Universities come together for The Junction student journalism platform
Eleven of Australia’s universities have come together to offer a platform to showcase the best work by Australian university journalism programs and explore ways for students across the country to work together.
The announcement:
The launch of The Junction
Eleven Australian university journalism programs have joined forces to create a new kind of platform for public interest journalism and storytelling.
The Junction, which launches today, will showcase the best work being produced by Australian university journalism programs and explore new ways for students across the country to work together.
The Junction’s editor, Dr Andrew Dodd, said: “The Junction has a novel publication model. All of the member journalism programs are able to publish direct to the platform rather than through a central commissioning and gatekeeping process.”
The participating universities are: Edith Cowan University; Swinburne University; UNSW Sydney; Southern Cross University; University of Canberra; University of Newcastle; University of Melbourne; University of Sydney; RMIT University; Deakin University; and Monash University.
Dr Dodd, the director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne, said: “The publication provides a platform for universities to work together on projects and to cover issues and tell stories in new ways.
“Together we can do so much more than any one university can working alone. Together, the students and staff of Australia’s university journalism programs make up the biggest newsroom in the country.
“The Junction will showcase the rich store of talent to be found in Australian journalism programs, and will become a means to draw readers from across the country back to the many fantastic publications being produced by respective journalism schools.”
Dr Christopher Kremmer, senior lecturer in Media at UNSW, said the initiative was a welcome development. “It supports our growing emphasis at UNSW on immersing students in the latest media industry practices, preparing them to compete in a fast-changing media environment.
“Such innovative projects facilitate both student journalism research collaborations, and a robust response by journalism educators to technological change and digital disruption,” Dr Kremmer said.
Coinciding with the launch, six Victorian universities are working together on The Junction to cover the November 24 state election.
“This is a great example of how the site can bring students together for the benefit of general audiences.”
Dr Kayt Davies, the deputy editor and head of Edith Cowan University’s journalism major said: “The role of the editorial board is to steer the site and create opportunities for universities to work together to produce high-quality journalism for general audiences.
“Australia’s journalism schools have highly experienced journalists serving as mentors and lecturers, so it is fitting that they use those skills to promote the best of their students’ work.”
The Junction is published by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) on behalf of Australia’s journalism programs.
JERAA President, Professor Matthew Ricketson, said: “The Junction is an important new venture that JERAA sees as an integral to its mission of improving standards of teaching journalism and fostering innovation in journalism.”
From a media release by The Junction
