Two journalism professors in Springfield–Andrew Cline of Missouri State and Jonathan Groves of Drury–have guided their students (and others, in Groves’s case) to create online publications presenting local news and views. Both got off the ground and online this month.
Cline’s project is Ozarks News Journal, which describes itself as:
a laboratory for discovering how to make the best use of the World Wide Web and social media for producing journalism. Students in the JRN378 Multimedia Journalism class seek to understand more than just how to make the web and social media tools work for news gathering and publishing. They seek to understand how to use these tools to fulfill the primary purpose of journalism: To give citizens the information they need to be free and self-governing.
Professor Groves has taken a different tack with SGF News, seeking content from members of the community. Groves hopes that SGF News will serve as a community forum on specific topics (currently 2010 elections), but with explicit guidelines, called Ground Rules:
- No profanity.
- Be civil. Don’t resort to personal attacks.
- Support your arguments. Offer links to supporting material, and support your conclusions with facts.
- Join the community. As citizens of the Ozarks, join the conversation and offer your thoughts so the best will bubble to the top.
Ozarks Law & Economy 