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June 30, 2009 • 1:04 pm 1

Essential reading online for journalism students

This blog is among a comprehensive list of the 100 best blogs for journalism students.

The list covers everything from general blogs on journalism such as PoynterOnline to those by educators such as Mindy McAdams to blogs by journalists such as Matthew Ingram.

One site absent from the list is the UK-based Journalism.co.uk.

It has created its own list blogs and sites also missing from the list which it considers as important reading for any (particularly UK-based) journalism students.

Filed under: academics, blogs, education, journalism

June 23, 2009 • 11:15 am 2

Innovative funding model to improve global news reporting

A documentary on the global traffic in e-waste produced by students at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism airs on Frontline/World’s season finale on June 23.

Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground investigates the growing problems caused by the global trade in electronic waste.

Among the headline-grabbing findings, the students bought hard drive in Ghana which contained sensitive US Homeland data about military contracts.

The work was produced as part of an new course in International Reporting run by my colleague, Peter Klein.

But it was only possible due to an innovative funding approach that combines social entrepreneurship, journalism education and professional partnerships.

Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground came about thanks to a $1 million donation by Vancouver venture philanthropist Alison Lawton of Mindset Foundation to UBC’s Graduate School of Journalism.

The gift launched Canada’s first International Reporting course that sends students abroad to report on untold global stories.

Over the course of 10 years, the donation will enable 10 students to travel and produce international journalism for major media outlets focusing on broadcast and online.

But the donation is more than filling the gap left by news organisations as they close down foreign bureaus and cut back on spending.

A key part of the project is to prepare the next generation of journalists to report on an increasingly interconnected and complex world, examining existing practices and considering new ways to reflect on the world beyond our borders.

In the words of venture philanthropist Alison Lawton, who set up the Mindset Foundation:

My core philosophy has always been working with people, investing in human capital. This course will challenge students to look beyond the constraints of conventional mainstream media and examine the definition of conscientious reporting.

This is one potential model to consider as we seek to find ways of funding journalism. It invests in the journalists of tomorrow, while at the same time seeking to address under-reported stories and work in partnership with a major media outlet.

Filed under: academics, education, innovation, journalism , , ,

May 5, 2009 • 12:43 pm 0

Knight fellows at Stanford look to the future of journalism

There has been a sea change at the Knight Journalism Fellows program at Stanford University.

For the first time, the group of journalists have been chosen based on the program’s new focus on journalism innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.

The list of US journalists just announced will focus on projects ranging from geographically-aware journalism, multiplatform publication and socially-networked foreign reporting while they study at Stanford during the 2009-10 academic year.

The 12 American fellows join eight international journalists who were announced in April.

The decision by the Knight fellowship to seek out and back innovation and entrepreneurship reflects the need for more research and development in journalism.

The Knight fellowships are a wonderful opportunity to step outside of the newsroom and the routine of news production. I was fortunately to be a Knight-Wallace fellow at the University of Michigan and it was a life-changing experience.

The decision to invest in the future of journalism through programs like the Knight Fellowship comes at a time when this is needed more than ever.

There needs to be a space for news professionals to experiment and innovate, without fearing the consequences of failure, in a supportive and open environment.

Filed under: academics, education, journalism , ,

May 1, 2009 • 1:41 pm 0

Words of advice for j-students from news professionals

At a time when journalism graduates are wondering about their prospects, and some question the value of going to j-school, my post for PBS Mediashift may offer some words of comfort.

The words come from a selection of seasoned news professionals, interviewed on a Flip minoHD camera at the recent International Symposium on Online Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

In the clips, they talk about having a range of multimedia skills, being open-minded and following your passion.

Here’s one of the snippets of advice from Beth Frerking, assistant managing editor of Politico.com.

Filed under: education, internet, journalism , ,

April 14, 2009 • 10:48 pm 0

The skills that online journalists need to succeed

This video interview with Alan Murray, executive editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, is timely for the j-schoolers graduating in a few week’s time and for the new crop of students getting ready to come to journalism school.

In the interview by Nieman Journalism Lab, Murray talks about what he looks for when in online reporters:

In the digital area, you do want people who can be very fast and are willing to, you know, post multiple times a day and to multitask.

