JRN 492 and 892 Section 730 Module 1 introduction.

1. An introduction to your Instructor Hello Class!Welcome to JRN 492 & 892 (730)

2. Where I’m From Hello, my name is Steven Davy. I will be your instructor for Journalism 492 and the graduate edition 892 Section 730. This is the second time the course has been offered at the J-School and we think it’s a class that will address a growing need in journalism for early adoption and understanding of social media and Web 2.0 technologies. I am excited you are here and I hope the online learning environment is engaging and challenging for you.

3. A little about me I’ve been a professional journalist for more than a decade. After completing my undergraduate work, I started my career in radio taking a job as news director and morning anchor at a three channel radio station cluster in Kalamazoo. I also hosted a one hour newsmagazine at WIDR FM in Kalamazoo where I first learned and explored in-depth long form interviewing in a live broadcast environment.

4. Going Freelance After I left the cluster, I wanted to develop my writing abilities further and so I became a freelance journalist and wrote feature news pieces for the Kalamazoo Gazette covering city council, school board meetings and all kinds of interesting arts and other cultural events. After doing that for a while I was asked to joint the ranks of United Press International’s resource wars desk were I covered the defense industry. Additionally I reported on evolving militant threats around the world and terrorism largely as an internet-based correspondent.

5. Other writing Another place I’ve had the opportunity to write for is MediaShift at PBS where I cover the intersection between politics and Web 2.0 technologies. If you have aspirations to be a media professional or if you want smart writing on the digital media revolution, MediaShift is indispensable. Make it a part of your news diet at: http://pbs.org/mediashift

6. Sparty On! While working at UPI, I also attended MSU’s graduate journalism school and began researching new media technologies along with host of other research threads. In December 2009 I completed my graduate degree following the defense of my thesis project which was the culmination of much of my work on new media theories using a hybrid qualitative research method to explore the language of music. For my project I developed an interactive website using lots of web 2.0 technologies. Many of which we will explore during this course. Check out the site here: http://www.exploringconversations.com

7. Back to Radio That brings me to today. As you read in the course syllabus, I live in Boston, Mass. and work for the NPR affiliate WGBH. I am the Web Editor for the WGBH, PRI, BBC co-production The World. ( http://www.theworld.org ) Many of the web theories I have been working on for the last several years are in full swing at The World. Hopefully, I will be able to provide this class with references to a real world journalism environment. Oh, and if you are in Michigan, you can listen to The World on Michigan Radio at 7 p.m. Please do!

8. For more… If you are interested in learning more about me, please visit http://www.stevendavy.com Follow me on Twitter @sdavy I look forward to working with all of you! Cheers! Steven