Word clouding KU's j-school

I saw a cool post on Megan Taylor's blog, exploring j-schools descriptions of their programs. She was inspired to create a wordcloud about the University of Florida's program after seeing something similar on 10,000 Words, which diagrammed programs at Northwestern, CUNY, Berkley, UNC and the Asian College of Journalism.

10,000's Mark Luckie writes:

One of the biggest complaints about modern journalism schools is aren't equipping the next wave of journalists with the skills they need to compete in today's newsrooms. So what are they teaching students? The online course description for several J-schools were run through Wordle.

I decided to see what the University of Kansas' program looks like, in wordle form. Here it is, below, in all its glory. First, the grad program:

Followed by the undergraduate program description, and undergrad course descriptions:

RIP Christy Bradford

One of my favorite professors here at KU, Christy Bradford, passed away today. She died of a heart attack. I was in the newsroom when I heard the news, and I was shocked. I didn't know Professor Bradford well, but I respected her and enjoyed the conversations we had.

She came to KU from the Detroit News, where she presided as ME over a Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Her experience, in fact, is one of the main reasons I came to KU. This may be one more example of how that was a bad idea. (Here is the News' obituary.)

Professor Bradford and I last spoke last week when I asked her to chair my thesis committee. She declined, citing her desire to take the spring 2009 semester off to relax. She was looking forward to it very much. When I ran some ideas by her, she sat there silently, contemplating, then fired back a million different ideas, that will, eventually, strengthen the product I put out when/if I finish the thesis project. She was a newswoman through and through.

I'll miss her mentorship, and, if I may dare say, her friendship.

The Greening of Alex Parker

As promised several days ago, a wee update on what I've been doing at j-school, here at KU. Classes are in full swing. I'm taking an editing crash course, which is truly humbling. I consider myself a pretty good writer who is able to edit in a competent manner, but I know I'll be learning a lot in this course. To wit: we were assigned some readings on grammar. And gadnummit, if I haven't thought about parts of speech, gerunds, participles, etc. for years. Talk about a refresher course.

I'm also taking a writing for multimedia course. It's pretty cool so far. I was worried that it was going to be heavy on the PR writing -- after all, the textbook is entitled, "Strategic Writing: Writing for Public Relations, Marketing..." But it's light on that stuff, and tonight I'm writing a radio broadcast script.

The biggest and most exciting news is that I am a graduate assistant for Professor Simran Sethi, a visiting professional chair at KU. Professor Sethi is well-known for her work in environmental journalism; she's a reporter for TreeHugger.com, she's headed up the news desk for MTV India, interviewed Al Gore, and is soon to begin work as a correspondent with NBC News.

I'm going to be helping Professor Sethi in gathering materials for her course on Environmental Reporting; assisting in researching topics for a new book she is writing; compiling materials for her various speaking opportunities across the country, and researching topics for her class on multimedia reporting this semester.

It's an incredible opportunity to work with a smart journalist, and on topics that are incredibly pertinent, not only in journalism, but also in our everyday life. Woohoo!

College media lagging behind

According to a new study, 91 percent of college newspapers have an online presence. I’ve gotta say, this seems like a low number, given the immediacy of the Web, the online culture of college students, and the ease in which an online presence can be created. Other mediums are much worse off: “36.3 percent for radio stations, 20.9 percent for television stations, 18.1 percent for magazines and 6 percent for yearbooks,” according to the study, conducted by researchers at James Madison University.

It’s fascinating to see how behind some of these outlets are (though, honestly, I’ve never heard of an online yearbook).

One of the things that attracted me to KU is its focus on multimedia. The University Daily Kansan has a great site, complete with RSS delivery, blogs and other community-oriented features. The local TV station, KUJH, brings the station to the people on the Internets; it includes podcasts and its own blog. Radio outlet KJHK (K-Jayhawk, get it? Yuck, yuck) streams online, though doesn’t break many barriers in its presentation or sevice.

