UPDATED: NOISE and Flatwater Free Press Partner on Free Journalism Classes at Omaha News Academy

Photo credit: Lyndsay Dunn, NOISE

By Myles Davis and Matt Wynn

A vibrant, diverse mix of reporters is vital for any healthy news ecosystem. For decades, Nebraska has lacked that key aspect. Case in point: Only two Nebraska newsrooms responded to the last diversity survey from the American Society of News Editors. The most diverse newsroom in the state reported that people of color made up just 1.5% of its news gathering team. 

Through a short series of accessible classes, NOISE and our partners will introduce more people to the basics of the craft. The classes will be led by experienced teachers and journalists. 

The end result: to create a group of hireable journalists for NOISE, the Flatwater Free Press, and newsrooms across the state and region.

Our Teachers

  • Rod Howe. Howe led the journalism department at Westside High School for 23 years before retiring in 2013. After retirement, he spent several more years teaching the craft at Brownell-Talbot. His publications have been past National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Pacemaker Finalists, and earned numerous state journalism championships in Nebraska. In 2006, Howe was named a Pioneer Award winner by the NSPA. Several of his students have had  illustrious journalism careers.

  • Jon Nyatawa. Nyatawa spent 14 years covering some of the state’s premier sports beats at the Omaha World-Herald. Prior to his recent stint covering Creighton basketball, he was a beat reporter on the Nebraska football team. Originally from Indiana, Nyatawa now works as a Senior Account Executive at Lukas Partners.

  • Carol Zuegner. Chair of Creighton’s journalism and computer science department, Zuegner has spent a career with one foot in academia and one in professional journalism. She has worked as an editor and reporter in newsrooms in Iowa and Nebraska. She spearheaded a hands-on class to teach students documentary journalism, which has taken CU students to Dominican Republic, Uganda, rural Alaska and to the border with Mexico at Nogales, Arizona.

The Academy

The Omaha News Academy is a partnership between the Nebraska Journalism Trust which publishes the Flatwater Free Press and NOISE Omaha.

Prospective students will be adults, 18 and up, who have an interest in journalism or journalistic thinking. The first classes will be offered during 90-minute sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for three weeks in July. After the first academy, we will tweak the syllabus to reflect our experience before offering a second set of six classes in late summer/early fall. 

Students will apply for fellowships online, a process that will be publicized and promoted by NJT and NOISE after June 2. We estimate that 8-10 applicants will be selected for the academy by instructors, NOISE and NJT staff. Over the course, they will learn about objectivity, ethics, story “shapes,” and basic reporting. They will perform news exercises such as covering a scripted press conference or writing a feature on a fellow student. The assignments will be reviewed by instructors and the students will receive feedback. At the end they will learn how to work with Omaha’s nonprofit newsrooms.

Over time, the academy may grow to teach a variety of journalistic and media skills. These may be taught in similar multi-class academies, or as one-off courses. Topics may include:

  • Ethics

  • Public records

  • Photography

  • Multimedia development

  • Social media creation

  • Media literacy

Schedule

Week One: Introduction, Theories, Ethics

  • The first classes will be an overview of journalism. It will include a history of the craft, from Ben Franklin to yellow journalism to news chains and the nonprofit revolution. A discussion of ethics will make the case for objectivity and transparency.

Week Two: Writing and Editing

  • The second week of classes will look at story shapes -- inverted pyramid, hourglass, feature stories, kickers. Instructors will introduce the concept of AP style and go over some basic editing principles. 

Week Three: Reporting

  • The final week will introduce reporting processes. Classes will discuss developing human sources and interview techniques, go over the hierarchy of information reliability and the elements of news (proximity, impact, human interest, etc.)

Technology

The space will include:

  • Podcast recording studio 

  • Computer lab (10 computers) for trainings/workshops,

  • Community space for town hall meetings

  • Green screen for film projects 

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