Author: nmkatecunningham@gmail.com

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Thoughts on coordinating a journalism education conference

photo-12As part of my work as the New Mexico Daily Lobo writing coach, I coordinate a yearly journalism education bootcamp for local student journalists. This year’s #lobocamp just finished up, and I had a few thoughts and a Storify curation I wanted to share.

We had about 60 students from the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College, which is a good portion of the local journalism majors. I knew I wanted the best speakers New Mexico had to offer, so I started coordinating last August. It worked. Thirty one print, TV and online reporters and photographers committed to the event. I wish I had started letting students know back then, as I think a few more would have attended, but I really plugged the event once I had it lined up, in early December.

A few thoughts on content: way more students were interested in a panel on data journalism than I thought. Given the choice between that and learning WordPress, more chose to learn about using databases to tell stories. On feedback forms, the students also said the panel they were most interested in was about breaking news, followed by a talk about the latest tools journalists use. Students said they were least interested in a panel on surviving as a freelancer and working with editors.

One big lesson this year was that if you ask students to tweet about an event, they will. Students who were not on Twitter at the start of the conference were using it by Sunday. Our #lobocamp hashtag didn’t trend on Twitter, but probably got close. It also got the attention of other reporters and student journalist educators around the country. A former U.S. representative from New Mexico even got in on the hashtag, during a trip in Tunisia. So once the event started, I didn’t have to worry about creating any more buzz. (The trick with Twitter, as you probably know, is that students will tweet anything during the event with your hashtag, related or not.) But overall, they did a great job of synthesizing the information presented to them and describing what they were learning. I see the use of Twitter during a live event as a skill that fits in with deadline and breaking news writing — the tweets have to be accurate and fast.

The challenge for me now is to harness the enthusiasm and energy the students have coming off two days of intense learning. If anyone has ideas on that, please send them my way.

Here are two curations, one from each day, of the best tweets and pics from the event.

[View the story “2013 Daily Lobo Journalism Bootcamp” on Storify]

[View the story “Day two of the 2013 Daily Lobo Journalism Bootcamp” on Storify]

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Telling the same story in different ways

As a full time graduate student this semester in the University of South Florida’s Digital Journalism and Design program, (@USF_DJD) I’m suddenly thinking about stories in a whole new and, in particular, more visual way.

One of my classes is about design and the instructor asks us to think visually. Another asks us to be critical of stories we read. These aren’t new concepts to me, of course, after 14 years as a print reporter.

Here’s what I mean, and the ideas I now want to try in my classes.

In looking just at today’s coverage of the current number of flu cases in the United States (notice I didn’t say flu “outbreak” or “epidemic”) I found a variety of ways that the story is being covered. While I might have noticed these different approaches in the past, I might not have thought about the distinction, or about how I can teach my students to consider different approaches to the same news.

For example, here’s the traditional AP report on the number of cases. It’s solid, straightforward stuff that you would teach beginning and even advanced reporters to aim for.

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK — Flu is now widespread in all but three states as the nation grapples with an earlier-than-normal season. But there was one bit of good news Friday: The number of hard-hit areas declined.

The flu season in the U.S. got under way a month early, in December, driven by a strain that tends to make people sicker. That led to worries that it might be a bad season, following one of the mildest flu seasons in recent memory.

Then there’s what I’m going to call the visual or #vizdata story that Google put together on its flu trends page. I think the visual nature of the presentation of the flu data this year compared to years past lead to increased coverage in both the mainstream and social media, but perhaps that’s a topic for another day.

At the same time, my increased focus on critical thinking as part of the classes I’m taking made me think more about the data. As I looked for the Google methodology, I found this disclaimer about flu map:

We have found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. Of course, not every person who searches for “flu” is actually sick, but a pattern emerges when all the flu-related search queries are added together. We compared our query counts with traditional flu surveillance systems and found that many search queries tend to be popular exactly when flu season is happening. By counting how often we see these search queries, we can estimate how much flu is circulating in different countries and regions around the world. Our results have been published in the journal Nature.

For the record, I don’t doubt the super-smart folks at Google. But I do wonder how close the number of people who search for flu information really is to the number who actually are in bed staring at the ceiling in misery. What about those sick people without internet access? What about health reporters who aren’t ill but just looking for some current info? Those are things to think about and to have your students consider.

(A side topic for class discussion or assignment might look at the use of the words epidemic, outbreak, etc and their true definitions.)

Another approach to the flu story I found today was the historical photographic coverage of the flu. I enjoyed the coverage from thedailybeast.com, which tells the story relying on pictures.

Image

Click here for the whole gallery.

These are all different, but all valid approaches to the same story. And they all use different skills modern journalism students need to know.

