Category Archives: Students

 
Journalism and non-journalism students at Michigan State University explore how to better report environmental issues to the public at the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.
 

Environmental journalism courses can help students meet the School of Journalism’s elective requirements. They can also be used as part of an environmental theme to complete the school’s concentration requirement by combining them with environment-related courses outside the journalism program. See your academic adviser or contact the Knight Center.
 
Non-journalism students interested in environmental issues are encouraged to contact instructors to discuss waiver of pre-requisites. Often a journalism environmental course may meet communication course requirements of other departments.
 

 
Undergraduates are also encouraged to join the student Environmental Journalism Association and write for Great Lakes Echo to gain resume-building experience and clips.
 
Undergraduate students are eligible for several awards and scholarships in environmental journalism.
 
They are encouraged to augment their study with environment classes and programs elsewhere at MSU such as the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment.
 
 

Knight Center students honored with scholarships, awards

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MSU environmental journalism students have won more than $21,000 in scholarships and awards for their outstanding work this academic year, including stories written for Great Lakes Echo and research projects.

The money comes from generous endowments and donations to the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and the School of Journalism. The scholarships and awardees are:

Len Barnes AAA Michigan Fund Scholarship;  Kaylie Connors, Claire Moore, Marie Orttenburger, Apoorva Joshi

Don Caldwell Memorial Scholarship;  Carol Abbey Mensah, Yue Jiang

Rachael Carson Award;   Apoorva Joshi

Donald K. and Katherine K. Dahlstrom Scholarship;  Kyle Davidson

Michael A. and Sandra S. Clark Scholarship;  Cassidy Hough

Mickie L. Edwards Endowed Scholarship;  Leigh Anne Tiffany, Kurt Williams

Great Lakes Echo Excellence Award;  Marie Orttenburger

Edward Meeman Award;  Cassidy Hough

Kyle C. Kerbaway Graduate Scholarship;  Weiting Du

Eric Freedman Award;  Indri Maulidar

 

 

Knight Center Senior Associate Director interview about online teaching

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Knight Center Senior Associate Director David Poulson was recently interviewed for a story about teaching journalism online. See story here.

The article was produced for the EJ Academy section of the Society of Environmental Journalists’ online newsletter. It interviewed several university instructors about the challenges and opportunities of moving courses online. Michigan State University and most all universities shifted classes online because of the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Poulson has taught online before.  But the pandemic crisis in the middle of the semester required a significant shift for a course that had been designed for a traditional face-to-face environment.

Still, he said the move was relatively seamless and prompted him to adopt successful techniques that he may not have tried without the motivation of a sudden switch in platforms.

One tip: Require students to turn on their own video when using a remote conferencing system like Zoom, he said. They take the class more seriously, pay better attention and are more likely to interact with the instructor and each other.

The Michigan Press Association has recognized exceptional work by Knight Center students

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The Michigan Press Association has recognized exceptional work by Knight Center environmental journalism students whose articles appeared in Great Lakes Echo in 2019. Here’s how they fared:

  • Investigative Reporting: Andrew Blok, Gina Navaroli, Meredith Katz & Claire Moore, 3rd place for “Coal Ash contamination common across the Great Lakes” and three related articles
  • Multimedia Reporting: Kelsi Kroll, 3rd place, for “Mowing milkweed means more monarchs”
  • Column-Review: Andrew Blok, 3rd place, for “Microscopic changes could mean big things for Great Lakes”
  • News Story: Anntaninna Biondo, honorable mention for “Poll shows Indigenous people more aware of Great Lakes threats”
  • Feature Story: Andrew Blok, honorable mention, for “Cuyahoga cleanup means it’s safer to eat Cuyahoga fish”

Andrew Blok

It is the first time Great Lakes Echo has entered the statewide competition.

The Journalism School’s Capital News Service later redistributed some of those stories to about 30 newspapers and online news outlets across Michigan.

The president of the Michigan Collegiate Press Association, Professor Joanne Williams of Olivet College, said, “It is more important than ever to recognize and encourage good, impactful journalism. That is what our college newspapers are doing, and with support and recognition from contests and professionals in the field, that will continue.”

Knight Center director speaks on corruption

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Eric Freedman interview on student TV station at East Kazakhstan State University

Knight Center director Eric Freedman spoke recently at an anti-corruption forum held at East Kazakhstan State University. The forum coincided with his two-week stint as a guest lecturer to journalism and language students at the university in Oskemen, Kazakhstan. 

 

Freedman and MSU Journalism School alum Jim Mitzelfeld won a 1994 Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of a corruption scandal in the Michigan Legislature as reporters in the Detroit News Lansing Bureau.

Here are Freedman’s remarks at the forum:

 

No society is free of corruption, and that is unfortunately true of the United States as well. Speaking as a journalist, a professor and a citizen, I worry about 3 major types of corruption in our society.

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