School Project Goes Beyond Classroom Walls

PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University public affairs reporting course students are inviting community members to take a seat at a round table to discuss credibility issues surrounding a Palouse controversy.

The 30 students are preparing for the discussion they hope will encourage communication among the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the public. Newspaper coverage of Moscow’s Christ Church over a lengthy period of time revealed a divided community, and the March 31 roundtable is being held in an effort to gain a better understanding of the various perspectives. The session will also include discussion on the fairness and quality of newspaper coverage.
 
While the session will focus on a local concern, students in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication course are studying national trends on media credibility. The roundtable is part of a National Credibility Roundtable Project sponsored by the Associated Press Managing Editors, one of the two major groups of top newspaper editorial executives in the country.
 
Nearly 140 newspapers in 48 states have held roundtables since 2001 to promote on-going communication between the public and the press and to encourage journalists to use what they learn to build better news practices. University journalism programs were included in the project this year, and WSU was one of only six that were invited to participate.
 
Each student in John Irby’s Journalism 425 course has a specific responsibility for one aspect of the project. Students’ jobs range from greeters, event coordinators, sign makers, facilitators and child-care providers.
 
“This is a great opportunity for students to seek information from all perspectives and voices, not just the loudest ones on opposite ends of the spectrum,” Irby said. “It could also help in repairing some of the hurt the community has experienced, and some lessons on better news practices might be learned.”

While about 15 participants are expected to attend the roundtable, students and representatives of the newspaper, the public will be able to review the session when it is presented by students at the Edward R. Murrow Symposium on April 13. Students will explain the roundtable project, what the class did, what students learned and how others can benefit from such projects.
 
The Thursday, March 31 roundtable is set for 6:30-10 p.m. on the WSU campus in the Murrow Communication Addition, rooms 218-220. To learn more about credibility roundtables, visit https://www.apme-credibility.org/index.html.