(Speaking of new skills, I curated this Storify page as I looked at what social media had to say about the flu.) Of course, Storify is another tool I love for students to learn, because I think it has some great applications.

To summarize, I’m now thinking that one exercise I might try this semester is having students first look for different ways the same story has been covered online and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each. They could even do their own Storify pages on the topic. Then, I might ask them each to outline the different ways they would cover the same story such as a city council meeting, perhaps.) Later, I would have them present and compare their ideas to see all the different ideas on approaching story telling. I’ll let you know if I try this.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

What college grads can’t do — and how journalism education can help

Much has been made of what journalism education should focus on these days. Should it involve all the latest social media reporting tools? What about video? How about just basic writing and editing? What skills should journalism students should have when they leave college and perhaps venture into other careers?

A recent report out from the Project Information Literacy group made me think more about the skills I want my students to know, and how they will use those skills after school.

The study found that recent college grads who are considered digital natives struggled with “traditional methods” of information gathering (like using the telephone or looking at databases.) That means students are good at, say, Twitter, but probably not so quick with Excel.

At the same time, in a blog post about the study on journalistresource.org, Chrissie Long points out that “obtaining and processing information” are among the top five skills that job recruiters look for in a candidate.

It seems that there’s a pretty large gap between those two ideas. Students can provide an answer nearly immediately, but analyzing that answer appears to be a little more difficult.

That’s where I believe journalism education comes in. Yes, journalists do sometimes use email for interviews instead of calling a source during dinner. But the best journalism instructors will insist students use the phone — or visit a source in person. While it may seem second nature for reporters in particular to use the phone, that’s a skill many students have to be taught. And, chances are that few classes outside journalism and communication departments actually teach the art of working the phone.

At the same time, journalists routinely use Google for quick answers — something the study found can be detrimental if speed is valued above accuracy — but good reporters turn to other online tools as well. Journalism professors should and do require students to document that their searches for information to be used in reporting go beyond the 0.55 seconds it takes Google to pull up reams of info, some of which may be true. To say that research skills aren’t taught outside J-schools would be false, of course, but journalism education perhaps focuses more on verifying information before publication more than other schools.

The study by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, done along with the Berkman Center of Internet and Society at Harvard University, also found that the new graduates often turned to a colleague for help with an answer when stumped. Again, that’s a choice some reporters will use, but those with experience will go beyond a check of the folks in the office for the answer to their question. Journalism instructors are used to asking students for more sources or for outside input before publishing something. That’s something that also might set journalism instruction apart from other parts of academia.

The survey of 23 employers and 33 recent college grads also found that many employers are looking for job seekers who can synthesize information they’ve collected through both online and traditional methods. Information synthesis, of course, is central to what reporters do, and what journalism instructors teach.

There’s an adage knowing how to write well isn’t just a great thing for a journalism career — it’s a great thing for many related (and not so related) careers. I still think that’s true. And, as some journalism school registration and graduation numbers shrink, I think journalism educators have a bigger role than in the past.

As fewer students are interested in traditional journalism careers but still sign up for journalism degrees, the Harvard study is a great reminder that journalism educators are training students for jobs beyond the usual journalism outlets. If we can teach students the so-called traditional methods of dealing with information, for example, we play a greater role inside and outside of our communication and journalism departments.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Tools for new journalism educators

I woke up New Year’s Day feeling pretty excited about the year ahead. After 14 years as a print reporter in New Mexico, I resigned in December to have time to complete my master’s in digital journalism and design at the University of South Florida. It’s a big change after so many years as a reporter, but I felt it was time. I will also have the chance to continue teaching journalism at the University of New Mexico, which I have done part time for about two years.

My new roles also mean I’ll have more time to focus on learning and teaching the newest tools journalists and journalism students use to report, analyze and publish the news.

While I believe basic journalism skills are as important as ever, there is an increasing focus on the tools that reporters need to know to break news, engage readers and produce quality reporting.

Over the past few years, I’ve seen journalism become as much about tools as it is about reporting and writing and editing. Journalism is about software, hardware and online presence as much as it is about shoe leather, traditional paper notebooks and physical newsrooms.

I started this blog to talk about the tools and techniques I used recently in my reporting and how I can teach those same skills — and more — in my classes. The tools I write about this week might soon be as obsolete as typewriters, but I’m going to list, in no particular order, the things I’ve found most helpful so far. I hope you will share yours as well, and I hope to write new posts about what I learn as the year goes on.

Twitter for journalism students

Twitter is great for catching up on all the latest fashion. And football. And food. But forget all that. Twitter is incredibly powerful for news. Reporters use it to find sources, get story ideas, educate themselves and see what other writers are doing. Newspapers use it to promote upcoming stories, to cover breaking news and to interact with readers. But why should journalism students use it? What can they learn from putting 140 characters out into the world?

