Student projects: mixing art with journalism

The Flyer is part of the Journalism 2.0 movement, where Web technologies rein supreme over older media. The older media want to stick to their guns and hold their formats; they know it best. Reality says that enrollment’s up at journalism schools while the journo job market is dying.

As mammoth as they are, university systems are quickly updating their catalogs with new media courses that prepare j-students for the future. The University of Arkansas is no different.

This summer session brings a new j-course, the Art of Interactive Journalism. The class meshes Flash and Web technologies with the journalism school of thought.

The projects get UA j-students thinking about local news, how it affects them and applies their strengths to interactive media using the Web.

The first project was a profile story, shooting a series of 10-15 photographs and adding captions. Here’s the work:
A Man of Many Parts, by Larry Ash
Guitar Hero, by TJ Carpenter
Tony Stankus: The Man, the Myth, the Bow Ties, by Jordan Grummer
Art and Marriage, by Clint Mitchell
Unfinished Business, by Zane Myers
Rusty Folsom, by Colin O’Bryan
Charla Beasley, by April Robertson
Jodi Beznoska, by Jon Schleuss
There’s No Biz Like Sno Biz, by Kelsey Stewart
Dickson Street Bookshop, by Caroline Walton

UA professors and students are working swiftly to get journalism students prepared to handle the complex tasks in their field. Campus media are updating their formats and sites like the Razorback Reporter are hosting student content.

Life is sweet when you don’t yet need a job.

carpenter