By HAILLEY KONNATH
No offense to Europe, but Kay Kemmet isn’t impressed. The junior news-editorial journalism major wants to go somewhere raw, somewhere changing, she said. This summer, that somewhere is India.
“Not that I have anything against Europe, but that’s for vacation,” she said. “India is for reporting.”
From July 16 to 31, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications took 19 students and three faculty members to New Delhi, India for Digital Media India, a three-credit-hour class. The trip was led by Scott Winter, an assistant professor of journalism, Bruce Mitchell, an advertising lecturer, and his wife Nancy Mitchell, an advertising professor and the director of general education in the Office of Undergraduate Studies.
The trip will significantly help the college’s goal of forming a partnership with India, Winter said.
In New Delhi, the group met up with the World Media Academy Delhi. Originally a pilot project funded by the Knight Foundation and managed by the International Center for Journalists and named the International Media Institute of India (IMII), the program was expanded and improved. Todd Baer, a graduate of the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications, is a Knight fellow assigned to the WMA Delhi. He is an international television correspondent who has worked for Al Jazeera English, CNN and ABC News Radio. Christopher Conte is the other Knight fellow and a former correspondent and editor for the Wall Street Journal.
“In many ways this is a dream come true for me,” Baer said. “I am passionate about international news and I want to share my experiences with anyone who’s interested.”
The plans for the trip have evolved over time. Originally, the IMII was located in the Delhi suburb of Noida. It has now been expanded, renamed and moved to South Delhi. Additionally, courses don’t start at the academy until August so past, present and future students have volunteered to work with the UNL group on stories.
“Everything that you plan when it comes to an international reporting venture tends to not work out,” Winter said. He said the key is to be able to readjust plans, even with little notice.
“Great reporters are kind of like marines,” he said. “They adapt and overcome.”
Bruce Mitchell said the uncertainties of the trip have been slightly nerve-wracking. The hotel, who the group will be working with and even the WMA Delhi’s facilities have all been somewhat up in the air.
Kemmet is not only a student on the trip; she took it as an independent study class and assumed a leadership role in the planning. Kemmet had never traveled out of the country, so it has been a learning experience, she said. And before, during and after the trip she is responsible for the web and social media content.
“I designed a website and will post all the stories from the trip so we can share our reporting and experiences with the world,” she said.
The group also traveled to Lucknow and Agra, other Indian cities.
Winter said he was most excited for the food and the friendships the travelers formed with local journalists and others. He hopes students form lasting relationships with Indians that will change their world perspectives.
“Until you actually experience it, I don’t think you have a true understanding of what India is all about,” Mitchell said.
Kemmet summarized the trip before the group left Nebraska.
“We are going to work with Indian journalism students, see New Delhi, Lucknow, and the Taj Mahal, and tell the most amazing stories of our college careers,” she said.
More information is available on the CoJMC_India Facebook page and Twitter.
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