Indiana University School of Journalism » Uncategorized

Photojournalist uses networking — old and new — to land internship

Amie Sites — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:39:48 +0000

Courtesy photo

Mark Felix celebrates his summer internship, which evolved into a paid job for part of the summer.

Hazeltine winner reports from China (June 8)
Hetheringtons contribute timeline to centennial observance (May 9)
More than 80 earn scholarships at annual celebration (April 11)

Social media isn’t just a place for connecting with college friends. It’s also an outlet that allows networking.

Sophomore Mark Felix understands the benefits of Facebook. When looking for internships last summer, Felix remembered a friend of a friend whose father worked at Journal Courier in Lafayette. Felix messaged her on Facebook, sending along some examples of his photography, and she passed it along to her father.

Felix soon was hired as a photojournalist intern from May through July. The internship was unpaid and he worked about 40 hours a week. The Lafayette native was able to stay with his parents and gain the experience he wanted.

At first, Felix shadowed photographers and wrote captions. Eventually, they let him loose.

“Some days, it was overwhelming,” Felix said. “I had to learn how to do good work in a small period of time.”

He remembers a trophy-engraving warehouse fire in Mulberry, Ind., resulting in a big blaze. Felix was sent to take photographs for the Journal Courier. Some of his least favorite memories required driving around and finding stories about the heat during the summer. He once had to stand out with construction workers on a highway, in what felt like 120 degrees.

His tenacity paid off. By midsummer he was hired to work part time for the Journal Courier, July through August, this time with a paycheck.

Felix said by living at home, he could afford the unpaid internship, something he probably couldn’t have done if his internship were in another city. But whether students take paid or unpaid internships, Felix has advice for those seeking summer work.

First, take advantage of social media – both the old fashioned kind, such as networking with friends and friends of friends, but also tools such as Facebook and Twitter.

Second, don’t ignore what’s right in front of you in the form of opportunities at the School of Journalism, he said. Get plugged into local organizations such as the IDS, Arbutus or Inside Magazine, where you not only can build a portfolio of clips but also can network.

Third, pay attention to the emails, TV screens and newsletters the school and Career Services director Marcia Debnam post each week that publicize internship openings.

“Talk to Marcia, and don’t overlook places nearby home,” Felix said. “Find something you are passionate about and go for it."

Boeyink retires after 24 years

Lauren Kastner — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:28:32 +0000

Photo by Nicholas Demille

Associate professor Dave Boeyink launched the school's honors program and worked in ethics research during his career at IU.

Read about the retiree reception.
Weaver headed to journalism hall of fame (Jan. 10)
Dvorak ends 44-year teaching career, 25 at IU (Jan. 3)
Weaver ends teaching, but plans to continue research work (Jan. 3)

Packing up one filing cabinet at a time, associate professor David Boeyink is slowly preparing for life in retirement. Boeyink, a journalism faculty member since 1987, is retiring after 24 years of teaching.

Boeyink said he hopes he has left two kinds of legacies from his teaching. First are the students he has taught. Second is the visible type, such as the journalism honors program he started in 2006.

“All of us benefit from having these students in the building who bring such scholarship and varied interests to the classroom,” Boeyink said of the honors students, called Ernie Pyle Scholars.

Before joining the faculty at IU, Boeyink was the editorial editor at the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Ky., winning several awards for his work. He had taught at Kentucky Wesleyan College and Brescia College, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he was Religious Ethics and Old Testament Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School.

Boeyink’s research focuses on ethics research and ethical decision making in journalism. He is co-author with Sandra L. Borden of Making Hard Choices in Journalism Ethics: Cases and Practice, published in 2010.

Boeyink reflected on his transition from working journalist to scholar to teacher.

“The real learning comes from the students themselves if I create that environment,” he said. “I’ve changed dramatically the way I use a classroom.”

