The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation donated $4.6 million to create a one-of-a-kind-journalism education model in Central Georgia. The Macon Telegraph, Georgia Public Radio Broadcasting and Mercer University students will establish The Center for Journalism in Macon to expand news coverage in central Georgia.
Journalists will work alongside Mercer journalism students to employ digital-age storytelling skills while expanding its coverage throughout central Georgia, according to a statement from Mercer.
Larry Brumley, Marketing Director for Mercer University, said in a phone interview “The idea for the center was the brainchild of university President Bill Underwood.” According to the Mercer website, Underwood said, “We all thought the climate was right to provide real world experience to undergraduate students, where they can hone their craft, this model gives them that opportunity. Eligibility is extended to Mercer Universities Liberal Arts undergrad students who meet the academic requirements. We will be extending the program to about 50 students of different ethnic backgrounds.”
“Nowhere else in this country will students, teachers, radio and newspaper intersect in this way. We'll capture the digital DNA of Mercer’s great young minds, partner that energy with a new breed of journalism teacher,” wrote Teya Ryan, CEO of (GPB) Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) in Atlanta, in an email.
At the groundbreaking for the center, Ryan said the partners will “tap into this evolving new media vortex as we at GPB Radio re-envision our newsroom and lock arms with The Telegraph to create a completely new learning environment – for everyone.”
GPB Media will hire people with the $854,000 in Knight Foundation funding. As a result of the gift, local programming in central Georgia will rise to a level not currently available in Georgia outside Atlanta, according to a press release.
“We hope Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism and GPB Radio Macon will shine as examples of the kinds of journalistic excellence in the digital age that helps communities build themselves,” said Beverly Blake, Macon program director for the Knight Foundation, in a phone interview.
Alberto Ibarguen, president and CEO of the Knight Foundation said in a statement on Mercer’s website, “Journalism and news delivery must stay relevant to changing communities. To succeed, we need to let the technology take us to new places and experiment with new forms of collaboration.”
Mercer considers the collaboration between students and professionals to be like the way medical education is done. “Through the expansion of our journalism faculty and employment of a clinical education model, graduates of Mercer’s journalism and media studies program will carry forward this progressive agenda, whether in Macon at our partner media, or wherever they end up working,” said Underwood in a press release.
“Just as our medical students train in teaching hospitals with live patients in real situations, Mercer journalism students will learn in a real-life multimedia newsroom through a one-of-a-kind collaboration with The Telegraph and GPB Media, on whose websites, pages and airwaves their best work will appear” according to Mercer website.
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