For faculty

The following is a letter to Journalism Faculty from Alex S. Jones, Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

Attention faculty:

I'm writing to follow up on a note I sent this past fall introducing Journalist's Resource, a website dedicated to promoting knowledge-based reporting. We've now built up a critical mass of materials, and the project is really taking off.

I'd like to invite you to be a part of this pioneering initiative and ask that you personally let me know if you are already using, or intend to use, Journalist's Resource.

Our goal is to encourage students to engage directly with original research, with the hope of ensuring that this generation of young journalists will employ all of the available knowledge tools to better serve their readers and society. This is both a cause and a movement among journalism schools, with more than 50 already participating.

Here are three ways to incorporate Journalist's Resource in your classroom:
•    Provide a link to journalistsresource.org in your syllabus.
•    For a reporting assignment in your class, use one or more relevant policy studies across a variety of beats, from immigration and climate change to criminal justice and health care.
•    Draw from our sample syllabi, on covering the news or feature writing. (We will be posting more soon.)

We also have some helpful skills-based materials. We'd greatly appreciate feedback as we partner in this project. In particular, if you're building a course around a subject area where more studies are needed, let us know; we'll find research that could complement what you're doing and make it available on the site.

Please do let me know if you will join us. We would very much like to have you.


With best regards,


Alex S. Jones