That “way” has garnered appreciation of the university, his colleagues and his students. He has been the recipient of the Frederic Herman Lieber Distinguished Teaching Award from IU; twice was a Gretchen Kemp Fellow; and won the Brown Derby Teaching Award from the IU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Dean of the School of Journalism Brad Hamm said Boeyink’s work developing the honors program has brought a culture of scholarly undergraduate work to the school.

“His work with the Ernie Pyle Scholars has just been exceptional,” Hamm said. “It exists and excels because of his leadership.”

While he will continue to provide some support to the School of Journalism, such as advising the new director, Boeyink said he looks forward to what incoming faculty will bring.

“I think the influx of new ideas is the best thing that can come to the school because the field is rapidly changing, and that’s what we need in our faculty,” Boeyink said. “If there is something that we’ve done here that is good, make it better, but also don’t be afraid to change something because otherwise we will be left behind.”

Once retired, Boeyink knows he wants to spend plenty of time outside working around his Nashville home. Quoting the investigative journalist I.F. Stone, Boeyink said that everyone should have one great project and he is still looking for that project for himself.

Boeyink said he is thankful for the career at the school and would be happy to help the School of Journalism in whatever capacity he can.

“IU has been a great place to grow as a faculty member, and to grow a profession and a life,” he said. “I wouldn’t change this for anything.”

Time at Media LLC meant new experiences, longtime friends

Gena Asher — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:08:05 +0000

Senior Christine Ashack spent her freshman year at the Media Living Learning Center. Here, she reminisces about that experience.

While applying for freshman housing, my mom hovered over my left shoulder, giving her suggestions. This one is the prettiest. This one is closer. This one has the new Media Living-Learning Center floor.

I tried blocking her out, like any teenager does. But I eventually caved to her logic and applied, and was assigned to Read-Landes 5. The Media LLC floor.

Probably about half the floor residents were actually journalism majors. We were the journalism majors with our eyes on the leadership roles in student media. We wanted to be the editors.

Journalism is such a competitive field, yet there was very little competition on the floor. When people’s stories appeared on page one of the IDS, we congratulated them. We always made sure to read one another’s stories. We were, and continue to be, one another’s biggest cheerleaders.

But if you would have told any of us then about the success we would have, I’m not sure we’d have believed it.

MaryJane Slaby is the current editor-in-chief of the IDS. Jake Wright was the spring 2011 editor-in-chief. Stephanie Doctrow is the editor-in-chief of Inside magazine. Andrew Olanoff is the station manager at WIUX. I was the 2011 Arbutus yearbook editor-in-chief. Several current and former MLLC residents are School of Journalism Ambassadors or are otherwise involved with the school on some level beyond their classwork. Those are just some of the people from the floor doing majorly impressive things all over campus.

Sure, we had events and took a trip to Chicago. We took a class with the dean of the School of Journalism. We were exposed to the publications and media outlets at IU. However, the floor meant more to most of us than just journalism.

Most of my friends are the people I lived with freshman year. My roommate was my suitemate freshman year and quickly became one of my best friends. Most of my closest friends are the people I met on the floor.

They are the people I talk to everyday. The people I see everyday. The people I work with.

Ask one of my friends from the LLC if they lucked out living on the LLC our freshman year. Chances are, they’ll say yes.

More:

Broadcast interns benefit from ‘inside view’

Dalton Main — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:36:56 +0000

Courtesy photo

Meg Ely interned at PBS, where she learned how the media organization produces news amid budget struggles.

ESPN was the ideal internship for lifelong sports fan Wyatt Ferber. Getting to meet well-respected (not to mention famous) sports analysts and see how they work was exciting, he said, but it also meant quality experience and on-the-job training.

For example, sitting in the lunchroom at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn., Ferber met Sports Center anchors and, occasionally, athletes.

“Being an intern meant you were part of the team, and you couldn’t ask for autographs or photos, but you could ask for advice,” said Ferber.

