Category Archives: Uncategorized

Student environmental reporting wins SPJ prize

Andrew Blok and Kurt Williams

Two master’s students at Michigan State University, Kurt Williams and Andrew Blok, won first place in the Online Reporting category at the recent Region 4 meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists in Cleveland.

Williams and Blok received a Mark of Excellence award for their reporting titled “Algal Blooms in the Great Lakes: Investigating efforts to protect and preserve water quality.” The award recognizes the finest in collegiate journalism in Region 4, which encompasses Michigan, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Their project now moves on to the national Society of Professional Journalists competition.

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Call for chapters: Threatened & endangered species

Knight Center director Eric Freedman, Mark Neuzil (University of St. Thomas) and Sara Shipley Hiles (University of Missouri) are seeking chapters for a scholarly book highlighting  the most recent public policy, economics, mass media and culture, and resource management research about endangered and threatened species internationally. Chapters will be 4,000-4,300 words and may be revisions or updates of recent conference papers or journal articles. Interested scholars should submit a working title for the chapter, abstract of 100-150 words and CVs for review. For chapters based on already published or presented work, please attach that study. Email to mrneuzil@stthomas.edu, freedma5@msu.edu and saraship@gmail.com. Deadline: Dec. 30.

Open call for proposals for high school journalism and environmental science collaborations

To encourage collaboration between high school journalism and environmental science classes, we invite teachers to submit proposals for innovative class projects in which journalism students will report about field research by environmental science students.  Our principal goals are:

  • to help young prospective journalists better understand and explain to the public how science is done
  • to help environmental science students learn to use the media to explain their work to the public.
  • to promote environmental and science journalism

 

The Knight Center intends to award 1-year competitive grants of $2,000 to up to 3 high schools: $1,000 to the journalism program and $1,000 to the environmental science program for equipment, software or scholarships.  There is a possibility of renewal for 1 or 2 more years.  In addition, the Knight Center will pair each school with a professional journalist to serve as a mentor to participating students and teachers.

Here are the details:

  • Your proposal must include a project description (750 words maximum), the names and contact information for a partnering journalism and environmental science teacher from the same high school; grade levels of participating classes; and the estimated number of students in the participating classes. A proposal form is attached.
  • Your projects must generate student-produced news or feature stories with visuals (photos and/or graphics) for print, online, audio and/or video that your school will disseminate. The Knight Center will also disseminate these stories to the public through our website, and some stories may be posted on Great Lakes Echo (www.greatlakesecho.org), the center’s award-winning online regional environmental news service.
  • Grantees must comply with MSU financial reporting procedures.
  • Grantees (students, teachers and professional mentors) must attend a one-day workshop at
    MSU in Fall 2019.
  • Application deadline: December 12, 2018. Awards will be announced by January 31, 2019.
    Projects should begin in February 2019 and be completed with a final report by the end of
    December 2019. A progress report is required by June 15, 2019.
  • Read about the successful 2017-2018 grantees at https://knightcenter.jrn.msu.edu/2018/01/16/three-high-schools-win-journalism-environmental-science-grants-from-the-knight-center-2/

Send along a Grant Application Cover Sheet with the following information:

  • School name and address
  • Participating journalism teacher (name, email, phone)
  • Participating environmental science teacher (name, email, phone)
  • Project description (750 words maximum): What do you intend to do (scientific research
    and journalistic coverage) and how? What are your goals for the project? How will you
    assess accomplishments?
  • Titles and grade levels of participating classes:
    • Journalism:
    • Environmental science
  • Name, title, email and phone of administrator authorizing submission of the proposal:

Submit by December 12, 2018, to Barb Miller at mille384@msu.edu

If you have questions, email Eric Freedman at freedma5@msu.edu

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