Where some citizen media projects invite people to contribute content without any training, the Madison Commons project has opted to develop a series of community journalism workshops to help neighborhood residents develop basic news skills.
The curriculum consists of three 3 1/2-hour workshops over dinner that will begin in October and cover:
- The Basics: The nuts and bolts of what is news, how to find a story, get the facts and write it.
- Learning your Beat: Understanding the differences between neighborhoods, learning about neighborhood people and places, and identifying neighborhood issues.
- Digging Deeper: Focusing on skills development with one-on-one attention.
Partnerships have been developed with the East Isthmus Neighborhoods Planning Council and the South Metropolitan Planning Council to train residents in their areas.
Once trained, people would be able to report for a community website and contribute to weekly community news columns in Madison’s two daily newspapers, The Capital Times and the Wisconsin State Journal.
Project leader Lew Friedland, a professor at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, is also helping to develop a special Masters course in Community-based web reporting to teach students civic mapping skills and neighborhood beat development.
Friedland says they are on track with the project’s first steps. “We are happy to be recruiting neighborhood reporters, the [master’s] course is filled, our website is in progress, and our curriculum is well underway.
“Once we are running, we are looking forward to becoming a regular, comprehensive community resource,” he said.
