Stories by Cedarville advanced reporting students give them enterprise reporting experience

Students write three enterprise stories in a specific topic area (a beat, if you will) in the Advanced Newswriting and Reporting for Print class I teach each spring at Cedarville University. They also were required to produce a multimedia element to accompany the story.

The goal for the applied part of the class has three aims:

1. Get them off campus and into the community.
2. Find stories that are relevant and meaningful.
3. Feel like a real journalist.

Here are links to four stories recently written for the class.

Jenni Hodges, a senior in the public relations concentration, is writing about food. Her first story is about a new bulk foods store that just opened in Cedarville. Check out the photos too.

The next three students are part of the convergent journalism concentration.

Emily Finlay chose to write about local history. Her first story gives some insight into some of the history that surrounds the historic Cedarville Opera House.

Anna Dembowski took on the difficult topic of human trafficking. Her first story describes how the efforts at a local transitional home for women has a broad effect on the community. Check out the info graphic she made with an online tool.

Kathryn Sill is on the business beat and telling readers all about Young's Jersey Dairy, an iconic local landmark. Her first story looks at what it's like for a Cedarville student to work at Young's. And she used the YouTube video editor to create a slideshow about one of the students.

Paywalls, growing mobile audience and ethics

The Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va., announced a paywall that is getting attention. A print subscription with all-digital access is $19. But digital only is $21. That's different than most.

I assume this is a test market for the abundance of papers in that region now owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway company. My old paper, The Roanoke Times, is in that group. Perhaps the day will come soon when I have to pay catch up news from my old hometown.

A Poynter story has more to say about this venture.

Expect to pay a bit more for the digital-only Richmond Times-Dispatch as paywall goes up. @RTDNEWS http://t.co/2JjLh65Sdb
— Poynter (@Poynter) October 30, 2013

The big guys like ESPN are well positioned to meet the growing mobile demand. But so many are not.

ESPN's digital audience is going mostly mobile; your favorite news outlet may be next. http://t.co/tQmFajkMZ0

— Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) October 30, 2013

For students studying or about to study ethics, this Poynter site might be a great resource for you.

Great ethics resource from @poynter http://t.co/oj7Vyu5haH

— Journalist's Toolbox (@journtoolbox) October 29, 2013

'Journalism will never die'

A great read here from a journalism student at DePaul. Yes, journalism is a viable career. Now is actually a good time to start that journey. There are new digital ground floors to get on.

One of my students, @melaniealissa, wrote this piece for Business Insider about Hope for journalism's future: http://t.co/gaxQ9oYMtE #ona13

— Journalist's Toolbox (@journtoolbox) October 19, 2013

As a sports journalists I love statistics. Not always as enamored with numbers in other news areas, but this Poynter article makes some good points.

What do journalists need to know in using stats? Nate Silver has a list. http://t.co/CVKIeP41Xm @fivethirtyeight

— Poynter (@Poynter) October 19, 2013

Today's news from Twitter starts with Twitter

News people are using Twitter to broadcast their stories, share updates and ask questions. When I cover high school sports for the Cox Newspapers in Springfield and Dayton, I tweet game updates that have gained my more followers. Twitter is now experimenting with a way to send news we are interested in our way. Right now we have to search for what we want and find good sources of information to follow. This could be good for everybody. From the story that is linked in the Twitter post below: For now, the account links only to global news. In time, though, it’s easy to imagine Twitter delivering more localized tweets. The company could personalize them based on what it knows about your interests and the people you follow. And what’s to stop Twitter at news? There are plenty of other events that Event Parrot could send your way: concerts, festivals, sporting events.

"Event Parrot says, "Follow me, and you’ll know the news no matter whom you follow."" http://t.co/4pAhRBHKuJ

— Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) October 15, 2013

Some interesting thoughts about how the newspaper industry's slowness to adapt to digital change is one that higher education leaders dare not repeat.

Ex-journalist to j-schools: "Adapt or die;" + more in this week's Journalism & Digital Education Roundup: http://t.co/PXBJmaHhJx #MustReads

— PBS MediaShift (@PBSMediaShift) October 15, 2013

Freedom of the press is under attack, so here's a tool some are starting to use to protect source anonymity.

New tool from @FreedomofPress promises sources a secure channel to any participating newsroom http://t.co/rnoainB3En

— Poynter (@Poynter) October 15, 2013

Journalism news today from Twitter

It is my goal to share a handful of tweets most days to interesting news from the news industry. This first one is about getting our news sites to be more visual. The idea can't hurt.

.@washingtonpost launched a news blog called "Know More" driven by visuals. Will this be the new journalism? http://t.co/Uw5zeZtzpq

— 10,000 Words (@10000Words) October 11, 2013

It seems a day doesn't go by without a list of Twitter tips popping up.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Twitter Users http://t.co/XIS6hwCxha by @klout

— Buffer (@buffer) October 14, 2013

Here's a great list to keep you busy all day. At a glance I am familiar with some sites, but not all. Probably be Christmas break before I can get to them all. Some much changes so fast that it is impossible to keep up. Excerpted from the post before you start scrolling the list: The exponential growth of Internet connection speed and accessibility has ushered in a journalistic renaissance, fusing art, reporting, and storytelling into a single pursuit.

105 Vital Sources for Journalists to connect with the new media landscape >> http://t.co/zsZ5GtuCk8. #jour363

— Journalist's Toolbox (@journtoolbox) October 14, 2013

I used to know an old sports editor who worked at the Washington Star.

Carl Bernstein's next book is about his cub reporting days at the Washington Star (yes, the Star). http://t.co/fSUh2a4q5f

— Romenesko (@romenesko) October 14, 2013

Cedarville students producing meaningful stories

When students begin to produce stories -- either written or through video or photos or some other means -- that go beyond the obvious, you realize they are beginning to see the bigger picture of what journalism can be.

In my advanced reporting for print class, it is starting to happen. We are studying "The Elements of Journalism" this semester as we always do in this class. Yesterday we discussed Chapter 8 (Engagement and Relevance) and the idea that the best stories are meaningful, relevant and engaging. The element of this chapter states "Journalists must make the significant interesting and relevant."

Learning to find deeper themes and meanings in stories will help all students and working journalists distinguish themselves as reporters. It's a learned skill that takes much practice.

My students this semester have certainly not arrived, but I am seeing steps in that direction from each of them as they apply themselves to the task.

Once I get these stories graded and they post them to the portfolio sites, I will post the links.

Instagram, breaking news and the Cedarville University journalism major

Every social media tool is worth checking out to see how it can help a journalist tell stories. It takes time to understand how to use it effectively. But there is no doubt that social media and breaking news were made for each other. That's something we're trying to do well in the Cedarville University journalism program

Instagram with its new video capabilities is perfect for this. The videos are short, but long enough to give viewers a taste. A recent article on Poynter.org shows some examples.

Cedars, the student newspaper/website at Cedarville University, just opened an Instagram account. Check it out and follow us. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Be the journalist you always wanted to be

Take a look at this blog post if you are a struggling journalist (kind of like what has long been known as a starving artist), and make up your mind to make it happen in this business.

http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/its-not-a-sad-day-for-journalism_b21498

If you have a nose for news, love to tell stories or just want to write and get paid for it, there are opportunities. They might not be easy to find, but then nothing worthwhile ever came easy.

Just do it.

More news is good news

An RTDNA survey shows TV stations are on the air more with news programs.

http://rtdna.org/article/survey_shows_near_record_year_for_local_news