Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

The Global News Relay is a collaborative project connecting student journalists around the world, who create a global newscast that follows a common theme. The purpose of the project is to give students real-world experience in an international news production, to improve students’ global news literacy, and to encourage cultural exchange, recognition of diverse cultures and opinions and international networking. The project has included content from universities in the U.S., U.K., Egypt, U.A.E., India, Indonesia, China, Japan, Mexico, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. Students research and create stories with a common theme. Topics have included environmental issues, homelessness, unemployment, healthy living options, animal welfare, refugees, migrant issues, public education, feminism, discrimination, human rights, food insecurity, foster care, politics, freedom of speech, service, adult education, nuclear power, and literacy. Students at each university create fifteen-minute news segments, which air during a live, seven-hour newscast. As a result of participation in the project, students met pedagogical objectives in our department’s Student Outcomes Assessment Plan. The project gives students experience producing, crewing and anchoring a live studio program and allows them to collaborate with other student journalists on a global scale and compare their work (stories and production) with that of their peers. Additionally, students learn time management, organization, and discipline. Most importantly, they learn firsthand about diverse populations, with whom they ordinarily would not interact.