Media Projects: Your Questions Answered
Dan Gillmor - August 26th, 2008
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We're looking for Arizona State students who want to create their own media products or services. Here are some questions and answers that may help you decide whether to give it a try:
Q: What will I get out of this?
A: You'll get the experience of moving from an idea to something real. You'll create, at the very least, a working prototype of your product or service -- plus evidence of serious research into how you plan to make your product or service sustainable. You'll have the help and advice of the Center's faculty along the way. In the end, you'll have something that outside funders -- whether it's a for-profit or not-for-profit enterprise -- will be interested in supporting.
Q: Do I need special permission for this course?
A: Yes. The Knight Center director must approve all projects.
Q: Is this an independent-study program?
A: No. It's technically a course, but without scheduled classroom instruction. We will meet regularly with students (solo or teams), however.
Q: What kinds of project will be approved?
A: The only essential element will be to serve some kind of community information need. Other than that, we're wide open to your ideas.
Q: What do you mean by "community information need," exactly.
A: There's no exact definition, but when we say "community" we do mean that you should have some geographic area in mind for at least part of your project. We're being deliberately vague on this because we want you to come up with ideas that will surprise us.
Q: Are you looking for blogs, or wikis, or audio, or video, or mashups, or mail lists, or huge websites?
A: Yes. Any of the above, or all of the above, or some media form not listed -- this is your decision. You may well find that your project incorporates many different kinds of media formats.
Q: Can I do this by myself?
A: Sure, it's quite possible that this can be a solo project. A highly focused blog, for example, could well be done alone. But we suspect you'll want to put a team together.
Q: Why a team?
A: We're very much hoping that students from a variety of disciplines -- journalism, engineering, design, business and more -- will be part of this program. And, in fact, our first group of projects includes students from all of those areas. A team combining skills of those kinds can be much more effective than solo effort.
Q: I have a question you haven't answered here -- how can I learn more?
A: Send us an email, or call Dan Gillmor at 602.496.7293.
Q: What will I get out of this?
A: You'll get the experience of moving from an idea to something real. You'll create, at the very least, a working prototype of your product or service -- plus evidence of serious research into how you plan to make your product or service sustainable. You'll have the help and advice of the Center's faculty along the way. In the end, you'll have something that outside funders -- whether it's a for-profit or not-for-profit enterprise -- will be interested in supporting.
Q: Do I need special permission for this course?
A: Yes. The Knight Center director must approve all projects.
Q: Is this an independent-study program?
A: No. It's technically a course, but without scheduled classroom instruction. We will meet regularly with students (solo or teams), however.
Q: What kinds of project will be approved?
A: The only essential element will be to serve some kind of community information need. Other than that, we're wide open to your ideas.
Q: What do you mean by "community information need," exactly.
A: There's no exact definition, but when we say "community" we do mean that you should have some geographic area in mind for at least part of your project. We're being deliberately vague on this because we want you to come up with ideas that will surprise us.
Q: Are you looking for blogs, or wikis, or audio, or video, or mashups, or mail lists, or huge websites?
A: Yes. Any of the above, or all of the above, or some media form not listed -- this is your decision. You may well find that your project incorporates many different kinds of media formats.
Q: Can I do this by myself?
A: Sure, it's quite possible that this can be a solo project. A highly focused blog, for example, could well be done alone. But we suspect you'll want to put a team together.
Q: Why a team?
A: We're very much hoping that students from a variety of disciplines -- journalism, engineering, design, business and more -- will be part of this program. And, in fact, our first group of projects includes students from all of those areas. A team combining skills of those kinds can be much more effective than solo effort.
Q: I have a question you haven't answered here -- how can I learn more?
A: Send us an email, or call Dan Gillmor at 602.496.7293.