Students who pursued — and landed — broadcast internships last summer say they learned about the industry and work life, but also from their colleagues and mentors.

For Ferber, access meant he lived his dream. The goal of the program was to help interns, train them, give them as much experience as possible and get them ready to work, he said.

Ferber’s main duty was to log tape, to prepare previously broadcast games for highlight reels. He watched games and logged the important moments so that in highlight reels or re-broadcasts, these moments could be easily called up or dull moments could be skipped.

But there was never a dull moment for Ferber, he said everyone was willing to help, offer advice, tips and tricks.

While Ferber found resources in the people around him at ESPN, fellow senior Qixin (Kevin) Wang worked with field reporters in Chicago while interning with WLS-TV. Wang said he wanted to work in visual storytelling, because that is what he loves, and field reporting in Chicago provided an optimal landscape for learning television journalism. Wang came to the United States from China in 2007, and television has been his career goal ever since.

“The experience was terrific in terms of getting extensive exposure to the major metropolitan newsgathering process” Wang said via e-mail. He covered a variety of stories, from the Navy Pier Fourth of July fireworks event to Taste of Chicago, learning a little bit each time about the life of a general assignment TV reporter.

But not all broadcast journalism training happens in the field. Margaret Ely was a new media intern for PBS in Washington, D.C., last summer, spending time developing and managing interactive online content.

“Something I learned was that just because you write an article and put it online doesn’t mean that people are going to see it. You have to get it out there,” she said.

Courtesy photo

Qixin Kevin Wang interned at WLS in Chicago. Since arriving in the U.S. from China in 2007, his goal has been to work in broadcast news, he said.

Ely says she has always loved PBS’ news content, and when it came time to search for an internship, she naturally aimed for PBS. She applied, Skyped her interview from South Africa, where she studied abroad, and landed the position in the interactive department. While she had some experience working in the digital landscape, she says she learned a little bit every step of the way.

“One thing that I learned is figuring out how big organizations work,” Ely said. Learning about how the workforce is being consolidated really helped her see what kind of versatility an important employee needs to have, she said.

For Ferber, Wang and Ely, the expertise of others and on-the-job experiences taught them lessons they remember most about their internships.

“Some of the PBS member stations are really struggling financially,” Ely says “and I found it interesting to see how hard it was to produce high-quality content on a low budget.”

Wang, Ferber and Ely all saw great potential for growth through internships. They each applied at places where they wanted to go, and it taught them a lot. For broadcast interns, a view from the inside proved invaluable.

“You take away that there’s no decision that isn’t thought through,” said Ferber. “When you watch TV, there was a thought process that began long before it ever reached production.”

PR interns develop diverse skills

Dalton Main — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:19:32 +0000

Courtesy photo

Matt Spears' internship with the Pacers organization was difficult at first, he said, because he had little video experience. But his mentors taught him how to use the equipment and now several of his videos are online.

Molly Burns had never been affected by Alzheimer’s personally, but when she landed an internship with the St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer’s association, she got involved with a cause she came to care about.

“Working for a nonprofit gave me a sense of service and a sense of doing good in the world,” Burns said via email. “My main goal was not to make this organization more money but to help its community.”

Students who found just the right public relations internships say they came to similar realizations about themselves as they developed new skills in these real-world jobs. They also said they had to be open – and react quickly – when opportunities for internships arose.

A family friend told Burns about the internship with the communications department of the organization, which she applied for from abroad. Burns interviewed over the phone and was informed two days later that she had gotten the position. She dove straight into the internship after the semester ended and worked right up until coming back to school in August.

While there, Burns was assigned many tasks, like writing press releases and letters, tracking social media, brainstorming public relations ideas and basic reporting. She says it was an eye-opening experience, both through learning about the disease and through learning more about her own skill set. Her diverse range of duties really allowed her to learn more about herself, she said.

