Student Justin Wright interviews former Gov. Brereton Jones, a Thoroughbred breeder in Midway. |
The Midway project has several functions: It provides journalism students with the opportunity to gain real-world experience writing text, creating video packages and putting together photo galleries. The project also gives the town of 1,647—which lost its newspaper 75 years ago—access to news about local government and public issues and timely features.
The Messenger works in mild competition but also cooperation with The Woodford Sun, the countywide weekly, which does not provide news on its website; the Messenger has helped to encourage this weekly newspaper to broaden its horizons. Before starting the project, Cross talked about its potential with Sun Managing Editor Stephen Peterson to make it clear he wasn't trying to compete with the paper but to supplement it. Peterson occasionally publishes an article written by a student in the course.
Laura "Nini" Edwards covers the council. |
The project has shed light on a variety of other interesting issues such as "involvement of students in reporting and photography outside their normal ambit . . . avoiding conflicts between the need to publish the information in a timely, useful manner and the need to provide the best instruction, and building and maintaining community relationships that facilitate reporting and readership while upholding journalistic principles," Cross writes. Other projects of this nature do exist, but few serve rural areas, he notes. Cross was inspired by both his almost-daily commute through Midway and a University of North Carolinanews site, Carroboro Commons.
Students in the class are required to attend at leats one meeting of the Midway City Council. After writing a story about the meeting, Cross combines them into a composite piece, and students discuss the differences in approach between their joint story and the Sun's coverage. Students have benefited from taking the class. Morgan Rhodes, a student from the county seat of Versailles, wrote, "I hear students in other majors complaining about how they feel ill-prepared for the real world after their college experience. By writing for the Midway Messenger, I felt extremely prepared."
Al Cross |
Cross writes that he explained to Bozarth that the Messenger must be professional and provide students with real-world experience. The mayor requested more positive coverage. They discussed several specific articles in the Messenger and "left the meeting with a better understanding of each other," Cross writes. Later he provided the mayor with useful information regarding his concerns with the U.S. Postal Service and its plan to change some operations at the Midway post office. When the mayor was on his way to becoming president of the Kentucky League of Cities, he was pleased that the Messenger published a profile about him, and relations have continued to improve, Cross writes.
Cass Herrington |
Asked to comment on the Messenger project, Peterson wrote that he has "come to realize that the relationship between The Woodford Sun and the Midway Messenger has been much more complementary than competitive . . . After visiting and speaking to Cross's class nearly every year since the project began, I often wish I'd had a similar innovative learning experience when I was in journalism school."
Cross is happy to be a part of the Midway community and tries to "publish with the interests of the town at heart," he writes. The Messenger won't always have the contributors available to cover everything that should be covered, he tells residents, so "You can't always rely on us, but you should always look to us." Cross, 59, hopes members of the community will become more involved to keep the Messenger going after he reduces or ends his involvement. (Read more)
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