TTT#568 Creating Mentor-Paths with Independent Journalists from The Fifth Column
Channel: Paul Allison
Date: 2018-02-28

Tonight 8E/7C/6M/5P on TTT http://edtechtalk.com/ttt we will be joined by @Justinkingnews editor of http://thefifthcolumnnews.com/ and editors, photographers, and writers from http://greedmedia.com/ and http://pontiactribune.com/ We will be talking about how we can introduce some of these independent journalists/activists to interested youth from the https://youthvoices.live community.

We need your help to think this through. This is a brainstorming session that we hope ends with a couple of clear plans and mentor-paths. Please plan to join us. I'll leave a link to the Hangout at http://edtechtalk.com/ttt 15 minutes before we go live tonight, Wednesday, Feb 28 at 8E/7C/6M/5P.

A couple of months ago Justin King contacted us and we arranged to set up a category on Youth Voices for The Fifth Column. When a youth (or his/her teacher) who is publishing on Youth Voices also wants to reach out to a wider audience, all the writer has to do is click the box next to The Fifth Column in categories. That's how these posts ended up re-published there: https://thefifthcolumnnews.com/category/youth-voices/

Now, Justin King and his colleagues would like to figure out how they can "contribute a bit more than simply giving them a wider audience."

Here are some of their ideas that we will talk through tonight on TTT http://edtechtalk.com/ttt:

 - For those who are interested in journalism, we could set up some method of giving feedback. It could be a Facebook group or whatever works best.

 - You mentioned helping them develop interview skills. I've been building a mental list of sources we've used frequently that could be interviewed about various subjects they might find interesting. I think we have enough to start something like that. 

- I could pull together a crash course on basic journalism and the different types of pieces, as well as writing styles, as an intro to digital journalism. 

 - Our graphic arts person has pulled together all the resources to demonstrate how the students could produce infographics using free software and images. She'd be willing to work with them on making the writing concise. Making those is really an art form. 

- We've also thought about running some form of contest where the readers pick the winner. 

- The editors from Greed and The Pontiac Tribune are now ready to jump on board.

They say that they are up for anything else we have in mind. 

Please try to set aside an hour tonight to join us at http://edtechtalk.com/ttt so that we can take reach as many youth with these opportunities as possible.