a graduate student in NYU’s Magazine and Digital Storytelling program.

The post It’s Too Soon to Say Vietnam is Winning the War on Coronavirus appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Among the enthusiastic campaign followers braving the cold were immigrants for whom American elections hold special appeal.

Jeffrey Zhang was shouting at the top of his lungs at the far end of a cascade of Yang supporters while carrying his wife’s checkered purse. “In 2016, you know, I was a Trump supporter,’ said the first-generation immigrant from Shanghai, China, who came to the U.S. with his parents in 1987. “But he doesn’t care about the working poor. He doesn’t care about colleges with high tuition. He only helps the super super-rich corporation to become richer and richer.”

Zhang, who works at a nursing home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, drove to Manchester with his wife just to voice his support for Andrew Yang. “Yang is the only person among these candidates who understands 21st century technology,” Zhang argued. “Right now, 60 percent of people have less than $500 in their bank. Seventy percent of American people don’t have $2,000 to repair cars. Donald Trump did not cut the cake fairly.” Zhang added that he voted for Trump four years ago because as a proud Christian, he had hoped that Trump would build a Third Temple in Israel.

Mohammad Mustak has lived in Nashua since 2013. Originally from Burma, Mustak is a Rohingya who lived in Malaysia for 17 years as a refugee before resettling to the U.S. thanks to an arrangement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Back in Burma, Mustak was first able to enroll in university because his father worked for the government. Towards his graduation, the administration found out he was Rohingya and refused to give him a certificate. He was then accused of making fake documents to go to college and was sent to jail for three months. To escape the genocide of Rohingya people in Burma, Mustak fled from country to country, including a month living in the jungle of Thailand.

In addition to being a part-time interpreter who speaks Burmese and Malay, Mustak works as a case manager at the non-profit Building Community in New Hampshire, which helps immigrants and refugees get access to healthcare, employment and education. He also founded the Rohingya Society of Greater Nashua and currently serves as the executive director.

Mustak became a citizen two years ago and this year will be the first time he gets to vote in the elections. “I already endorsed Bernie, like publicly,” he said. Mustak met the Vermont Senator in person at three events last year. “Bernie looks like he is my guy because he’s not a rich guy,” Mustak continued. “He has a long history of fighting for everybody.”

Mohammad Mustak and Sen. Bernie Sanders  at Nashua Community College, in September 2019. Photo by Mohammad Mustak.

Mustak said he talked to Senator Sanders about the genocide in Burma as well as international policy at large. “Almost three years we don’t have our community resettling to the U.S.,” he said. “So it looks like nobody is coming.” He added that there’s a lot the U.S. government can do to live up to its reputation as a welcoming place for refugees.

Sandra Pratt, a friend of Mustak and an immigrant from Curitiba, Brazil, who is undecided, says she wouldn’t support a candidate who wants to welcome all refugees and immigrants. “I don’t think that would work because we have a lot to do for the people that are already here,” she said.

Pratt came to the U.S. 20 years ago with the initial goal of learning English before going back to Brazil to finish her master’s degree in gerontology. She then married an American man and decided to stay. She left her husband after five years when he became verbally and physically abusive, and remarried in 2011. Fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, she is now a trilingual service coordinator for individuals with developmental disabilities at Gateways Community Services.

Sandra Pratt, an immigrant from Brazil  is an undecided voter. Photo by Hoa P. Nguyen

Pratt made clear that she didn’t dislike immigrants — she is an immigrant herself. “But too much is too much and too much freedom is not good,” she said. Pratt is, however, an advocate for immigrants’ rights to education and employment opportunities. She believes that immigrants should be able to get social security numbers and tax IDs so that they can work and pay taxes. Pratt also cares about access to reliable transportation, which is one of the biggest issues in areas like Nashua, where some aren’t able to drive and without a public transportation system, it’s difficult for them to get to work, to school and wherever they want to go.

Pratt is also concerned about the discrimination facing immigrants, particularly young children at school. “I feel like the kids are discriminated against because they’re not legal in this country, so they don’t get all the support that they need at the school,” Pratt said.

As Democratic candidates convened in New Hampshire to round up their voters ahead of the primary, Pratt is still taking her time to consider. “I see flashes here flashes there, things here and there, but I’m not sure yet,” she said.

Hoa P. Nguyen is a graduate student in the Magazine and Digital Storytelling concentration.

The post Who Has the Immigrant Vote in the New Hampshire Primary? appeared first on Pavement Pieces.