Edward L. Carter
Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met
Our purpose was to enable journalism students to report on the activities of BYU students, faculty and staff, specifically as it relates to poverty alleviation efforts. We feel like this purpose was accomplished. We learned much about BYU’s national and international activities, and journalism students participating in the grant were able to convey these activities through print, visual and multimedia journalism connected to the Universe newspaper and website as well as Eleven News. The Universe and Eleven News are the student labs associated with the news media program in the School of Communications, and one of the results of this grant was success in using different digital media platforms.
Evaluation of the mentoring environment
The mentoring environment worked very well. Dr. Randle, Prof. Carter or a professional staff member was present on each reporting trip to provide mentoring. The students also benefited from professional staff mentoring in the Universe and Eleven News labs.
One portion of the project (reporting on economic and other issues in the 2016 presidential election) was conducted in connection with the Department of Political Science and our collaborative exit poll/election night news broadcast. That worked extremely well, as broadcast news students were able to produce live news reporting from Washington, D.C. on the day of the presidential election in November 2016. In addition, we sent a team to Las Vegas to the final presidential debate.
Our other trips were to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. On these trips we reported about several aspects of BYU and the Church working to alleviate poverty, including Pathways (a BYU-Idaho program), BYU engineers working to help residents filter water on the Uros Islands in Peru and BYU nursing students doing public health projects in the Amazon region of Ecuador.
In all of these efforts, the BYU communications students produced multimedia content that was published in print, online and broadcast on television (KBYU during the Eleven News show at noon daily). This resulted in a very positive experience for the students as well as portfolio pieces for them to use in job and graduate school applications.
List of students who participated and what academic deliverables they have produced or it is anticipated they will produce
Trip to Peru to report on the BYU engineering students and faculty doing water filtering on Lake Titicaca: Dr. Randle with undergraduate communications student Donovan Baltich. The team produced a very rich multimedia news site (http://universe.byu.edu/narratives/engineering-a-way-to-conserve-the-culture-of-perus-uros-islands/) that won 2nd place nationally in the Hearst
Journalism Competition. The title was “Engineering a way to preserve the culture of Peru’s Uros Islands.” This work also led to team members being invited to meet with Peruvian government officials who visited BYU subsequently.
Trip to Ecuador to report on BYU nursing students doing public health work in the Amazon region: Professor Carter with undergraduate student Lucy Schouten. The team produced a series of multimedia pieces for the Universe:
“BYU nursing students teach health in Ecuador,” May 28, 2015, at http://universe.byu.edu/2015/05/28/byu-nursing-students-teach-health-in-ecuador/
Trip to Chile to cover poverty alleviation efforts in Santiago and Valparaiso: Professor Carter and Dr. Randle with undergraduate students Jaylen Bohman, Victoria Estrada, Cassidy Hansen, Jasmine Harouny, Liesl Nielsen and Kjersten Johnson. The team produced a multimedia website at http://www.changeforchile.com. They incorporated video and text in a productive way that journalists today need to be able to do.
Trip to Las Vegas for the final presidential debate: Professional staff members Carrie Moore and Chad Curtis with undergraduate students Andrew Cupp, Aly Davis, Rachel Finlayson, Emmanuel Morga, Gianluca Cuestas, Sarah Averett, Ryan Morgan and Haley Hilton
Universe content (photos, articles, podcast) all collected here: http://universe.byu.edu/2016/10/20/roundup-final-presidential-debate/
In addition, there were live news broadcasts on the Eleven News show (KBYU)
Trip to Washington, D.C., to cover presidential campaign and issues about the economy and others. Professional staff member Alan Neves, Professor Carter and undergraduate students Jaylen Bohman, Kim Anderson, Alex Burch, Sarah Martin, Maddison Dayton, Lauren Hanson and Sydney Jorgensen
“Anxious D.C. voters reflect a nation on edge,” at http://universe.byu.edu/2016/11/08/college-students-in-d-c-on-edge-about-incoming-election-results/
“Millennials civically engaged but not thrilled about presidential election,” at http://universe.byu.edu/2016/11/08/millennials-civically-engaged-but-not-thrilled-about-presidential-election/
“BYU visiting professor leads Chilean journalism students to D.C.,” at http://universe.byu.edu/2016/11/07/byu-visiting-professor-leads-chilean-journalism-students-to-d-c/
“BYU students expand political involvement through Washington Seminar,” at http://universe.byu.edu/2016/11/07/byu-students-expand-political-involvement-through-washington-seminar/
Various live news broadcasts on Eleven News and the election night show on KBYU
Description of the results/findings of the project
We have learned that mentoring journalism students on trips out of town provides many excellent teaching opportunities. This kind of mentoring can enhance and even surpass what we can do in the classroom and the newsroom lab. There are some logistical obstacles but involving students in those issues can also be part of the learning experience for journalism.
We have also learned that covering BYU effectively from a journalistic standpoint is complicated because of the large number and sophisticated nature of activities. There are many projects and activities worthy of coverage. We have a challenge to try to serve the Universe and Eleven News audiences in a comprehensive way. So grants and efforts like this one are key to trying to do that more effectively. This is our second MEG grant and both have been very successful because they have allowed students to get out of their comfort zones here on campus and do journalism in the broader world.
Description of how the budget was spent
Travel to Peru (airfare, hotel, food) $4,869.40
Travel to Ecuador (airfare, hotel, food) $3,167.18
Travel to Chile (airfare, hotel, food) plus web hosting
Charges for changeforchile.com $6,581.56
Travel to Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., for
campaign reporting (airfare, hotel, food) $5,381.86
(So by my calculation there is $0 remaining that can be returned to ORCA)