New Web Journalism Class Offered At UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Web professionals from the E.W. Scripps Co. in Knoxville, Tenn., are teaching a class in Web journalism for The University of Alabama journalism department this semester using the tools they use on the job every day.

And they are inviting some of the leading names in the field to participate through an e-mail and Web network.

“This course will expose our students to experts at the forefront of the digital revolution in communication. And it also continues a tradition in our journalism department of forming technology partnerships to deliver to our students the best possible education and career preparation,” said Dr. E. Culpepper Clark, dean of the College of Communication and Information Sciences at UA.

“Although we have included the Web in other courses, this is the first course we have offered that deals solely with this new medium,” said Dr. Ed Mullins, chairman of the UA journalism department. But it will not be the last. The World Wide Web is the most important development in media since the introduction of television, and I am delighted that our students will get instructions from the best in the field.”

The class is being taught by Bob Benz, online content director for the E.W. Scripps Co., and Garrett Lane, former graphics coordinator of the “Tuscaloosa News” and now vertical content director and graphic artist for Scripps. Lane holds two degrees in journalism from UA.

They will teach the course by a combination of methods: on site, e-mail, Webcasting and speakerphone. Students will get a hands-on perspective and working examples of interactive journalism. One of the experts they will learn from is Dave Carlson, a University of Florida professor who was one of the first in the nation to add the Web to the journalism curriculum.

Benz has enrolled a number of other leaders in Web development to the list serve, an automated e-mail setup, for the class.

“The class will be something of an experiment in distance education,” Lane said. “Since working journalists make daily use of emerging communication tools like e-mail, discussion groups and online forums, we thought it would make sense to use those same tools to teach a Web journalism class.”

In the overview of the course, Benz and Lane said students will explore online journalism’s ongoing evolution, applying tools of the trade and interacting with subject-matter experts while also producing original online content. One of the reasons Scripps was interested in working with the University on the new course, Lane said, was the opportunity to recruit journalism students for internships and permanent positions. But the main idea of the course, Benz explained, is to learn how Web journalism differs in economics, writing, editing, photography and artistry from standard print or broadcast. “The class is meant to help students prepare for emerging Internet careers,” Benz said, “because any career they pursue will have something to do with the Internet.”

Dr. Jim Stovall, faculty adviser of “Dateline Alabama,” the news Web site of the College of Communication and Information Sciences, said the new course was a natural. “In just nine months, ‘Dateline Alabama’ has become a staple in the journalism curriculum,” Stovall said. “This course moves Web journalism from the periphery of our curriculum smack into the middle. And we are so pleased to have our old friends, Bob Benz and Garrett Lane, joining us in this venture.”

More than 150 students have participated in reporting, writing, editing, designing and photographic and graphics production for “Dateline Alabama” since it was launched nine months ago. The site is made possible by the support of the College of Communication and Information Sciences and the ongoing participation and financial support of Lee Walls Jr. and his company, Walls New Media of Birmingham.