The Intro to PJ course must go on for sake of students

   This is a blog post from former PJ student Lynn Redding. This essay will appear in rustwire.com.

   As I prepare for the start of classes at Owens Community College Monday, I took a few moments to view the student blogs for the Intro to Photojournalism course I taught last semester. I must say I’m pretty impressed with how the students kept up.

   Over the past few years the course has morphed into a very progressive curriculum. It started out with basic instruction on how to shoot certain types of assignments, like sports, features and portraits. We also covered law and ethics and caption writing. But those traditional subjects aren’t enough for the 21^st Century photojournalist.

   Though most of my PJ students don’t plan on entering the PJ field, I am still committed to training them to be responsible, ethical citizen communicators by teaching them how to blog, tweet and shoot photos with cell phones. They also engage with the local community for their final project. So far, as a class, the students have done photo stories on the Cherry St. Mission and Bittersweet Farms. Last semester we visited arson sites in Central Toledo for a photo story that will soon run in rustwire.com. The above screen grab represents the work on the arson project from of one of the students, Lynn Redding, who has since joined the staff of the Owens Outlook online newspaper!

   The only concern I have regarding this course is that it’s traditionally small in numbers because it’s a niche subject. The Owens photography program is geared for commercial photography, so classes include large format, studio lighting, B&W/color film and digital photography.  The Intro to PJ course is only an elective, though Public Relations/Marketing students are required to take it.

   I strongly believe this course should be required in the photo program because it offers so many fundamental skills, but I admit I’m very biased! I wish Owens was a magnet for photojournalists who plan on transferring to Ohio University or Kent State, but the news field is suffering in today's economy. Sadly, as I write this, the course is on the verge of being cancelled (only this semester) due to lack of attendance. Sigh.

   To view student blogs from last semester, click on this link. To view the course blog: Introduction to Photojournalism course.