Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art Works

Citizen Journalism at UND.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 3 comments link this post

My first reaction, when I was contacted to speak at the Northern Interscholastic Press Association (NIPA) conference at UND in September, was that I wasn't qualified.

Why are they asking me? I wondered, and even emailed back to make sure there wasn't a mistake in the request. I rather function on an assumption that I'm not qualified for anything, which is a ridiculous thing. I have qualifications and experience in lots of areas. In this particular area, I've worked as a reporter for three years and as a blogger since 2002. I've done a little writing here and there, some freelance articles that have been published and other such things.

As it is, I am quite excited about it. Bizarrely, despite being almost paralyzed with shyness...I don't mind getting up in front of people to talk about a subject I know about, such as art or blogging. Which is perfect, because...

...the topic I will be speaking on is blogging, with the idea of looking at it as citizen journalism. The title of the session is "Blogging as Citizen Journalism: Finding your voice, your stories, and your audience."

Essentially, I will talk about blogging in basic concepts (albeit in a limited and introductory way due to the amount of time allowed for the session), covering how the internet has changed the way we both receive and relate news as far as the idea of the citizen-as-journalist is concerned. We'll talk about what it takes to have a successful, serious blog for someone looking to polish and put their writing out there as well as the challenges that such a blog brings. Discussion on content (amount and "freshness"), connecting with an audience, copy-and-paste blogging traps, writing with a true voice, and reliability for a growing readership will be part of the session. At the end, I'm thinking of having a short blogging exercise for the students which, if they would like, can be incorporated into an actual blog. I will also have lots of opportunity for comments/questions during the session; it'll be mainly a back-and-forth discussion.

Being a blogger, I will also be incorporating the material I cover (and likely, the material I am unable to cover because of time limits) on my own blog, as well as any documents, Q&A that come up, etc. I want to show the students, in this way, how what we talk about gets put into the kind of action that we just discussed.

So, stay tuned in September and expect to read about this event as well as see some of these things added to the various blogs here at Lone Prairie. It will be a great learning experience for me, too, talking to these students and hearing their thoughts on the subject.

Labels: news, teach