Teaching Journalism

Mar 30, 2010 - Posted by Melissa Wilson - Students' Lounge Editor

Last Monday, Carleton University's School of Journalism participated in a class experiment in Twitter. As result, the school's political reporting course topped Twitter's Canadian trends for the day. But is it educational? Two students weigh in.

How to negotiate the best j-school offer

Mar 16, 2010 - Posted by Regan Ray

Rebecca Cheung offers tips for students faced with competing offers from graduate j-schools. (And you thought applying was difficult.)

Using actors to teach journalism

Feb 16, 2010 - Posted by Mary McGuire

Show don’t tell is a writing 101 rule, but Ryerson j-prof Anne McNeilly uses it in her teaching. Hiring an actor to stage a dramatic scene in class pushed the students into reporting mode and created "the most memorable classes" McNeilly has ever taught.

J-school faculty out of date

Feb 09, 2010 - Posted by Mary McGuire

Are J-schools bad for the news business? A visiting professor at Ryerson University, Jeffrey Dvorkin asks the question this week on his blog. Dvorkin, a former chief journalist at CBC Radio, quotes a Facebook post which accuses j-school faculty of being out of date and guilty of teaching obsolete skills and ultimately contributing to the collapse of the news business.

How I taught my students to think about the journalism they read

Jan 26, 2010 - Posted by Regan Ray

There’s no way students will read 5000-word articles every week, colleagues told Ryerson j-prof Bill Reynolds. But they did, and Reynolds learned that despite the various narcotics of the web, he could still get students to read long pieces and step back and wonder at the world.

Six things all j-students need

Dec 15, 2009 - Posted by Mary McGuire

I wonder, writes Ryerson University online journalism instructor Leigh Felesky, what students are being told "journalism" is these days. Felesky lays out six skill areas that j-schools should focus on in these changing times.

Teaching j-students to use social media

Dec 09, 2009 - Posted by Mary McGuire

Looking for ideas about how to teach j-students to use social media in their reporting?

Here's a list of ten ways some j-schools are doing it from Mashable.com.

Teaching accuracy takes more than punishing mistakes

Dec 01, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray

Journalists are conditioned to fear and avoid mistakes but that doesn’t prevent errors, writes Craig Silverman. He lays out six fundamentals of teaching accuracy.

J-students should be taught consensus guidelines, says author of new ethics text

Nov 01, 2009

"If you were a newspaper editor, would you run a picture of a young woman and toddler falling from a fire escape? Of a man plunging to his death from the World Trade Center on 9/11?

"If you were a reporter witnessing heartbreaking scenes as you documented the lives of children sharing homes with drug addicts and alcoholics, what would it take...

Journalism students and their course under legal scrutiny

Oct 25, 2009 - Posted by Mary McGuire

Prosecutors in Illinois have subpoenaed the notes, email messages and even grades of students involved in an investigative reporting project. For years journalism students at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism have been attracting attention for investigative reporting exercises which proved several people were wrongfully convicted and lead to the release of 11 inmates. Now state prosecutors want details of their methods, including the grading criteria for the course. The university if fighting the subpoenas.