With the annual AEJMC convention coming up in Chicago just about a month away, one of the preparatory tasks of the outgoing officers is to recruit a slate of candidates to serve as officers for the coming year.
Several current officers have volunteered to step forward into the key leadership roles of group chair, vice chair (responsible for programming) and research chair. But several other positions are vacant at present, and we are hoping to find individuals interested in filling them. These are the Teaching and PF&R officers, Secretary and Newsletter Editor.
All of these are could be considered "entry level" officer's roles, and are excellent opportunities for anyone interested in the group to become involved in a limited way to learn more about it and get to know others involved with it a little better. Full "job descriptions" can be found below.
Anyone interested in serving in one of these capacities, or in finding out more about the positions, may contact current Chair Jack Rosenberry at jrosenberry@sjfc.edu
Teaching Chair
Primary responsibility is to coordinate and support the group's activities directed toward teaching and pedagogy on the subject of civic and citizen journalism. Specific tasks include:
- Writing or soliciting other members to write articles about teaching related to civic and citizen journalism for the newsletter and blog.
- Working with Web master to update teaching tips area on Web site
- Providing ideas for panels for the convention on teaching-related topics, and helping programming chair(s) evaluate teaching panel submissions. Better still, going the extra step and organizing and moderating such panels for the convention.
- Monitoring teaching activities by the group and its membership for inclusion in the annual report due to AEJMC headquarters in June.
Professional Freedom and Responsibility (PF&R) Chair
Primary responsibility is to coordinate and support the group's activities directed toward what AEJMC calls "Professional Freedom and Responsibility," which basically means members' interaction with the media professions on five primary levels as identified in the AEJMC code of ethics. They are: (1) support for and encouragement of freedom of expression; (2) support for and promotion of ethical behavior; (3) fostering of media criticism and accountability; (4) encouragement and recognition of racial, gender and cultural inclusiveness; and (5) encouragement/recognition of public service by AEJMC members and media representatives.
Specific tasks associated with this include:
- Writing or soliciting other members to write articles on PF&R topics for the newsletter and blog). Note: This is a very broad area; nearly anything having to do with civic/citizen journalism activities in the professional world would qualify.
- Providing ideas for panels for the convention on PF&R related topics, and helping programming chair(s) evaluate PF&R panel submissions. Better still, going the extra step and organizing and moderating such panels for the convention.
- Monitoring PF&R activities by the group and its membership for inclusion in the annual report due to AEJMC headquarters in June.
Secretary
Primary responsibility is to compile official proceedings of the interest group to be used in preparation of annual report and otherwise for documentation to AEJMC headquarters if called for.
Specific tasks associated with this include:
- Minutes of membership meeting at convention
- Summary report of any "virtual" meetings conducted by executive board via e-mail during the year, especially regarding decisions made/actions taken
Newsletter editor
Primary responsibility is to produce two issues of the newsletter during the course of the year, early fall (ideally, an Oct. 1 printing/mailing deadline with the call for panels/proposals in it) and late winter/early spring (ideally, a March 1 printing/mailing deadline with the call for research papers in it).
Specific tasks associated with this include:
- Soliciting articles from other officers and members to be published in newsletter. Editors occasionally write articles, of course, but are not expected to and should not write the whole thing themselves; they need and deserve support from others.)
- Editing, designing and producing the newsletter using a layout program such as Quark or In Design, and creating it as a PDF for posting on Web site and for production work by AEJMC staff.
- Serving as liaison with AEJMC staff for printing and mailing of the newsletter.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Call for Teaching Ideas: New Methods for Our Changing Media
As we're teaching our students about new ways that journalists use digital technology to connect with audiences, we're often exploring new methods ourselves to make our points.
As we teach about change, we're adopting our own new approaches. In this, we mimic those in the field who are involved in a continuing quest using trial and error to find effective techniques.
It's time we begin sharing more of our experiences and learning from one another. Here are some questions we can try to answer:
· What techniques have you adopted and which ones seem to be succeeding?
· What unintended consequences have you discovered?
