By Emily Sheftman
In the early 2000s, the two major news outlets in Honolulu merged, leaving residents with a single major news source. The consolidation inspired billionaire Hawaii resident Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay and longtime philanthropist, to help fund an alternative: Civil Beat, a government and policy–focused news site created in 2010.
Twelve years later, the online outlet is innovating again. This January the Oahu-based publication partnered with the University of Hawaii to help journalism students with professional reporting experience AND provide more statehouse news coverage.
The pilot program, which is based out of the flagship Manoa campus, put 12 student reporters into the Hawaii State Capitol to cover the legislative session working with experienced reporter Blaze Lovell. Each student selected their own area of interest within the legislature and was assigned to cover a committee. Civil Beat published the stories.
“It was a lot of authentic experience, and the pressure was real,” said professor Brett Oppegaard, who chairs the undergraduate journalism program at the Manoa campus. “If you screwed up, then the readers would let you know. They didn't really put on kid gloves for the students.”
The idea was born from a longstanding relationship between the publication and the university. A previous upper-level journalism allowed students to operate as freelance journalists, and students had sold their work to Civil Beat, among other publications..
But the new partnership, which acts as a capstone class for seniors, gives students the chance to write stories on the timeline of a real news outlet, meeting quick deadlines and watching their articles edited and published in real time.
Oppegaard co-taught the course with Blaze Lovell, a fulltime legislative reporter from Civil Beat, which allowed students to both hear insights from a working journalist and gain perspective on the types of stories Civil Beat and its readers look for.
“Having the class cover the Legislature allowed us to keep track of much more pieces of legislation than we typically would be able to,” Lovell said. “There are not a lot of state house reporters here in Hawaii, so adding to our ranks has been beneficial for us. Covering the Legislature is tough and fast paced, even for veteran reporters. Giving students a little taste of that hopefully better prepared them for entering the workforce.”
Oppegaard served as a second editor on students’ stories and helped guide them in writing pieces that would not only meet classroom expectations but also reach a high enough caliber to be published professionally.
Right now the program is set to run with a new group of seniors next spring semester, with hopes the partnership will continue to flourish.
“It's very healthy for student journalists to be in real, authentic environments and get a sense of what the job is going to be like and decide if it's for them as early as possible,” Oppegaard said.
For more information:
