AEJMC: Innovative approaches to community journalism

Sent to you via Google ReaderAEJMC: Innovative approaches to community journalism



The final panel at the pre-AEJMC conference workshop on the role of journalism schools as news providers looked at innovative initiatives.
Joe Bergantino gave some background to the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University. It works as a 24/7 newsroom run by professional journalists with students as researchers and trainees. Students learn by working with at the center.
Looking ahead, the center is working to develop products and revenue streams to replace foundation dollars. One of the ways it brings in revenue is by charging for the content it provides to news outlets.
Bergantino said the center would need to raise $300,000 a year to be sustainable. One of the ideas under consideration is having a separate “research for hire” business.
The main goals of the center are to boost quality of investigative reporting, reach underserved communities through partnership with ethnic media and deliver long-form investigative work online.
Digital experimentation
An intiative still at start-up mode is the Reese Felts Newsroom at UNC-Chapel Hill. Monty Cook said the project has received five-to-seven years funding to explore digital news experimentation and audience research.
The project has an applied side. It will hire a staff of students to work in the newsroom and the curriculum will feed content into the newsroom, together with freelancers and student volunteers.
But also key is to research digital business models and experiment with journalism forms. Cook said it could result in the creation of a platform or software.
The project aims to look beyond digital journalism what it is now and expand it to data visualisation, gaming, geolocation to enable journalists to enhance public understanding. It is due to launch in the autumn.
Going local
Richard Jones of NYU talked about the East Village Project. One of the things the project is doing is reaching out to other parts of the u...