An additional skill is know how to market your work, balancing “maximum search engine hits” and producing something that  “that’s uniquely valuable”.

Essentially Murray is talking about journalism plus.

Filed under: education, journalism, multimedia, social media , , ,

• 2:30 pm 1

Using participatory journalism tools in the classroom

NowPublics Michael Tippett was a guest speaker

NowPublic's Michael Tippett was a guest speaker

My latest post for PBS Mediashift looks at how participatory media tools such as CoveritLive can be used in the classroom.

One of the challenges, particularly in large undergraduate classes, is turning the traditional academic lecture into more of a conversation.

Rather than simply being empty vessels to be filled with knowledge, I wanted to try out new ways for students to collaborate on distilling and creating knowledge.

The aim was a new media twist on the notion of community-centered education, where students are expected to participate as they take responsibility for their own learning.

From the Mediashift post:

For the experiment, I set up a class discussion page using CoveritLive. The page was projected onto a screen in the lecture hall so that students could see the conversation unfold. Michael Tippett’s presentation was projected on a second screen.

As he addressed the students, they were able to submit comments and ask questions via CoveritLive — these comments then appeared on screen. I did some comment moderation, but I tried to give students as much freedom as possible to ask or say anything. Although we asked students to use their names in the comments, some still preferred the anonymity of the “guest” handle.

The result was a mix of the insightful, the impish and the inane — from “who has the right to call himself a journalist?” to “this almost feels like telepathy! lol” to “stop blowing ur nose it’s annoying.”

I’m looking forward to trying this again in other classes and learn from the experience.

Filed under: academics, crowdsourcing, education, journalism, social media , , ,

November 24, 2008 • 10:27 am 4

The globalisation of the digital revolution in five minutes

The exponential growth of the information age globally raises more questions than answers.

(Via Rob Fields, Heleana Quartey)

Filed under: Web 2.0, education, internet, new media , ,

November 14, 2008 • 3:44 pm 0

J-students showcase work on Vancouver elections

Just finished publishing a bunch of j-student work on Vancouver’s local elections at TheThunderbird.ca.

This was the final big assignment for this term for the students at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism.

There is a wealth of content on the race to be mayor of this beautiful city, the controversial $100m loan for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the debate over the future of the UBC Farm.

The students were exhausted after working on these assignments for the past few weeks, but it proved a satisfying process.

Filed under: education, journalism, online, politics , , ,

November 12, 2008 • 10:28 am 1

What’s wrong with journalism training in the UK

Paul Bradshaw on his Online Journalism Blog has picked up on a revealing aspect of an new initiative by the UK’s three leading journalism training bodies, labeling the plan as the Shovelware Alliance.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists, the Broadcasting Journalism Training Council and the Periodicals Training Council have announced they will be working together on a joint Journalism Training Council.

The aim is to “set an agenda and timetable for how journalism training can be further converged to meet the requirements of the news media industries.”

The training bodies talk about the need to prepare journalists to work in multiplatform news organisations, including:
b.    Developing ideas for repurposing and adding to print or broadcast news material for use on websites including the use of links, background material, writing for the website, the basics of search engine optimisation and use of basic content management systems.

As Bradshaw points out, this is “treating the website as a place to shovel – and possibly add to – content produced for another medium.”

It is dispiriting to hear that training bodies continue to view the net as a distribution platform for existing print and broadcast content, rather than recognising the web as a distinct medium.

Filed under: Web 2.0, education, journalism, new media, newspapers , , ,

October 17, 2008 • 2:32 pm 2

Blog your way through college in the US

Blogging scholarship logoThe team behind a contest for student bloggers dropped me an e-mail, announcing the launch of their third annual blogging scholarship.

The scheme offers students who blog the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship. The contest has just started accepting submissions, but you only have until the end of the month to apply.

While this is a laudable effort at providing an imaginative way to fund your way through college, there is one major downside.

The contest is only  open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.  So my Canadian students at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism are out of luck.

It would be great to see an international contest, or at the very least, have national organisation provide similar incentives to student bloggers in their countries.

Filed under: blogging, education, journalism , , ,

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Alfred Hermida
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