I’ve only been here a week, so my experience is limited, but I can say that the media presence on campus trumps that of my beloved alma mater, Miami University. Granted, I was in Oxford a lifetime ago (sometimes it seems), but the Miami Student’s online presence is limited; I’ve long thought on OxBlog was in order…c’mon, it’s creative. MUTV, the student-run television station, has a deplorable site, but WMUB, the student-run NPR station, has a decent presence on the Web.

I’m told that Miami is increasing its emphasis on journalism. I hope so, especially since they’ve torn down Reid Hall , my freshman year home and named after Whitelaw Reid, who also founded the Miami chapter of my fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon (speaking of a weak Web presence). Reid, of course (?), was a famous journalist in his time, reporting from Gettysburg and later was the publisher of the New York Herald-Tribune.

Still, when you think about it, these “new” formats — blogging, podcasting, multimedia platforms — are essential. I don’t think college publications are hurting for readers or advertisers; college media is not facing the same problems as its professional counterparts (I don’t think; might make an interesting case study), so a robust Web presence is not an immediate concern.

In terms of media, it’s not a huge concern. But in terms of looking like the top tier educational outlet a university may claim to be, it’s a terriffic concern. Imagine a university without a Web site , or with a site that looks like it’s a Geocities production. You earn zero credibility. It’s just like companies that don’t have Web sites, like those I used to find on CareerBuilder looking for sports-minded players…those companies that had you tag along a sales associate as they trudge through suburban strip malls, hawking phone plans. S-H-A-D-Y.

“Why do I need to learn video?”

The study also says that a lot of young college journos decide their path in high school, shunning the emergence of new media. Like, duh. OMFG, say other bloggers. Kids, you’re sounding stodgy. Aren’t these young kids supposed to be up on all these new-fangled things? Video, audio, slideshows…these things make our product more robust, more “readable” and just plain better. Get with the program. I know I am.

The adventure begins

I arrived in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday, greeted by three high school friends dressed in gym clothes, ready to move me in, and scorching, unrelenting, oppressive heat. I’ve forgotten how bad summers in this region can get. Seriously, it was 100 degrees at seven p.m.

I’m all moved in to my cool apartment, which is a short (uphill) bike ride to campus and I’m starting to figure out what I need to do in the coming days; classes start on Thursday.

There are a few things I need to do: get books, figure out how to write for the Daily Kansan paper, find out if there’s an orientation I need to attend. When I was preparing to go to undergrad, these things were spelled out for you. The school sent a welcome packet telling me what books I needed to buy and the important things I needed to know about Miami University.

KU, and in fact the majority of schools I applied to, seem loathe to provide helpful information. Columbia College forgot to send me an acceptance letter, but CUNY and Boston University were very forthcoming. I was given the runaround by the presitigous Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern (which, considering the turmoil there, might not be surprising). KU has also proved confusing, as I was told first that I was denied admission, then a few months later that I actually did get in.

So now I’m preparing to learn all about writing, reporting and editing for the digital age, as well as the tantalizing-sounding class, Research Theory. I’m sure it will be very valuable; one of the assigned books is called “Learning to Hate Americans”,which sounds bad at first, but actually explores how foreingers view Americans. Sounds interesting, but I’m in Kansas here, so I’m hoping it’s not a USA love fest, but something more objective and transparent. The natural history museum on campus currently has an exhibit on Darwin, so I think I’m safe.

One of my professors is a former Pulitzer Prize winner and I’m certain I will learn a lot from her, as well as the other distinguished professors here. Hopefully they’re up to date with the things I need to learn as a journalist; most of them appear to have been at KU since about the time Wilt Chamberlin marched about campus, but the school has been a social media advocate for years.

Nonetheless, let’s get it on!

Coming up on the Web Stained Wretch…I’ll respond to an article I’ve not even read yet. The Tribune’s DC Swamp blog discussed the media’s response to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. Hallows. I’ve refused to read anything on Harry Potter since I accidentally read something on how a very important character dies at the end of Half Blood Prince. (Notice I didn’t say who???) I started reading Deathly Hollows Hallows yesterday, and I’m already 250 pages into it. I imagine I’ll be done sometime next week. Until then…