Convergence and the Urban Journalism Curriculum Karen M. Turner Susan Jacobson Temple University

Convergence, the Urban Mission and Temple Journalism  Curriculum has been actively evolving since the 1990’s  In 1995, broadcast journalism courses were added to the curriculum and the sequences were eliminated  EIG was added as a core course in 1996  Fall 2000 department reinstituted sequences  plans for reorganization  “The New Look : Mission-Driven Journalism” curriculum introduced in Fall 2004.

What Is Urban Journalism? Coverage of diverse voices and ideas Coverage of the under-covered/under-served inner city communities Coverage of the complex issues facing the nation’s urban centers Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods. Not euphemism for the coverage of only black and brown communities

Convergence at Temple

Challenges: Changing Mediascape  Mainstream media outlets are laying off staffers and trying to redefine themselves  American public gets more of its news from TV and, increasingly, from the Web  Alternative and ethnic press is maintaining its audience and its revenue base  Traffic.com has hired 80 people in 2005, and plans to hire 30 more  New York Times is now charging money for some Web content

Challenges: Wireless Philadelphia  Philadelphia to become largest metropolitan area in the world with ubiquitous wireless access  How can journalists in Philadelphia take advantage of the new network?  What new platforms for news delivery will be available? (ex: WiFi PDAs, moblogs )  What kind of content will journalists create for these new delivery platforms?  What potential does the wireless network have to enable greater news coverage for under-served communities?

The Temple Curriculum  Mix interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches.  Core curriculum - more interdisciplinary. Sequences more multi-disciplinary.  Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab - New capstone course for all majors. Newsroom located downtown across from City Hall.

Interdisciplinary Core  Platform-independent basic courses:  Writing for Journalists  Audio-Visual Newsgathering  Design for Journalists  Electronic Information Gathering  Journalism and Society  Journalism and the Law  Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab capstone

Multi-Disciplinary Sequences  Broadcast Journalism  Magazine  News-Editorial  Photography for the Mass Media

Urban Journalism Elements  Focus on stories local to Philadelphia, particularly stories centered around under- served neighborhoods  Outreach to independent media organizations, including internship opportunities for students  Relationship with the city in preparing students for Wireless Philadelphia initiative.

Next Steps  Partner MURL with ethnic press in those neighborhoods where community media exists.  Incorporate student-run radio Internet radio station into curriculum.  Move MURL to a more Web-centric lab.  Develop “live” field reporting from anywhere in the city via the Wireless Philadelphia Internet.  Develop models of urban reporting that may be used in other cities, or by other urban media groups.

Sample Works  MURL - Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab  Better World Election Day MoBlog  Student Project: Alex Goldblum’s Revolution  Student Project: Kurt Sensenig’s Concert Radio

For More Information Karen M. Turner Susan Jacobson See our paper on the Convergence Web site!