Sarah Jones, UK journalism lecturer, discusses Global News Relay via Skype during the Excellence in Journalism panel at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. Photo by: Jordan Gass-Poore’
Manchester-based University of Salford hosted the project that lecturer Sarah Jones said allows students to “see the cultural differences and news values,” on March 27.
With help from Quays TV News (a student-run online digital news platform), the project connected journalism students from U.S., Norway, Australia, Dubai, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Each university submitted broadcasts between 30 minutes to two hours to the University of Salford, where they continue to be viewed as a single stream YouTube video.
West Texas A&M University participated in last year’s Global News Relay as a way for students to collaborate with its various communication departments.
Megan Moore, editor-in-chief of West Texas’ The Prairie, said some of the student newspaper staff learned to write in broadcast style and operate camera equipment from the student-led campus television channel WTTV.
“We got to really, like, work as a department to put it together,” Moore said.
Although there are no editorial systems in place for the project, students “have to be aware that this is for a global audience and not a local one,” Salford said.
Salford added that she still thought it was important to include a local flavor because it promotes a dialogue about what kinds of stories are newsworthy and interesting in different countries.
“It gives that idea that they can connect, they can work together, they can collaborate and that’s so, so important…,” Salford said.
It’s important to follow media all over the world, she said, so by being able to collaborate with students on a global scale provides opportunities to share forward-thinking ideas.
Planning for the second Global News Relay is underway, Salford said. It’s expected to take place in March and incorporate the work of student media outlets worldwide to produce 24 hours of news.
Contact Salford via Twitter (@SarahTVNews) for more information or to participate.