Schieffer School of Journalism partners with Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth, TX
9/4/2009
Senior journalism students in the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism will get on-the-job experience in the newsroom of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this semester.Students enrolled in Dr. Tommy Thomason’s Public Affairs Reporting class will work part-time general assignment shifts at the Star-Telegram, rotating through beats such as police, courts, municipal affairs and education.
Thomason said the fieldwork at the Star-Telegram would complement the experience students have already gained through campus media such as the TCU Daily Skiff and TCU News Now.
“There is no substitute for experience when it comes to reporting the news,” Thomason said. “And the more, the better. Putting our students in this professional environment, working with some excellent reporters and writers, will give them a perspective you can only get in the real world of daily journalism.”
Jim Witt, executive editor of the Star-Telegram, said having the TCU students in the newsroom would be mutually beneficial to the students and to the newspaper.
“In today’s reality, the strength of your organization is leveraged by the partnerships you create,” Witt said. ”TCU and the Star-Telegram have had a great relationship for many years, but this program really helps both of us take it to the next level. It’s exciting to have these young journalists creating content for our audience.’’
John Lumpkin, director of the Schieffer School, said the partnership with the newspaper will give students a realistic view of the media world they will enter when they graduate.
“We couldn’t ask for a better situation for our upper-level journalism students,” Lumpkin said. “I really appreciate the spirit of cooperation between the Star-Telegram and Dr. Thomason. Our student journalists benefit both from the learning environment of TCU’s curriculum and the excitement of their own material being published in a distinguished metropolitan newspaper’s print and online editions.”