· Have you introduced a class blog? How do you manage it?
· How are your students responding to this new approach?
· What sort of issues have you experienced in assessing student work?
· What should others know before they attempt a project similar to yours?
· Do you have a means of evaluating your new methods?
· Have you gathered empirical data that you can share with others?
· Do you have ideas for gathering meaningful evaluative data?
Those of us in the Civic & Citizen Journalism Interest Group look forward to sharing our ideas. Please join us as we compile our ideas and comments. Let's turn this into a conversation that benefits everyone. We are weighing a few different means of publishing this information, from creating a compendium to posting ideas on our group's Web site at http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism to adding to our weblog at http://ccjig.blogspot.com.
To participate, please send your ideas to Glenn Scott, CCJIG teaching chair, at gscott3@elon.edu. We will gather, edit and post from there.
Please keep your comments concise. This blog will welcome participation via comments. We'll follow AP style as long as it seems applicable. Be sure to include:
1. Your name and institution.
2. Name of course and your main teaching goals.
3. Number of students.
4. Length of time or number of semesters/quarters you've used the techniques.
5. Please add other salient information that will help the rest of us.
Thanks for your interest in participating!
As we teach about change, we're adopting our own new approaches. In this, we mimic those in the field who are involved in a continuing quest using trial and error to find effective techniques.
It's time we begin sharing more of our experiences and learning from one another. Here are some questions we can try to answer:
· What techniques have you adopted and which ones seem to be succeeding?
· What unintended consequences have you discovered?
· Have you introduced a class blog? How do you manage it?
· How are your students responding to this new approach?
· What sort of issues have you experienced in assessing student work?
· What should others know before they attempt a project similar to yours?
· Do you have a means of evaluating your new methods?
· Have you gathered empirical data that you can share with others?
· Do you have ideas for gathering meaningful evaluative data?
Those of us in the Civic & Citizen Journalism Interest Group look forward to sharing our ideas. Please join us as we compile our ideas and comments. Let's turn this into a conversation that benefits everyone. We are weighing a few different means of publishing this information, from creating a compendium to posting ideas on our group's Web site at http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism to adding to our weblog at http://ccjig.blogspot.com.
To participate, please send your ideas to Glenn Scott, CCJIG teaching chair, at gscott3@elon.edu. We will gather, edit and post from there.
Please keep your comments concise. This blog will welcome participation via comments. We'll follow AP style as long as it seems applicable. Be sure to include:
1. Your name and institution.
2. Name of course and your main teaching goals.
3. Number of students.
4. Length of time or number of semesters/quarters you've used the techniques.
5. Please add other salient information that will help the rest of us.
Thanks for your interest in participating!
Monday, June 16, 2008
On The Future of the Internet
The story in South Korea today is that Internet strategies are behind the recent, well-organized street protests involving hundreds of thousands of people. I'm at a huge conference in Seoul this week on The Future of the Internet. Sponsor is the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OCED), the influential international organization that promotes economic growth for democratic nations.
This is a so-called ministerial conference involving cabinet-level participation from member countries. So it's been interesting timing here to witness this big conference setting global policies for the Net occurring while across town demonstrators are using the web as a means of political organizing and resistance, mostly with an anti-global theme.
Just shows how ubiquitous the Net has become in our lives.
I'm here with Elon's program to chronicle the hopes and fears of key players in the continuing development of the Net. See our nice website at http://www.imaginingtheinternet.org
We'll be adding video interviews with a few dozen people we're interviewing now. I'm along with two of our top communications students, who are getting a great learning experience while they handle the videography and interviewing.
Among the stakeholders here are representatives of civil society -- reps from consumer groups, labor groups and others organizations focused on protesting users' rights online. Among the speakers is Marc Rotenberg, founder of The Public Voice, who will be keynote speaker at the AEJMC conference this August in Chicago. The Public Voice is a network of civic groups seeking to speaking up on behalf of the public interest.