Taryn Rosenberg’s internship with Ogilvy & Mather in Manhattan taught her one important thing about herself. She landed the position of creative intern with the New York ad agency. She said the internship was based upon need. Whenever they needed an intern, she got experience. She said she learned very quickly that being available and willing was an important part of her job.

Rosenberg said one thing she enjoyed was getting to work on copyrights for companies like Dove and Nestle. She was asked to come up with ideas for elements the companies could copyright.

She said one unique experience was sitting in on a meeting about a new Ikea commercial. About two weeks after the meeting, she saw the commercial on TV, and found it enriching to see that kind of process from start to finish.

Such a diverse range of tasks meant Rosenberg learned to answer her own questions. “You had to be quick on your feet and find out answers on your own, because sometimes people are too busy to help you out” she said.

Rosenberg is a native of Long Island and wasn’t far from home. A family friend helped her find the paid internship with Ogilvy & Mather, and she lived with her sister in Manhattan for the summer. She said it was exciting to be in the workforce and on her own, but nice to be close to home.

Similarly, Matthew Spears said his internship with Pacers Sports and Entertainment was particularly exciting because the Indianapolis native has been a Pacers fan his whole life. But the internship challenged him in many ways, especially in forcing him to learn about new forms of media.

“It was actually kind of difficult at first because I didn’t have much experience in broadcast,” Spears said. “But they started me out slow and showed me how they operated.”

Spears’ internship involved producing promotional media for Indianapolis’ professional basketball teams. On one assignment, he served as a cameraman and editor on a Pacers’ version of the show, Dirty Jobs. One of the Pacers’ announcers went around to local businesses and learned about their jobs, while Spears followed him around with a camera, eventually producing these videos for the website.

Spears said the transition from fan to crew member really opened his eyes to the production process. “I had been in Conseco Fieldhouse for games,” he said, “but I had never been into the business side of it or underground, back where the broadcast production takes place.”

This inside look was eye-opening to the long-time fan.

Courtesy photo

Taryn Rosenberg said she learned to find answers to her own questions during her fast-paced internship.

“When you watch the game on TV, you’re focused on the game that’s being played,” Spears said. “You don’t think about what’s going on in the back. Spectators don’t know what’s going on unless someone makes a mistake.”

This understanding led him to see the industry more broadly. He said nothing really prepares you for the workforce like the experience you get while working on the job.

Journalism courses prepared Spears for writing and reporting, but he had never worked in broadcast, so he was new to applications like Adobe Premiere and Pro Tools. He had to jump in and learn these programs without having taken any courses. But he said he is a fast learner and got into the swing of things with a little on-the-job training.

Burns, Rosenberg and Spears all said they had to learn as they went, which taught them that they were capable of more than they realized. For example, Burns said her chief responsibility was writing feature articles about families and caregivers. Once she saw her work published for the first time, her confidence grew. Burns said she had not considered herself a good writer, but as she saw her work in print, she began to enjoy her writing.

At the end of Burns’ internship, she was notified that one of her articles would be a cover story in a local magazine.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “It made me realize I wasn’t a bad writer at all.”

Interns credit networking, flexibility in finding jobs

Amie Sites — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:02:59 +0000

Students who interned with magazines and worked online last summer said finding the internship may be more challenging that completing it, and the key is to keep your ears open for leads and to be brave about putting your resume into the right hands.

Senior Julia Meek said students should be open to leads and information they hear about in routine fashion. For example, her internship at Taste of Italy started that way.

Meek spent the last year studying in Bologna, Italy. While there, she met Taste of Italy cooking school owner Maribel Agullo, talked with her a few times, and eventually was hired as an intern to help with research and some online tasks.

Meek said this was as great experience, even though her days were hectic, dealing with 10 projects at a time.

“I was paid in food,” Meek joked about her unpaid internship.

Her duties included researching food dishes or, in one case, Parmesan cheese. For that assignment, she visited a factory to speak with the cheesemaker. She said she enjoyed meeting new people in this way.

