ONA Weekly #349: Recent Collaborations In Local News And Journalism Education

By on March 3, 2021

   

Recent collaborations in local news and journalism education

Winners of the Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education continue to make progress on their projects to experiment with local news coverage. We’re happy to share a couple of recent updates:

Led by Amara Aguilar, faculty and students at USC Annenberg won support through the 2020 Challenge Fund to work with LA Taco and Los Angeles County residents on a community zine. In January, students hosted “Stories from Stove,” a Facebook Live cooking demonstration and conversation about Indigenous food with Zapotec chef Alfonso Martinez. Just in time for the Lunar New Year, they published their first piece—a story about Lanzhou noodles in Arcadia, Calif., by Lauren Teruya under the guidance of Professor Laura Castaneda and LA Taco Editor Javier Cabral.

Michigan State University faculty Rachel R. Mourão, Soo Young Shin and Carin Tunney released their first article detailing the results of their Challenge Fund experiment: Toward In-Depth Coverage: Testing the Effectiveness of a Single-Issue Multimedia Course for Undergraduate Public Affairs Reporting. They found that while focusing on a single issue empowered students to better engage with their local communities and produce in-depth reporting, the additional multimedia training underscored how inequalities outside the classroom can affect learning outcomes. The university was among the winners of the 2017 Challenge Fund, and used their initial funding on in-depth coverage of “school choice” policy. In 2020, we awarded the university a $50,000 grand prize in recognition of the project team’s work and to support further research and innovation in journalism education.

Belonging in the News with Wesley Lowery

Join us March 10 at 3 p.m. ET for the third installment of the “Belong in the News” series, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and correspondent for CBS News, Wesley Lowery in conversation with Maynard Institute Co-Executive Director Martin G. Reynolds. Wesley will share about his experience investigating police shootings for The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” project, as well as his journey to find belonging as a journalist. This conversation will not be recorded. Register now and use the hashtag #journobelonging to share your takeaways.

ICYMI: More updates from Vision25

As part of our commitment to building racial equity in newsrooms, ONA and our Vision25 partners—Maynard Institute and OpenNews—have done a lot of behind-the-scenes work to convene conversations with newsroom leadership and newly minted staff overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. We’re also doing outreach for a fellowship opportunity, building a community space and developing practical resources. Read the latest update from Vision25 partners to learn about five ways to get involved this month.

Add your resume to the ONA Career Center

Whether you’re actively applying for a new job or casually browsing for opportunities, we encourage you to post or update your resume in the ONA Career Center. Resources for job seekers are open to both ONA members and non-members. You can explore open positions that match your experience and career needs, track recruiter engagement and more.

Career opportunities

ONA’s Career Center is an excellent resource for jobs, fellowships and internships in digital journalism. Recent postings include:

On our radar

The radar is now open for suggestions. Have you written or read a piece lately that would benefit others in journalism? We’re interested in sharing insights on trends, how-to guides, lessons from a project and other inspiration for innovation in digital journalism.