This is not a conference on journalism, but journalists of all types should be concerned with the policies being reaffirmed here (mostly) to maintain the net as a place of global commerce and open expression. As I write this, I'm hearing a speaker, Tae-Won Chey, chairman of he SK Group, say, "We've got to figure how to make the Internet a better place."
Next up, Josh Silverman, president of Skype, who reaffirms the values of open digital communication. He says, "the consumer always wins in the end." This is a common statement at this conference -- a message we should remember as we explore how participatory journalism will extend in the future. What distingues Net communication is that users are going to seek out what Silverman calls unarticulated needs. In seeking them, he says, consumers create "game-changing" practices that reshape online methods.
His message then: We should be interested in reaching and sharing with our audiences in whatever method they like best. Not according to what we want best.
I'll try to add more notes later.
This is a so-called ministerial conference involving cabinet-level participation from member countries. So it's been interesting timing here to witness this big conference setting global policies for the Net occurring while across town demonstrators are using the web as a means of political organizing and resistance, mostly with an anti-global theme.
Just shows how ubiquitous the Net has become in our lives.
I'm here with Elon's program to chronicle the hopes and fears of key players in the continuing development of the Net. See our nice website at http://www.imaginingtheinternet.org
We'll be adding video interviews with a few dozen people we're interviewing now. I'm along with two of our top communications students, who are getting a great learning experience while they handle the videography and interviewing.
Among the stakeholders here are representatives of civil society -- reps from consumer groups, labor groups and others organizations focused on protesting users' rights online. Among the speakers is Marc Rotenberg, founder of The Public Voice, who will be keynote speaker at the AEJMC conference this August in Chicago. The Public Voice is a network of civic groups seeking to speaking up on behalf of the public interest.
This is not a conference on journalism, but journalists of all types should be concerned with the policies being reaffirmed here (mostly) to maintain the net as a place of global commerce and open expression. As I write this, I'm hearing a speaker, Tae-Won Chey, chairman of he SK Group, say, "We've got to figure how to make the Internet a better place."
Next up, Josh Silverman, president of Skype, who reaffirms the values of open digital communication. He says, "the consumer always wins in the end." This is a common statement at this conference -- a message we should remember as we explore how participatory journalism will extend in the future. What distingues Net communication is that users are going to seek out what Silverman calls unarticulated needs. In seeking them, he says, consumers create "game-changing" practices that reshape online methods.
His message then: We should be interested in reaching and sharing with our audiences in whatever method they like best. Not according to what we want best.
I'll try to add more notes later.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Soft launch of new CCJIG bibliography
Sue Ellen Christian, CCJIG research co-chair, has revamped our bibliography of resources about civic and citizen journalism. The new bibliography includes both online and print resources. You can view the bibliography as a Web page or as a printer-friendly PDF. I have posted the documents on our interest group's Web site. You can drill down to them from our home page ...
http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism/
... or go directly to the site's bibliography section:
http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism/bibliography/
We welcome your feedback on this. In particular, let Sue Ellen know if you know of resources to add to the bibliography.
http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism/
... or go directly to the site's bibliography section:
http://www.has.vcu.edu/civic-journalism/bibliography/
We welcome your feedback on this. In particular, let Sue Ellen know if you know of resources to add to the bibliography.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Statement of Purpose for Renewal Petition -- Please Comment
Defining a focus for CCJIG is an issue I have tried to pursue during my time as chair of CCJIG, for a very practical reason: in Chicago this summer the interest group must submit its triennial renewal petition. To this end, throughout the year I have sought ideas and input from the membership that reflect on the nature of civic/public journalism, its connections with citizen/participatory journalism, and what types of activities the interest group should be pursuing, to help create a statement required in the renewal petition that establishes the unique niche or purpose an interest group serves. (See blog entries on this topic in November and January archives.)
