{"id":19714,"date":"2017-03-27T08:02:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T12:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/edc\/?p=19714"},"modified":"2022-01-14T14:14:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T19:14:32","slug":"experiential-learning-journalism-grad-students-take-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/experiential-learning-journalism-grad-students-take-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiential learning: Journalism grad students take New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Sproule, TLS Freelance Writer<\/em><\/p>\n

They call it \u2018bootcamp,\u2019 and for good reason. The mandatory reporting skills course for all new Master of Journalism students at Carleton is a gruelling crash course in the fundamentals of being a news reporter. Practicing everything from interviews to news writing, the students meet for eight hours every Tuesday and Friday for their \u2018bootcamp\u2019 class, which is broken down into lectures and skill development workshops.<\/p>\n

This past fall, veteran reporters Allan Thompson (Toronto Star<\/em>) and Janice Tibbetts (Postmedia News<\/em>) taught the course, and when Thompson realized the U.S. federal election would be taking place on a Tuesday – a bootcamp day – he saw it as a prime opportunity to give students authentic journalistic experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed crazy to be sitting in a classroom in Ottawa when we could be in the U.S. covering the election,\u2019\u2019 says Thompson.<\/p>\n

He pitched the idea to the Discovery Centre and received funding to support his experiential learning endeavor. Thompson then went on a brief \u201creconnaissance mission\u201d to scope out interview subjects and story lines and, perhaps most important, find a hotel that would accommodate his 19 students in Ogdensburg, New York, a tiny town tucked just across the U.S. border.<\/p>\n

While Thompson made the necessary travel arrangements, the students made some preparations of their own. The class took a \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d approach, researching and setting up interviews throughout St. Lawrence County, with some readying to visit the local high school to speak with first-time voters.<\/p>\n

Thompson and his class left Ottawa early in the morning on November 8 and made their way to the gymnasium of an old schoolhouse-turned-hotel, which they converted into their \u201cheadquarters,\u201d where students would return throughout the day to file stories and touch-base with their instructors. Once the professors and teaching assistant had edited the students\u2019 work, it was uploaded to a WordPress site crafted exclusively for the exercise. The website was updated regularly with written articles, sound clips, photos, and podcasts submitted by the students throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\"Election<\/a>