“People need to get internships with different demographics to get a new perspective,” she said. “ I put myself in unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations so that I grow. Italy was a different culture, but so worth it.”

Alyssa Goldman had a summer internship at All You Magazine of Time Inc. At All You Magazine, she wrote a daily blog, contacted participants, wrote a few articles and conducted research. Goldman said that even though her internship was a great experience, finding it took a lot of preparation and caused just a bit of stress.

“I basically applied to Time Inc. and thought I for sure would not hear back,” she recalled. “I just did the general application and, miraculously, made the first round interviews. Then I made it to the second round interview, booked a flight to New York City and did the interview face-to-face. The rest is history.”

She remembers being treated more like an employee than an intern. Her bosses apologized when they handed her mundane tasks. Her editors also allowed her to brainstorm with them about story ideas and consult them for advice.

“Everyone was so friendly and relaxed. No one was intimidating,” she said. “The fact that they let me write and come up with story ideas was fun, to say the least.”

Goldman said students should not be intimidated when applying to top companies.

“Don’t compare or compete with your peers,” she said. “You are your own person and things will fall into place for you, so don’t stress out.”

Newspaper interns refinestorytelling, editing skills

Amie Sites — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:55:04 +0000

Courtesy photo

While working at the San Diego Tribune, junior Mary Kenney reported on General Dynamics NASSCO's production of Navy ships.

Three students interested in newspaper reporting found themselves working as reporters and editors last summer, refining what they learned in class. But they also said they became better storytellers, managers of details and organizers of their time.

Junior Mary Kenney spent the summer in California as a business reporting intern for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Her duties included writing business and science features, and shorter Q & A stories, as well as updating the Union-Tribune Facebook page. Her work appeared both in print and on the paper’s website.

Kenney said she knew she could live with a relative in San Diego, but she applied for many internships at locations far and wide. She collected her clips, and developed her resume and cover letter. She sent packets to numerous newspapers and news organizations that she thought may have internships, and those she knew had posted internships. Kenney said she sent a follow up email two weeks later.

It worked, and she found herself in California for the summer. A native Hoosier, Kenney said getting experience was more than worth the change of scenery.

“Don’t be intimidated by other demographics,” she says. “People need to get outside the state as well as get experience in media.”

Senior Pooja Kansal also worked in California this summer as copy editing intern for the Los Angeles Times as one of the Dow Jones Newspaper interns. For this opportunity, students apply in the fall, take an editing test and wait to see if they place in the top 60 students. In the final round, Kansal was placed at the Los Angeles Times.

Photo by Nick Demille

Pooja Kansal competed for the Dow Jones Newspaper internship to land her copy editing job at the Los Angeles Times.

While there, she received assignments, edited stories, worked on the Web page designs, adjusted story length and edited the blog. As copy editing intern, she said she learned more about the importance of details. Like Kenney, Kansal said she enjoyed getting away from Indiana for the summer.

“It’s more expensive going away, but it’s a more fulfilling experience,” Kansal said. “Going away allowed me to gain experience.”

Kansal said she was privileged to get a paid internship in her chosen career area, but she also said any journalistic internship would be beneficial to journalism students.

“Don’t worry about if it’s what you want to do later in life,” she said. “The work experience, networking opportunity and improved communications skills make it worth it.”

Senior Keiara Carr interned at The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, her home town. After high school, Carr won a $3,000 scholarship from The News-Sentinel. When she was looking for places to intern, she naturally applied to the newspaper that already had signaled its vote of confidence in her work.

Photo by Nick Demille

Keiara Carr turned to her hometown newspaper in Fort Wayne when seeking an internship.

“I don’t think that I would have gotten the internship without having previously been awarded the scholarship,” Carr said. “Every person you meet professionally can be a contact.”

In addition to her routine work, Carr said she pitched her own ideas and wrote two to three features a week. She focused on community-based stories. She recalled a story in which she interviewed a group of people who went to high school together in the 1940s, went on to marry others but found one another years later.