The responses didn’t exactly come in overwhelming numbers but the ones that were submitted were thoughtful, well-stated and helpful in reaching the statement of purpose that follows. So were prior annual reports and renewal petitions. With ideas from these various sources, what follows is an edited (shortened) draft statement of purpose to be included in the CCJIG renewal petition to be submitted this summer. The rest of the longer statement, replaced by ellipses below, describes and discusses CCJIG’s role in the association vis-à-vis other groups such as ComTech, Newspaper and COMJIG. The full version will be published in the CCJIG pre-convention newsletter due out in early July; it is omitted here simply to avoid having an overly long posting.
Further comments are welcome; the final draft must be submitted before the beginning of the convention. My goal is actually to get it sent to South Carolina by the second week of July, well in advance of the actual convention start.
* * *
"CCJIG’s unique purpose is its exclusive focus on the role and purposes of audience-involved journalism in the contemporary media mix. This includes teaching about, fostering research into, and conducting PF&R activities related to the creation, purposes and impacts of professional and citizen-driven participatory journalism practices, including the role these practices play in building communities and encouraging civic engagement.
"Because this is a broad area, the activities of other CCJIG units do touch on it. Examination of audience-centric content creation such as YouTube videos and blogs certainly could fall within the teaching, research or PF&R missions of numerous other groups within the association. The particular niche CCJIG fills is an exclusive focus on the journalistic aspects of these presentations. …
"… This focus on audience-centric journalism presentations is supported and enhanced by the group’s traditional mission and focus on the relationship of journalism and civic engagement, which date to its days as the Civic Journalism Interest Group. As it was explained in an earlier renewal petition (2002), “Civic journalism is about engaging the public in interactive journalism and in the development of democratic institutions. This focus cuts across all the endeavors of AEJMC but is foremost in no other association entity.”
"With this as a foundation – and the subsequent extension in recent years to include the role that participatory journalism contributes to this process – CCJIG clearly can be seen as filling a unique and significant role within the structure of AEJMC."
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Covering Race
I've been working on a service-learning project with students by focusing on covering race and ethnicity in our community. As part of my curriculum, I've sought to integrate learning on personal and societal biases about race and ethnicity. As such, I've drawn upon Peggy McIntosh's exercise on unpacking the backpack of white privilege as well as used the "Authentic Voices" text that showcases some of the top reporting and writing on race and ethnicity. Students have also enjoyed taking the demonstration tests available at Project Implicit, an online project that seeks to gauge participants' internal biases. I'm particularly interested in ways to help students identify their internal biases and how these may seep into or influence their reporting and writing in covering local communities.
Any one with thoughts or teaching ideas on this front, please post!
Thanks!
Sue Ellen Christian
Any one with thoughts or teaching ideas on this front, please post!
Thanks!
Sue Ellen Christian
Friday, March 14, 2008
Rochester (NY) paper relaunches Web site with participatory journalism focus
When this blog was started, one of its purposes was to highlight interesting and innovative citizen and civic journalism projects from around the industry. My hometown paper, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle has just launched an ambitious one. I'm not sure if the approach is truly unique; the software that drives it is from a third-party vendor and has an off-the-shelf, template-y feel to it -- so it's possible that similar software is driving similar projects at other papers out there. But what's interesting is being able to watch this one from launch and see how it develops. (Full disclosure: this newspaper is my former full-time employer and still brings me back for temporary fill-in work on the copy desk when they have a need and my schedule allows for it. And I'm a registered user and have done a little blogging and forum posting since this started not long ago.) Here are some observations on this foray into a ramped-up form of parcipatory journalism at one mid-sized metro:
The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, has recently completed a re-launch of its Web site in a way that highlights reader contributions in the form of blogs, forum postings and directly-submitted content. The Gannett-owned Democrat and Chronicle has a print circulation of about 170,000.
The redesigned home page actually emphasizes these contributions over the traditional news, with links immediately below the main flag devoted to portions of the site for reader-generated and custom content outnumbering the links to the traditonal news departments such as business, sports, news and opinion. Also prominent atop the home page are the log-in screen for registered users and links to a reader-generated calendar -- all of it above the traditonal news postings.
