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Creating Journalism in a New Way
Real World... Real Time
by Carl Filoreto
It�s 7:15 in the morning, and in Tempe, Arizona, the speed
dial is already active. Simultaneously, in four other locations
spanning the nation, eager bureau chiefs are joining in the daily
conference call to the mother ship in New York. Story ideas are
pitched and dissected, resources are gathered and committed,
and a working plan for the day morphs and evolves from the
spirited conversation. Multi-tasking editors in Manhattan
confirm the day�s story list, and agree to check on progress
throughout the day. Everyone hits the ground running.
(Pictured) From left to right: Jason Tarr, Chris Cuomo, Robin Roberts, Diane Sawyer, Meghan Lisson, and Sabina Kuriakose. The photo was taken when we - Meghan, Sabina and I - traveled with the GMA crew on the Whistle Stop Tour from Rome, NY to Niagara Falls, NY.
On the surface, it�s simply the daily ritual enacted by a
number of national broadcast news organizations. In this
instance, though, there�s one profound difference. That phone
call from Tempe came from Emily Graham, a senior broadcast
journalism major at Arizona State University�s Walter Cronkite
School of Journalism and Mass Communication. And she�s
calling the producers and editors at ABC News in New York as
part of the ABC News On Campus news gathering program.
The idea to establish working network news bureaus at
college campuses across the country was spawned by John
Green, executive producer of special project development at
ABC News. �When I saw the recent wave of college graduates,
it was so clear to me that they were creating journalism in a
different way,� Green relates. �There was so much we could
learn about the digital world they were living in, and about
how they use digital tools.�
(Pictured) Sabina Kuriakose and Torie Wells
interviews Celina Tousignant for our �Midterm Bureau Assignment� on
the hooking up culture trend.
Green envisioned a perfectly balanced symbiotic model.
News organizations around the globe are struggling to capture
new audiences, and to retain their current ones. ABC News
could tap into the creative energies percolating at college
campuses across the country while providing a real life work
environment for the students selected into the program. The
students receive an invaluable experience to hone their editorial
skills while the brain trust at ABC News have the opportunity
to learn about how the incredibly valuable 20 to 24 year old
demographic consumes news in today�s virtual marketplace.
�It�s a throwback to the old mentoring programs established by
newspapers in the 50�s and 60�s,� Green adds.
He advanced the idea to ABC News president David Westin,
who enthusiastically endorsed the project. More importantly,
he backed the concept with a modest budget and the idea was
converted into a reality. Green and his team selected five
universities that have highly rated journalism schools and set
up a system of satellite news bureaus at the schools.
�Here, it�s an immersion program�, explains Susan Green,
the faculty advisor for the program at Arizona State. �We
intend to give the students the feel of working in a news room
from 9 to 6, two or three days a week.� In fact, the entire process
is handled in a manner that mimics real world practices.
Students apply for one of five positions at each bureau. The
resumes are pared down to a manageable number and those
that advance go through a rigorous interview process. Of the
five lucky candidates not voted off the island, one is picked to
be the bureau chief. �This just is not a chance you get every
day,� relates Emily Graham, bureau chief at ASU. �For me,
ABC News was a powerful draw. I�m on the phone with the Los
Angeles assignment desk every day. To have that type of access
is amazing.�
(Pictured) Sabina Kuriakose and Matt Gelb in
Rome, NY, helping to get MOS sound
for GMA and the Whistle Stop Tour.
The campus bureaus are usually attached to the newsrooms
operating within each broadcast journalism school. ABC News
provides the student journalists with small format cameras,
computers and the software needed to perform a variety
of multi-platform tasks, including video editing, writing
mainstream web �print� type stories, blogging and uploading
files to an FTP site. Although students are trained in both
Final Cut Pro and Avid based editing systems, Avid is the work
horse for the bureaus since it meshes with the editing platform
at ABC News and many of their affiliated local stations.
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