RJI news
Developing storytellers strengthens community
Originally published on The Columbia Daily Tribune website Journalism should strengthen the communities it serves and help the members of those communities lead better lives. Journalists believe an informed citizenry leads to a stronger democracy, that they should speak truth to power, give voice to the voiceless, stand up for the average man and woman, … Continued
Missouri high schoolers in Talk Story, Write Story offered more than $700,000 in scholarships
Originally published on The Columbia Daily Tribune website Leaving his wife and baby asleep, Erik Potter slipped away into autumn darkness every Monday and Friday morning to drive to Hickman High School, where an early-bird secretary buzzed him in. With just 90 minutes available in an empty conference room, Potter and senior Vy Le always … Continued
Program fits nicely with schools’ focus on access
Originally published on The Columbia Daily Tribune website In the Columbia Public Schools, we believe our students are our kids. We believe every one of our kids is entitled to A.E.O. — Achievement, Enrichment, and Opportunity. Three simple words, and each one denotes access. Access to a great teacher who will nurture and develop our … Continued
The possibilities are endless
Originally published on The Columbia Daily Tribune website Looking back on this academic year, I am most proud of my time with the Talk Story, Write Story program. I knew it was going to be a huge inaugural undertaking but had no idea how much this scholarship effort would consume my life. From Day One, … Continued
Reynolds Journalism Institute announces 10th fellowship class
Eight fellowships have been awarded for the 2016-2017 academic year by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. The projects range from emerging technologies and watchdog journalism to community engagement and navigating new business models. This year’s RJI Fellowships were selected from 369 applicants worldwide. Each spring RJI leadership identifies journalists, technologists, entrepreneurs, business strategists and … Continued
RJI Fellow alumnus leads team launching new social debate application
Team members behind a newly launched social debate application didn’t believe people had an adequate place online to share opinions about the latest news events and gauge support for their views. This led Advance Digital’s incubator Alpha Group to create The Tylt, which lets people vote on news topics such as Apple’s refusal to unlock … Continued
Documentary class in session at RJI with Professor Spike Lee
A highlight of my RJI stay happened last week, 30 feet from my office. Spike Lee gave a master class to documentary and photojournalism students. He was in Columbia, Missouri, to premiere “2 Fists Up: We Gon Be Alright,” a new ESPN documentary on racial unrest at the University of Missouri that uses footage from the … Continued
Dodging the Memory Hole conference receives funding from Institute of Museum and Library Services
Dodging the Memory Hole 2016: Saving Online News was one of 20 initiatives to receive grant funding this week from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. The forum is a part of an event series of the Journalism Digital News Archive at the University of Missouri and will promote the preservation of born-digital news content. The Laura Bush program is part of the … Continued
Can structured news reinvent archives and reimagine objectivity?
In earlier posts I have reviewed the long-term potential of structured journalism to make newsrooms economically sustainable, empower news consumers and future-proof journalism as a profession. However, journalism is not just another business. Its economic and market success is important not only to its shareholders, customers and employees, but also to society in general. Journalism, … Continued
Small paper, small city undergoing big changes in Virginia
For a century, the Culpeper Star-Exponent — whose predecessors date to 1881 — served a small community that changed relatively little. Today, the newspaper is dealing with rapid change in its central Virginia market. Since 1980, Culpeper County has more than doubled its population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, mostly with commuters to the … Continued