In fact, the only traditional news placed "above the scroll" (as one editor described it) is a rotating carousel of top-story photos with links to the full story, and about a half dozen "top story" headlines. Overall, that news package occupying perhaps half the space above the scroll and another set of links near the bottom of the page organized by department (news, sports, business, top world/nation headlines) are the only place for traditional news postings anywhere on the page. Combined, they might occupy about 10 percent of the total page area. The rest of the space is dominated by links to custom content and especially places for reader content to be both viewed and contributed. Some of the contributions are later reverse-published, or used for content in the print publication.
Audience members are invited to register, and when they do a personal profile page is created for them with a place to list interests and personal data, a personal blog as well as a social network utility for connecting with other users and posting messages to those pages (a la the Facebook "Wall"). Readers' blog entries are highlighted on the site's front page, with automatic updating that keeps the four or five most recent postings out there for prominent display with clickable links to the actual entry. Readers also can comment on each other's blogs and also submit photos and articles, with the most recent highlighted on the front page similar to the blog updates. More than 50 themed forums allow readers to establish discussions on topics of their own choice. After about a week of operation, more than 250 discussion threads had been established with nearly 2,000 postings in them.
The week the new site was launched, the paper held a citizen journalism workshop for more than three dozen community members -- who turned out on a snowy March morning to learn more about the project and also receive a quick course in journalistic practice and ethics from former USA Today editor Adell Crowe. At the session, Democrat and Chronicle Editor Karen Magnuson said the goal was to promote democratic conversation about issues of community concern.
The relaunch of the paper's main site is Gannett Rochester's latest effort in the field of encouraging reader contribution and comment. Earlier, it had established RocMoms, with content of special interest for women; RocMen, a parallel site for men; and RocLoop (aka "The Loop") for area college students, which is produced by student interns overseen by professional staff.
The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, has recently completed a re-launch of its Web site in a way that highlights reader contributions in the form of blogs, forum postings and directly-submitted content. The Gannett-owned Democrat and Chronicle has a print circulation of about 170,000.
The redesigned home page actually emphasizes these contributions over the traditional news, with links immediately below the main flag devoted to portions of the site for reader-generated and custom content outnumbering the links to the traditonal news departments such as business, sports, news and opinion. Also prominent atop the home page are the log-in screen for registered users and links to a reader-generated calendar -- all of it above the traditonal news postings.
In fact, the only traditional news placed "above the scroll" (as one editor described it) is a rotating carousel of top-story photos with links to the full story, and about a half dozen "top story" headlines. Overall, that news package occupying perhaps half the space above the scroll and another set of links near the bottom of the page organized by department (news, sports, business, top world/nation headlines) are the only place for traditional news postings anywhere on the page. Combined, they might occupy about 10 percent of the total page area. The rest of the space is dominated by links to custom content and especially places for reader content to be both viewed and contributed. Some of the contributions are later reverse-published, or used for content in the print publication.
Audience members are invited to register, and when they do a personal profile page is created for them with a place to list interests and personal data, a personal blog as well as a social network utility for connecting with other users and posting messages to those pages (a la the Facebook "Wall"). Readers' blog entries are highlighted on the site's front page, with automatic updating that keeps the four or five most recent postings out there for prominent display with clickable links to the actual entry. Readers also can comment on each other's blogs and also submit photos and articles, with the most recent highlighted on the front page similar to the blog updates. More than 50 themed forums allow readers to establish discussions on topics of their own choice. After about a week of operation, more than 250 discussion threads had been established with nearly 2,000 postings in them.
The week the new site was launched, the paper held a citizen journalism workshop for more than three dozen community members -- who turned out on a snowy March morning to learn more about the project and also receive a quick course in journalistic practice and ethics from former USA Today editor Adell Crowe. At the session, Democrat and Chronicle Editor Karen Magnuson said the goal was to promote democratic conversation about issues of community concern.
The relaunch of the paper's main site is Gannett Rochester's latest effort in the field of encouraging reader contribution and comment. Earlier, it had established RocMoms, with content of special interest for women; RocMen, a parallel site for men; and RocLoop (aka "The Loop") for area college students, which is produced by student interns overseen by professional staff.
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