For much of the semester, School of Communication and Media students and faculty have devoted time, energy and creativity to the #FocusImmigration thunderclap \u2013 a multi-platform project that sheds new light on the pressing issue of immigration.<\/p>\n
On April 10, the collaborative project culminated with a School colloquium featuring examples of student work and a two-hour News Lab telecast that was broadcast statewide.<\/p>\n
“There were a lot of moving parts to this project and they all came together in a very exciting way. We were ambitious for our students and they delivered in a big way,\u201d says Head of Journalism and Television\/Digital Media Tara George.<\/p>\n
She had conceived of the thunderclap as a way to involve students and faculty from throughout the School. \u201cI thought it would be really interesting to harness the breadth of our resources and publish simultaneously around a hashtag so that we could try to create a viral campaign and have an impact,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Introducing the School colloquium \u2013 which featured representative, multi-media projects presented by an on-stage panel of students \u2013 George pronounced the thunderclap a resounding success.<\/p>\n
According to School of Communication and Media professor and clinical specialist Mark Effron, the collaborative project included 32 print stories; 24 digital stories; more than 10 hours of WMSC #FocusImmigration programming; classroom content; and weekly editions of Montclair News Lab on Immigration; in addition to a #MyImmigrantStoryIs booth where members of the campus community could share their immigration stories. The award-winning Montclarion<\/em> published a 32-page special edition the next day.<\/p>\n School of Communication and Media Director Keith Strudler also acknowledged the achievement and unique opportunity this project offered to students. \u201c#FocusImmigration touched all platforms of the School \u2013 from news production and film to journalism, public relations and social media,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is a real-world experience for our students, who will need to be able to work like this when they graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n To culminate the semester-long project, Montclair News Lab went on air at 4 pm with a two-hour telecast featuring live and taped immigration-themed programming.<\/p>\n Broadcast statewide, it included a live discussion with George and guests, including an immigration lawyer, a journalist who covers immigration issues, and the head of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.<\/p>\n Toward the end of the broadcast, students who had been monitoring social media were thrilled to tweet, \u201cWe just found out #FocusImmigration is TRENDING WORLDWIDE!!!\u201d According to George, the thunderclap\u2019s experimental viral social media campaign was one of the project\u2019s most exciting successes.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, at the student colloquium session, a student asked George if #FocusImmigration would continue next year. \u201cIt\u2019s on you students to decide whether you\u2019ll want to continue the discussion on immigration or take the focus elsewhere,\u201d George responded.<\/p>\n It was clear that for many students involved, this topic resonated deeply. For Adrienne Bauldock, a senior and newsroom stage manager whose mother is an immigrant from Grenada, the thunderclap was personally meaningful. \u201cIt\u2019s made an impact and spread awareness on a campus where so many of us are immigrants ourselves or related to immigrants,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Learn more at: #FocusImmigration and #MyImmigrantStoryIs<\/p>\nTrending Worldwide<\/h2>\n