While the stories she wrote were diverse and interesting, Carr said some of the skills she gained were more practical.

“The internship helped me get organized,” she said. “Each week I would be interviewing several people and would make a to-do list on things I had to complete.”

Journalism at IU celebrates 100 years

SoJ Web Report — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:43:43 +0000

Photo by Ann Schertz

Virginia Fielder, MA'74, PhD'76, was one of more than 300 alumni and friends to attend the three-day centennial celebration.

Multimedia

Ibold guest of Kling Center Speaker Series (Feb. 9)
Ibold to talk on 'Dissent at Distance' (Feb. 9)
Lee's two works set for publication (Feb. 7)

The School of Journalism welcomed more than 300 alumni and guests for a Centennial Weekend celebration Sept. 16-18 that included the inaugural presentation of the Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Alumni from as early as the 1940s to more recent graduates attended lunches, dinners, panel discussions, tailgate parties, tours and many small reunions. The school launched its inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award program in honor of the centennial, presenting 15 alumni with honors.

Here are reports of some of the highlights:

Banquet draws more than 300 to see inaugural Distinguished Alumni Awards program
About 300 people at the School of Journalism’s centennial banquet Friday night celebrated the school’s legacy, met the inaugural group of Distinguished Alumni honorees and reunited with former classmates, professors and student publications colleagues.

Read bios about the inductees

Luncheon kicks off three-day centennial weekend
About 200 alumni, faculty, staff and guests gathered at the IU Auditorium Friday for a luncheon to kick off the centennial celebration of 100 years of journalism education at IU.

Hamm encourages alumni to lend talents to ensure program's future
After a weekend of awards, workshops and reliving memories at Nick’s English Hut, attendees at the IU School of Journalism Centennial Weekend ended the celebration with a Sunday brunch and remarks from Dean Brad Hamm in the Indiana Memorial Union Frangipani Room.

Discussion groups and tours:
Deggans shares ways of 'creating your own brand'
Eric Deggans, who writes for the St. Petersburg Times, is a regular commentator for NPR and blogs for the National Sports Journalism Institute, focused on new media, including social media, as tools for establishing yourself as a commodity.

PR alumni discuss changes in profession
The field of public relations has changed immensely over the years, according to panelists at “Public Relations Across the Decades,” a discussion session Saturday in the President’s Club in the Indiana Memorial Union.

Photo by Lauren Kastner

Mace Broide, BA'47, signs the drawer from a desk once used by Ernie Pyle. He and other former editors-in-chief conducted this ritual while visiting the IDS open house.

Alumni discuss career transitions
Friday’s panel discussion, “Making a Career Transition,” featured a panel of alumni sharing their experiences about navigating between jobs.

Art tour looks at IMU treasures
Some alumni skipped the football game in order to explore the art collection at the Indiana Memorial Union.

Du Cille reflects on career, school influence
In his talk on Washington Post photojournalism, the newspaper’s photography director Michel du Cille, BA’85, tied his work directly to the influence of the School of Journalism, specifically the lessons of the late professor Will Counts and retired professor John Ahlhauser, who was in the audience Friday at Ernie Pyle Hall.

Looking over 60 years, alumnae discuss state of women in journalism
With careers spanning six decades, a panel of seven alumnae gathered Friday afternoon for the Are We There Yet? Women in Media workshop.

Publications alumni return to IDS newsroom
Alumni packed the Indiana Student Media newsroom on Saturday morning for the Student Publications Alumni Breakfast, part of the IU School of Journalism’s Centennial Weekend.

School sets fall colloquium schedule

SoJ Web Report — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:44:03 +0000

Aquila presents research at Feb. 20 colloquium (Feb. 12)
Ibold guest of Kling Center Speaker Series (Feb. 9)
Ibold to talk on 'Dissent at Distance' (Feb. 9)

The school's Research Colloquium series provides a venue for researchers to present their work and receive feedback from colleagues, as well as a way for others to learn about projects.

