The Big One

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already almost a quarter of the way through the semester. Classes are in full swing, getting busier every week, and the first string of projects, papers, and exams are upon us. Some classes are even introducing the final project already.

In my journalism class, we were presented with our final project last week already. The director of “Neighborhood News Service Milwaukee,” a multimedia website that reports on local issues in five Milwaukee neighborhoods, came and spoke to the class about our final projects. Her proposal, that the class produce multimedia feature pieces to be published on the “Neighborhood News Source” website.

This is an extraordinary opportunity, but at the same time, an extraordinary challenge. A challenge I am willing to take.  In order to produce a final project worthy of publishing, we will have to utilize all the multimedia skills we learn throughout the course of the semester as well as put our reporting and writing skills to the test.

In today’s class, we were placed into groups and decided our topics as well as developed some potential story ideas. It is very important to note the difference between a topic and a story. A topic is a general idea or theme, where as a story is specific and has a definite focus.

My group chose the topic of immigration. We also brainstormed potential story ideas. The three prospective story ideas we came up with concerning immigration were, a feature piece profiling an individual going through the neutralization process, a feature piece profiling a child of immigrants, and a feature piece about government sponsored education for immigrant children.

As we are only in the beginning stages of the project, our group has yet to do a lot of research. In the upcoming weeks, we hope to select one of the five Milwaukee neighborhoods served by the “Neighborhood News Source” and really learn more about that neighborhood and the people who live there.

I look forward to keeping you updated, as we progress through this project and I cannot wait to share the final result!