The document discusses setting up a collaborative student journalism project between a journalism class and a media partner. It provides tips for choosing a timely story, gaining support from university administrators, developing trust with media partners, creating a syllabus with clear milestones, grading student work fairly, overcoming obstacles, and ensuring students have a meaningful learning experience through independent reporting and seeing their work published. The goal is for students to gain real-world newsroom experience while investigating stories of local interest that traditional media outlets may not cover.

1. When Your Students Break
BIG News
Teachapalooza 2015, The Poynter Institute
Presented by Steve Fox, June 2015

2. Time…Is On Our Side
I HEARD A SAYING RECENTLY:
WE DON’T HAVE A LOT OF
TIME…..
SO WE’RE GOING TO SLOW
DOWN

3. Today’s Goals
Get stoked! Yes, I said “stoked.” You can do this at
your university! Just Do It!
Have a Plan. Hopefully our discussion will plant the
seeds of a plan for you to pursue at your university.
Want to Chat More? I’m around, please come find
me if you want to talk more.

4. Quick Background
CI story was sixth pro-am partnership.
Student approached me with rumors of student heroin
OD in Fall 2013. Class ran Spring 2014.
Story was ready to go in May. Weeks before publication,
the mother backed out.
Shelved story. Re-engaged mother over summer.
Story ran in September 2014, CI program ended in
January 2015. 20/20 piece ran in January.
FOX TEACHA RULE #1: Expect the Unexpected.

5. 20/20

6. 20/20

9. Teaching Goals
Data. Students get introduced to using data in their
reporting and storytelling.
Story Idea Generation. Developing story ideas is a
skill students develop by end of semester.
Interviewing. No, e-mail interviews are not accepted!
Get students out of classroom.
Writing. Whether it’s a written piece or multimedia,
students develop their long-form writing.
FOX TEACHA RULE #2: Flexibility required

10. Getting Started: Story
Develop a timely idea to engage your media partner and
students. Early buy-in is crucial for success.
Idea needs to be doable. Remember, you have three
months. Don’t try to scale Mt. Everest.
Get buy-in from your department head/dean. Especially
if you’re focusing on your university.
FOX TEACHA RULE #3: Protect Thy Backside

11. Getting Started: Partner
The key ingredient is trust. Don’t get burned!
Better to partner with an editor you know. Dealing with
unknowns can create heartburn.
Develop a workflow with your editing partner. Allow
editors to give input directly to students.
FOX TEACHA RULE #4: Have Trust Issues

12. Syllabus: New Rule of Thirds
1. Find the Story: Students divide into teams, chunk
up idea to manageable pieces.
2. Report the story: Middle part of semester is
researching, reporting, interviewing.
3. Write the Story: Outlines, Drafts, Rewrites. Getting
students to start writing can be a challenge.
FOX TEACHA RULE #5: Draft early and often.

13. Grading
Weekly memos: Including memos on how
reporting/writing is going.
Create environment for success, guide students away
from stories that won’t work.
Not every student work will be published. So, how do
you grade “failure?”
FOX TEACHA RULE #6: Effort matters.

15. Keys to Success
Build Trust. Student journalists face an even steeper hill
with sources than professionals.
Obstacles. Students learn to go around obstacles.
Identification. Students should record themselves at all
times. Never use “student project.”
Transparency. Let subjects know about project.
Time. Be realistic about commitment needed with such a
class: It’s a HUGE time commitment!

16. Potential Tripfalls
Investigating your school. There are many stories to
be done but also potential for blowback.
Grading. Can be tough to find the right formula.
Time. Have to be focused. Editing student work eats up
a lot of time. Anxiety levels run high.
Investment. Getting students emotionally invested early
is critical to success. Time management is always an issue
with students.

17. ‘Not Everyone Likes Us’
Sources. Students learn about gaining trust and building
credibility. Many sources have animosity towards media
and students feel that.
Obstacles. Frustrations provide great teaching
moments. REMINDER: These are students.
Failure. The failure rate is high. Some stories don’t pan
out. Some sources don’t cooperate or change their
stories. IT’S ALL LEARNING!

18. Benefits
Experience. Students get newsroom experience:
Working with editors. Covering beats. Interviewing.
Independence. Students say they love the
independence and a chance to bring together everything
they’ve learned to date.
Community Journalism. Students cover stories that
local media are unable or unwilling to cover.
WE NEED MORE OF THIS!

19. Contact Info.
Phone: (413) 727-5217 (cell)
E-mail: stevejfox@gmail.com
Twitter: @stevejfox