Journalism Students and Local Media Team Up to Cover Conflict

Journalism students at the University of Missouri worked with the staff of VOX, a weekly Columbia magazine, to publish two special issues devoted entirely to covering conflicts in the community. The students also broadcast their articles on KBIA radio, gaining practical experience in convergence journalism by moving their stories across media outlets. The project was another step forward for the Center for the Study of Conflict, Law and the Media.

"It's a cutting edge curriculum enhancement that focuses on the new trends of interest-based reporting and convergence journalism," said Center Co-Director Michael Grinfeld.

The Noveber 16 and 22 issues of VOX magazine were devoted to covering community conflicts

The project was part of Grinfeld's Journalism and Conflict course, a collaboration between MU's top programs in journalism and law and dispute resolution.

Students spend the first half semester learning the foundations of conflict theory, which mirrors the law school's dispute resolution coursework. Then, during the second half of the semester, students put theory into practice by applying these skills in everyday situations. The class includes role-plays, some done in tandem with law students, that puts students in realistic conflicts that they are likely to encounter in their careers.

"The purpose is to teach journalists how to better evaluate conflict so their work is more insightful, contextualized and accurate," said Grinfeld, who hopes the class will become a model for journalism training and education.

This is the first year since the course was introduced in 2002 that Grinfeld's students have produced an edition of VOX.

"I wanted to link the work they were doing with actual media," said Grinfeld.

Judy Bolch, journalism faculty member acting as the editorial director of VOX, played an integral role in the project. She guided student editors at the magazine as they moved the articles through the publication process. The end result was a two-part series in back to back issues of the magazine including articles, photographs and book reviews. Feature articles included:

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In addition to learning how to cover conflicts in the community, students also practiced dealing with conflicts that came up in the production process. Students had to negotiate with their sources, classmates, designers and their editors. Although there were some "bumps along the way," both Grinfeld and Bolch said the project was a great success and reflected the real conflict resolution process that must occur during the publication of any magazine.

"I'm sure the writers and our customers learned a lot about viewing conflict in different ways and about how conflict permeates every aspect of our society," said Bolch.

Students have clearly gained from the project.