Two fabulous opportunities for J-School students in fall '07
"Ethanol and energy" and "quilts and quilting" will be the topics of the next depth reports. Each of these teams will produce a full-color magazine and television documentary similar to past projects that included the Little Bighorn, obesity, Cuba, France, Sri Lanka and Germany. Application deadline is March 2.
A word about the ethanol depth report:
World leaders are pondering how to keep millions of cars, trucks, planes and trains moving in the face of climate change and declining oil reserves. A popular American solution is to replace gasoline with ethanol made from corn, which puts Nebraska and other Cornbelt states at the center of a growing debate. Proponents say ethanol plants will revive rural communities, protect air quality and replace Middle Eastern oil. Critics, however, say ethanol production creates more environmental problems than it solves and diverts an important food source to fuel.
This depth-reporting team will explore the environmental, scientific, political and economic issues that drive the important debate over how to keep our society moving. Some travel also will be involved with the ethanol project, which will require a commitment of $200-$500 per student. The magazine part of the class will be taught by news-ed professors Joe Starita and Carolyn Johnsen. They will be looking for a group of 8-10 reporters, photographers and graphic artists for the class.
The broadcast component of the ethanol depth reporting project will be taught by NET Television veteran Michael Farrell and will use the cameras and editing facilities available at the newly renovated NET production headquarters on East Campus. Between two and four students will be selected to participate.
A limited amount of production will begin in the spring of 2007 and carry on through the summer in order to capture the corn-growing cycle and other seasonally dependent footage. It is our intention to offer paid student internships at NET for up to two students to begin this spring and summer work.
The majority of the production work will take place in the fall semester and will be coordinated and developed in partnership with the print students and faculty. Editing will begin late fall and continue into spring with the finished program expected to be delivered late in the spring semester of 2008 for broadcast and distribution statewide on NET Television. NET will provide final edit finishing and color correcting, graphics, sound sweetening and final mix with students participating in all phases of the completion process.
Students will be expected to participate in several out of town shoots within Nebraska and possibly one or two trips out of state, for example, as far as Washington, D.C., or the Chicago area. Students will be expected to support a portion of their own travel expenses, which may range between $200 and $500 per student depending on the particulars.
The ethanol/energy project will involve a magazine and documentary, and students will enroll for both the fall and spring semesters of the 2007-08 school year. Some travel may be involved, which may require a commitment of several hundred dollars per student. Joe Starita and Carolyn Johnsen will supervise the print side, and Mike Farrell will be in charge of the documentary. Phyllis Larsen will work with advertising students to promote the project.
A word about the quilting depth project:
Quilts are more than just a pretty way to keep warm or to decorate a room. An important part of history, every quilt can speak to you about the fabrics it contains and the lives it touched, about the way people lived, about the way quilting helped women find their voice in society and about the evolution of artistic expression. The depth report will look at quilts and quilting on an international level, tracing influences and trends from early sources in Europe to the United States and Nebraska.
The quilts/quilting class will meet during the fall semester, but all news and broadcast students who are accepted for the project will take a one-hour independent study over the summer to prepare for the fall class. Some international and/or national travel may be involved, which will require a commitment of up to $500 per student. Nancy Anderson and Charlyne Berens will supervise the print side, and Rick Alloway will be in charge of the documentary. Stacy James will work with advertising students to promote the project, which will be ready by the end of spring semester 2008.
Procedures for both projects:
Students may apply by submitting a resume and a brief essay explaining why they are interested in the project and what they can bring to it. Broadcast students must submit a sample tape. Those who require financial assistance for travel should include that fact in their application.
You may apply for either project or for both, but you will be accepted to one. Please do a separate application for each and indicate a first choice and second choice if you apply for both.
For the ethanol/energy project, advertising students should send materials to Phyllis Larsen; broadcast students' materials should go to Mike Farrell; news-ed students (both reporters and photographers) should send materials to Joe Starita. All faculty have mailboxes in the main journalism office in Andersen Hall.
For the quilts/quilting project, advertising students should send materials to Stacy James; broadcast students and news-ed students (both reporters and photographers) should send their materials to Charlyne Berens. (Rick Alloway is currently out of the country but will deal with the broadcast applications when he returns on Feb. 26.) All faculty have mailboxes in the main journalism office in Andersen Hall.
In general, news-ed students must have completed NEWS 302, Beat Reporting, in order to be considered for a depth reporting class.