I think students can learn so much that I’m going to argue Twitter is one of the most important tools for student reporters to learn. Here’s why.

Twitter, especially when used to cover an event as it is happening, teaches students how to write on deadline. And that skill is one of the top things editors look for in a reporter. Updating readers quickly with information is critical in situations like wildfires, political debates and all kinds of breaking news.

Beyond that, though, Twitter (and live tweeting exercises you can teach in your class) teaches students how to think on deadline, and to focus on the most important parts of a story first. For students who are just learning how to outline a lede, a nut graf and some transitions, this can prove tough, but I believe that skill is as important as writing for print.

Indeed, when using Twitter for breaking news, reporters immediately must sift through and report the most important information. Who is being evacuated? Where can they find shelter? How many homes have burned, and which ones? (And where is the interactive map of those homes?) Students who can pick out the most newsworthy events, quickly summarize them and publish them will set themselves apart.

Using Twitter to cover an event live can help students in another way, and I think it’s one that’s often overlooked.

When an event is over and reporters then start to look through their notes, a glance at what they’ve tweeted should give them a good start, if they were on track in tweeting about the most interesting and important parts of what they covered. I think having that outline of key information helps student reporters as they head back to this newsroom with a ream of notes from the regent’s meeting.

Twitter, and live tweeting in particular, is also a lesson in keeping up. In having charged batteries. And snacks. Those of us who have live blogged an all-night legislative debate, for example, can appreciate the work that goes into following along and making sense of a slew of complicated amendments at 2 a.m.

More on how you can teach your students to live tweet here, and a shout out to @herbertlowe, a Marquette University professor who has mastered Twitter in education.

As an educator, you can also use hashtags for your class as a way of highlighting stories and information you think your students should see. I’ve used it to promote student work, and I’ve seen others hand out assignments on Twitter as well.

Screen Cast O Matic (http://screencast-o-matic.com/)

I was lucky to attend Poynter’s Teachapalooza 2012. In short, it was a world of geeky goodies for journalism nerds. (I think that was even the name of one of the panel names.) One of the tools I’ve used the most since learning about it at the conference is Screen Cast O Matic. It’s a program that allows you to make a video of whatever is on your screen. You can add just your voice, or you can include your tired teacher face as well. I found this extremely helpful for short instructions that I wanted students to view outside of class. I know other instructors have used it for tutorials to which students can refer after a lecture on how to use Photoshop, for example. I plan to try to use it this year to send oral feedback to students on their writing.

I haven’t seen students use it yet, but I think it’s got a lot of potential uses in the newsroom, including for tutorials for new reporters on how to use complicated programs or software. Here is one early example I did, on how students can generate follow up story ideas.

http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cljr0Hs2T

Storify (@storify)

Storify is an easy story curation tool and teaches students to identify and cull information from social media. Large newspapers often use Storify as a digest of reaction to a big event, or of continuing coverage of a big topic.

I haven’t used Storify as much as I could as I sometimes found it running slow and buggy, especially during busy news times. The day the Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act, I scurried to create a Storify for the newspaper I was with. I gave up in frustration about how slow it was, but I will say that once I tweeted my gripe, the company tweeted back to see if I was still on deadline and asked what it could do to help.

But it’s got great potential and some of my students really like it. I also like to read the Storifies that big papers do of big events, to see what information they pulled in — and what they left out.

Here is one example of how I used Storify to show students how to think critically about news coverage.

[View the story “Lessons in ethics + critical thinking from #sandy” on Storify]

IAnnotate App

In my work as a writing coach, I critique five student newspapers a week. At first I did this by hand. As in, I used a red ink pen, the way my mentors and editors did back in the day.

I now use IAnnotate, a nifty PDF reader and editor app for the Ipad. (Yes, it has a “red pen.”) Once I download a PDF of the newspaper, I can “write” on the document as I please, and that includes the (sort of) old fashioned copy editing symbols students should get to know. I then use an Ipad to project the papers each week during my critiques.  I also can save my marked versions to Dropbox if students want to access them after class.

I haven’t seen students use this much in journalism, but it would be great for marking up large PDF documents to be used in reporting.

As I get to know those tools, there are so many more I plan to check out in 2013. I’ve been wanting to participate in the #satchat events, a live Twitter chat with other educators, and #wjchat, a chat for web journalists. I also need to focus more on Google Apps for Education. And the list goes on. I’m not into New Year’s resolutions, but learning more tools is high on my list.

In the meantime, I’m planning a two-day journalism bootcamp for local students in January. I hope to be able to post feedback and thoughts on what worked and what didn’t for anyone else planning something similar next year. Send me your tips!

See you in 2013.

Kate