Anniston Star’s Community Journalism Fellows
I am in Anniston, Alabama for the advisory board meeting of the Knight Community Journalism Fellows program hosted at the Anniston Star. The fellows work toward a Master’s degree in Community Journalism through the University of Alabama.
In this first year there are six fellows. It is set up as a teaching laboratory, where they study while in a newsroom environment. Here is how the program bills itself:
Most journalists work in community media, but most Americans think of journalism as national media, which they increasingly dislike. The profession needs more people who know and care about how communities work and why they sometimes fail. Skillful, authoritative news coverage and courageous, well-informed editorial leadership must be grounded in knowledge of local issues. That is what Com-J will bring–a new way of developing journalism leadership through a master’s degree program inside a “teaching newspaper.” Com-J students will experience journalism as vital, ethical, relevant, passionate and creative, even in a world of daunting change, and together, faculty and students will share what we learn with the rest of the profession. This may be your best chance to make a difference in journalism, in community life and in your own career.
Before coming I was asked to write a tribute for Cole Campbell, whose ideas helped shape the program. The tribute ran in today’s Anniston Star.
