Schieffer School students launch "The 109"

Fort Worth, TX

8/19/2010

Senior Schieffer School of Journalism students at TCU will get an extra dose of real world journalism this fall as they start their own local online news site focused on the zip code surrounding the university.

The site is called The 109, taking its name from 76109, the zip code that surrounds TCU. It is a project of a senior level Public Affairs Reporting class taught by Dr. Tommy Thomason.

“This hyper-local news site will help our students focus on the meat-and-potatoes of journalism,” Thomason said. “They will cover a defined geographical area and get to know its concerns and issues in depth.”

“That has always been the hallmark of good journalism,” Thomason said. “What’s different with this project, though, is that we will be presenting that reporting across a number of platforms – from traditional print stories to photography to graphics to video.”

The 76109 zip code has a population of more than 24,000 living in more than 11,000 housing units. It extends from Colonial Country Club on the north end to State Highway 183 on the south, and from Granbury Road on the east to just west of Bryant Irvin Road.

The site will feature student-produced stories, events calendars, neighborhood announcements, government databases and feature stories on people who live and work in 76109. It will also use the work of independent bloggers, citizen journalists, high school journalists and other media.

John Lumpkin, director of the Schieffer School, said The 109 “is an exciting venture for our Schieffer School students and, we hope, for TCU and the community in which it is located.”

“Journalism is in some ways reinventing itself,” Lumpkin said. “This is one way our students can connect directly with audiences while they preserve the basic immutable principles of their chosen field.”

Thomason said that the news site will allow other media to use any of its content with attribution.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our students because it gives them an opportunity to learn entrepreneurship as well as journalism,” Thomason said. “They are literally building a new product, a new medium, from the ground up. They will serve this community’s information needs while gaining the type of experience they could never get in on-campus media or internships at traditional media.”

Andrew Chavez, who will advise The 109 along with Thomason, said the site is as much a platform for residents as it is a news source.

“If we can knock down the technological barriers,” Chavez said, “we think people in the 109 zip code can do great things with our help.”

In addition to its staff of journalism students, the site will also use feature stories written by strategic communication majors at TCU and will seek other student input and community contributions. The 109 will also use Facebook and Twitter to connect with readers.

Read more about The 109 in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.