On Aug. 23, 2009, the CollegeJourn.com kids decided we wanted to collaborate on a global-scale reporting assignment. And in true CollegeJourn fashion, within a week the ball was already rolling.
Here is everything you need to know to get involved:
THE BASICS
WHAT:
This is a global collaborative reporting project on health. Choose one of two assignments: For news, the question is "How does health care on my campus compare to others around the world?" This project will be data-driven and will require digging up statistics so we can compare different locations accurately. The features assignment is "What does health mean in my area?" This is an excellent opportunity for reporters to do something creative and informative with features and multimedia.
WHO CAN BE INVOLVED:
Students, educators and professional journalists.
- Students can participate either individually or with others in their school. Recent grads also welcome.
- Educators can use this project as an assignment or material for student publications, and also provide guidance to others in the group.
- Professionals can help mentor students and edit the reports. They can also provide contacts and feedback to aspiring journalists.
THE ASSIGNMENT (pick one)
FEATURE:
What does health mean in your area?
We want stories about people. Be as location-specific as possible, but from there, be creative. Will it be a long-form 2500-word piece? An interactive Flash presentation? A documentary? A photo essay? Several short profiles bundled into one? Pitch your work to the Google group (see "How can I get involved?" below) with your specific plans BEFORE you get started.
Some prompts you may want to explore:
- What is physical health?
- What is mental health?
- What is good health care?
- What is a healthy work/leisure balance?
- What is healthy eating?
- What are healthy relationships?
- What is addiction?
Focus on stories that can be compared and contrasted with other stories around the globe.
DUE SUNDAY, DEC. 6, 2009. If you do not have an editor or instructor to look at your piece, it will be due before then, sometime in November.
NEWS:
How does health care on my campus compare to others around the world?
PART 1: Establish a narrative.
What happens when a student needs immediate medical attention on your campus? What is the process? What levels of bureaucracy do they navigate? Are there any first responders on campus? Any medical facilities on site? Have there been past examples of emergencies that have gone right/wrong? This narrative will also require exploring your nation's health care system, but through the eyes of a university student.
[Before we do anything, however, we need to send out Freedom of Information requests in countries where FOI is available. Those may take months to get, so the sooner the better. We'll discuss specifics on the Google group.]
PART 1 DUE OCT. 30, 2009. This gives you two months. For written pieces: 1500-2000 words, photos required. For video: 3-4 minutes. If you want to make a longer documentary, create a web teaser one minute long to link to your longer piece. For audio: 3-4 minutes. Please pitch your projects to the Google group if you wish to go longer.
PART 2: Collaborate and gather data.
Once part 1 is turned in, everyone in the project will be able to see the different narratives around the world. Then you can incorporate their reporting into one bigger article, written for an audience in your area who doesn't know about the other universities.
In the meantime, with any luck the FOI data will be trickling in, and we will also have an open spreadsheet where we can compare and contrast statistics. The metrics will include items such as:
- Distance to nearest hospital or clinic
- Ambulance response times
- Average cost of visit (if not to student, then to taxpayer)
- Number of clinicians per 100 students
- What services are available on-site
- Population statistics over time for the campus
- Statistics like weight, pregnancy, AIDS diagnoses, gonnohrea/syphillis, etc.
Some of this data can be collected without an FOI request. Also, this is NOT a final list, and we may have to adjust based on 1) what we can find and 2) how quickly we can find it. Keep an eye on the Google group for more details.
For countries with nationalized health care systems, you may need to find information within a 5- or 10-kilometer radius of your campus' location.
PART 2 DUE DEC. 6, 2009. The longer story written for an audience in your location should be about 2000-2500 words, preferably less. For multimedia producers, take photos, audio and video produced by other students and expand your project by 1-2 minutes.
Pitch all other ideas, address any issues or questions to the Google group.
THE DETAILS
WHERE WILL THIS BE PUBLISHED?
A final website, but we also hope your stories will be published in your campus publication or in another local professional publication you wish to send your pitch. But the real end result will be the comprehensive website. At the bare minimum, it will be a WordPress site. At its pinnacle, and depending on the talents and skills of the people involved, it will be an interactive map where users can click on countries and cities and pull up the stories, video, audio and databases we create.
You are allowed to pitch your final piece to publications of your choice, and even get paid for it, as long as they include the tagline, "The CollegeJourn reporting network contributed to this report."
If that publication forbids you to post it to our website whatsoever, no deal. If they want first rights and we can find a way to link it back to their publication but still keep our website as a central hub for the content, then deal.
If the publication doesn't like the open collaborative reporting nature of our project, then no deal. I understand different publications have different accountability and fact-checking mechanisms in place. We will be edited and every effort will be made to fact-check stories accurately. That will be discussed more thoroughly on the Google group.
HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?
You must do two things:
- Input your contact information into this Google form. (http://bit.ly/2DnjRr)
- Join the Google group: http://groups.google.com/group/collegejourn-reporting-project/
And you probably should do three other things (they're great resources):
- Join our group at WiredJournalists.com: (http://www.wiredjournalists.com/group/collegejourn/)
- Join Publish2.com and start linking relevant news and websites that would help us understand the complexities of health care in different countries. Join the newsgroup here: http://www.publish2.com/newsgroups/collegejourn-reports-health-care-on-campus
- If you're in the UK, join HelpMeInvestigate.com: (http://helpmeinvestigate.com/investigations/98) This website puts you in touch with professional reporters who can point you in the right direction.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
The project was created by journalism students with journalism students in mind, to get our feet wet with collaboration, information, international reporting, data and multimedia, while producing news and information relevant to a university-based audience. The CollegeJourn students responsible for this idea meet in a chatroom every Sunday, 8 pm BST/3 pm EDT/noon PDT, at collegejourn.com. (Blame us.)
HELPFUL LINKS:
- Sarah Jackson's initial blog post about the project (http://bit.ly/fSD1h)
-
Josh Halliday's post on Online Journalism Blog (http://bit.ly/kKkp2)
- Suzanne Yada's post with more details (http://bit.ly/iAnTH)
- CollegeJourn chat logs for Aug. 23 (when the idea first started), Aug. 30 and Sept. 6. (http://bit.ly/collegejournlogs)
So now that you have the lowdown, let's get started, shall we?
-Suzanne Yada
Until further notice, the North America CollegeJourn chat will be moved up to 3 p.m. EDT/noon PDT Sundays to meet with the Euro CollegeJourn chat (which remains for them at 8 p.m. BST).
Why, you ask? So we can coordinate with our new global reporting project. Read Josh Halliday’s writeup here, and my writeup here. Then get excited.
-Suzanne Yada
We’re reviving CollegeJourn US to get everyone prepared for the up-and-coming school year! Come on by, same time, same channel, Sundays, 8-10 p.m. ET.
Also, I am going to be on a panel for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication on Tuesday, August 4, and would love to get your feedback on what you would like me to pass onto instructors. It will be the first topic for Sunday’s Check out the panel details here.
-Suzanne Yada
ATTENTION: Because of low attendance, the North America CollegeJourn chats, which normally happen every Sunday from 8-10 p.m. ET, will be on hiatus until Aug. 2, 2009. Enjoy your summer!