The fall schedule is below. All talks are at 4 p.m. in Ernie Pyle Hall lounge and are open to all.

Sept. 6, Doctoral student Rosemary Pennington
“Male in the Masjid: The Framing of Muslim Men in Little Mosque on the Prairie”

Sept. 20, Professor Shannon Martin
“The Freedom of Information Act and James Russell Wiggins: A Model for Legislative Activism”

Oct. 4, Pedro Farias Batlle and Sergio Roses Campos, Professors, Department of Journalism, University of Málaga, Spain
“Media and Journalists in Spain: Portrayal of a Mediterranean Media System”

Oct. 18 , Gerry Lanosga, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism, Ball State University
“Power, Pulitzers and the Press: How We Can Learn about Journalism and Society Through the Study of Prize Materials”

Nov. 1, Doctoral student Bill Hornaday
“Tweeting the Police Scanner”

Nov. 15 , Associate professor Jim Kelly
“Audience Perspectives on Dilemma Faced by Photojournalists”

Nov. 29 , Doctoral student Jaesik Ha
“Partisan Selective Exposure and Presidential Evaluation: Moderating Factors of Priming Effect”

Dec. 6, Doctoral student Fatima Al-Salem
“Journalism in Kuwait: Newspaper Journalists’ Practices, Professional Values and Perceived Roles”

Wanted: Alumni volunteer editors

SoJ Web Report — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:22:44 +0000

Photo by Dennis Elliott

Moi University student Maureen Jiwaji (right) and IU's Julia Haller outlined a story from their notes as the two worked together in Kenya last summer.

Calling all alumni editors and writing coaches: A class of students reporting from Kenya this summer needs your help.

A dozen IU journalism students spent two weeks learning about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and about the work of the IU and Moi University medical schools in providing healthcare to the people of Eldoret in western Kenya.

They now are in Kenya for three weeks, reporting on the epidemic, the healthcare system, and social issues related to healthcare and to cooperative assistance. (Read their blogs to see how their work is progressing.)

Associate professor Jim Kelly led a similar class last summer, and you can check out their student portfolios online. Last summer's students reported on some amazing topics, but they were not as polished and developed as Kelly had hoped.

“We simply ran out of time and were a bit short on editing expertise,” said Kelly. “We've added time to our schedule, but need some help."

Now is your chance to act as a writing coach and editor for one of the students while she or he is in Kenya. Each student will write one long-form story, about 2,000 words. Your job is to read the story once and then provide written feedback to the student via email.

You’ll get credit as an editor/coach on the student’s published work on the website, the student will gain valuable guidance in turning out a polished, long-form story, and Kelly can set the bar even higher for his next group of students.

Here’s how it works:

You receive the student’s draft by 3 p.m. (EST) Monday, June 6. That's 10 p.m. in Kenya, so students can send their stories at the end of their days' reporting.
Return your comments and suggestions by midnight (EST), which is 7 a.m. in Kenya, allowing students to make changes or corrections and base that day's reporting on some of your suggestions.

That's all Kelly asks. If you want to keep up with the student’s progress, you are welcome to check out the work on the Web, continue to communicate and suggest ideas. But that’s not required. The students need one good round of comments and edits while the work is in progress. They can continue fine-tuning as they are in the field.

Interested?

Contact Kelly by email or phone at 812-855-1708.

Indiana University School of Journalism » Uncategorized

Photojournalist uses networking — old and new — to land internship

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Boeyink retires after 24 years

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Time at Media LLC meant new experiences, longtime friends

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Interns credit networking, flexibility in finding jobs

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Newspaper interns refinestorytelling, editing skills

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Journalism at IU celebrates 100 years

Multimedia

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School sets fall colloquium schedule

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Wanted: Alumni volunteer editors

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