SC&I Introduces New Community Journalism Course for Spring 2027
Starting in the spring 2027 semester, the Rutgers University Department of Journalism and Media Studies will offer the course Topics in JMS IX: Community Journalism (04:567:453). The classroom will operate as a traditional newsroom, giving students the opportunity to report on events at Rutgers and throughout the City of New Brunswick.
Teaching Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Journalism and Media Studies Steven Miller said the department developed the new course to address the ever-increasing number of local news deserts across the state and nation. He said that this decrease in local information sources has led to lower levels of civic engagement and weaker community connections. “We’re trying to figure out ways to train students to do community journalism,” he said.
The idea for the class, Miller said, received its initial boost from Vice Chancellor, Access and Community Engagement Tiffiny Butler; Executive Director for the Collaborative Center for Community Engagement Brian Kurisky; Director, Innovation, Design, & Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA) Veronica Armour; and SC&I Associate Dean of Programs Susan Keith.
Miller then collaborated with Chair and Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Lauren Feldman and several other key figures to develop the course. “I approached Professor Feldman and said, ‘I think this is something we can do,’” Miller said.
Feldman was on board right away. “This course is a win-win,” she said. “It not only helps support local journalism in and around New Brunswick, but it will also provide JMS students with a valuable experiential learning opportunity and the potential to publish their reporting.”
Another key figure is SC&I alumnus Jonathan Jaffe JMS’93, who will teach the course. Once one of Miller’s students, he is now the owner and publisher of TAPinto New Brunswick, as well as president and CEO of Jaffe Communications. He has also taught at Rutgers in the past. “I struck gold,” Miller said about Jaffe. “Within days after we first discussed the idea, Jonathan had developed an entire course syllabus.”
Jaffe said the three-hour class, held once a week, will be structured like a typical day in a busy New Jersey newsroom. Students will discuss possible stories about Rutgers and New Brunswick and work collaboratively to develop ideas.
“In this post-COVID world of journalism, local news organizations are often hiring inexperienced reporters and having them work remotely with very little editorial feedback,” Jaffe said. “These reporters are missing out on the camaraderie that is developed in a newsroom, where ideas are shared, potential stories are debated, critique is immediate and scoops are celebrated amongst the entire team.”
He explained that the course will give 12 students hands-on journalism experience while they are still undergraduates, and the opportunity to have their work published under their own bylines through an independent, private news organization. “This is about as real-life as you can get as a journalism student, as we work together as a tight-knit group of reporters and editors to develop the best coverage we can for the community we serve,” he said.
The course will also partner with the University of Vermont’s Center for Community News. The center’s mission is to foster connections between college reporting programs and local news outlets. “They’re partnering with us to provide resources and encouragement for how to get involved in the local community,” Miller explained.
Miller said that this course will serve as a culmination of all the theoretical and practical courses students have taken in JMS. “Now students can take all those lessons into Community Journalism and apply what they’ve learned in the classroom—while they’re still in the classroom—before they have to apply it in the real world,” he said. “I really wish I had been able to take a course like this when I was in school.”
Registration Information:
04:567:453 will be taught Friday 10:20 am – 1:20 pm in SC&I 114A.
The pre-requisites will be:
04:567:205 Digital News Writing and Reporting
OR
04:567:206 Broadcast News Writing and Reporting
OR
04:567:317 Writing the Mediterranean
OR
04:567:329 International Reporting
OR
04:567:405 Writing About Social Issues
