Campuses Collaborate to Construct New Journalism
By JERAA
October 26, 2020
More than 100 emerging journalists from universities across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, will join a global conversation on “tomorrow’s journalism”, hosting a live television broadcast this week.
The students, from 27 participating institutions in the Australasian region, produce a series of live panel discussions, Q&As with global guests and interviews for the Constructive Journalism: Making a Difference 2020 project when they go live on Melbourne community television station Channel 31 over three days starting Tuesday 27 October from 4pm to 5pm (AEDT). The shows will also be streamed live on www.junctionjournalism.com
The collaborative broadcast is part of The Junction, a national journalism project that publishes the best student journalism from 27 universities and colleges across the Australasian region.
RMIT journalism lecturer and Executive Producer of the television programs, Janak Rogers, says the production is one of the most ambitious fully remote television productions in Australia.
“The production is a real testament to all the innovation at RMIT and beyond. It’s a real privilege to work with so many fantastic emerging journalists and broadcast professionals from across the country. The project is a real showcase for their skills and determination.”
Guided by academics – many of them seasoned journalists – to produce high quality pieces for their graduation portfolios, the project allows students to gain valuable real-life reporting skills to produce job-ready graduates.
JERAA (Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia) president Dr Alex Wake said the project was yet another example of how journalism programs within universities were meeting the current, and future, needs of industry.
“Constructive Journalism is a new way of looking at traditional journalism practice, one that builds greater trust with audiences and one that helps audiences engage with credible news sources. By engaging with this project, journalism academics teach the hands on skills that students require to be job-ready for the journalism industry as it is now, but also thinking about current practice and reflecting on ways to improve that practice. It’s a win-win for students and academics to be working together on such projects.”
The completely remote live studio production will involve a 15-student team from RMIT’s Cert IV in Screen Media with a five-person social media production hub and 100 people from around the country involved in the production as presenters, producers and reporters.
It is the first output of the three part project which also includes a radio show and podcast series hosted by The University of Canberra, to be launched in November, and multi-media constructive journalism stories already being published online at https://junctionjournalism.com/category/project/project-constructive-journalism/
This project was made possible with funding from the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, established by philanthropist Judith Neilson in 2018 to support evidence-based journalism.
Nicknamed #Cojo2020, the constructive journalism theme follows on from The Junction’s hugely successful Federal Election 2019 coverage, also supported by JNI, which saw hundreds of students broadcast live crosses and published pieces from electorates across the country.
Since The Junction was established in 2018, other collaborative projects have included Youth Justice, Climate Change and Coronavirus reporting.
Two students who are judged to have produced the best work in Cojo2020 will win an all-expense paid Fellowship to the Constructive Institute – Independent Centre for Constructive Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark when international borders open. The institute was set up by journalist and former broadcaster Ulrik Haagerup, as a response to the increasing tabloidization of news.
“Working with bright journalism students all over Australia gives me hope for the future of our profession,” says Haagerup. “The students understand, that their job is not to copy what we old cynical guys have done. It is to experiment with inspirational reporting, inject nuances and reconnect with audiences. It is to rethink journalism. Because while journalism might be part of the reason of the trust meltdown in democracy, but it just has to be part of the solution.”
The Junction’s constructive journalism project and conversation precedes the Global Constructive Journalism Conference on December 15 and 16, which will bring together young journalists from around the world to discuss the future of journalism
Over an uninterrupted 24 hours of live broadcast online, the conference will “follow the sun” from Denmark and back again via Sydney, London and other cities in varied sessions that include topics such as climate change, terrorism and conflict culture. Read more at: https://constructiveinstitute.org/now-what/global-constructive-journalism-conference/
TELEVISION LIVE BROADCAST
Watch the CoJo2020 Broadcasts on YouTube OR via www.junctionjournalism.com
TUES 27 OCT — LIVE @ 1600-1700 AED
Making a Difference: Constructive Journalism 2020
Episode 1: https://youtu.be/dotKmt9rQIQ
WED 28 OCT — LIVE @ 1600-1700 AEDT
Making a Difference: Constructive Journalism 2020
Episode 2: https://youtu.be/2DPL5WKrPug
THURS 29 OCT — LIVE @ 1600-1700 AEDT
Making a Difference: Constructive Journalism 2020
Episode 3: https://youtu.be/rsOqehBIsKU
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