Visiting broadcast professor Bob Gould emailed his J-School colleagues on Tuesday during the week-long run-up to MSU’s appearance in the Final Four with a modest proposal. Could his colleagues please lend a hand in providing a place where his students could post stories about the big game(s)?
Visiting new media professor Nancy Hanus, an Internet pioneer, was quick to respond, “I am sitting here right now, creating a class project for tomorrow on this very subject.”
Gould spent many years as a videographer for WZZM-13 in Grand Rapids and is now executive producer of Focal Point, the renowned MSU student TV magazine. Hanus helped The Detroit News make the leap into new media. The duo were soon joined by other J-school “new media” professors who have formed an informal email discussion group.
Hanus quickly secured the coveted domain name, and, within two days, the new site was built, ready to accept J-School student submissions.
Content will flow to the site from various J-School classes. If MSU wins it all, Gould’s students will produce a live webcast of the victory parade. (Here’s hoping.)
The site already has our girl Taylor Benson’s “Everyday by Tay” webisode when the Spartans returned to campus:
Below is Laura Riess’ video of MSU senior Steven Book, an MSU fan who is making his third trip to see MSU play in the Final Four.
Using new media, people can generate quality content for pennies compared to the start-up costs of traditional media. The MSU School of Journalism, which is celebrating its Centennial this year, recently made a giant leap in adopting a curriculum that infuses opportunities for students to gain these new skills throughout their courses. (Click here for State News coverage.)
As the new curriculum recently cleared the final hurdles for implementation this fall, J-School Director Lucinda Davenport wrote, “We talked the talk and now we have to walk the walk.” The ability of faculty and students working together to turn around a project this quickly suggests that the J-School is ready to run.
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NOTE: I hope by bias is clear. I continue to teach at the MSU J-School in large part because I cannot tear myself away during this exciting era. The J-School benefits from having a cadre of faculty committed to giving students an opportunity to learn by doing, as well as students who are excited about pushing the boundaries of the digital envelope online. And, trust me, with what’s in the pipeline, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
