Even with the state of journalism today, most university professors would be loath to meld a curriculum of storytelling with the business side of the equation. But the digital media program at the University of Washington, run by a former NBC correspondent, is making a push to become the “Columbia Journalism School of digital media and communication” — a unique blend of digital storytelling, social media and the business of digital media.
“The three go together,” says Hanson Hosein, the director of the Masters of Communication in Digital Media program and a former NBC News correspondent who covered the Iraq war as a one-man band. “We’re hearing from our applicants that there’s nothing else like our program.”
On Friday, MCDM hosted a sold-out TEDxSeattle event and unveiled Media Space, a digital collaboration platform that ties students with local companies.
“The Media Space itself, both the platform and the space, is really meant to be kind of like the MIT Media Lab without the two architecturally beautiful buildings — a platform we can share with the world,” Hosein said. “We believe that, especially as journalism continues to try to figure itself out, we can play a role in sharing trustworthy, authoritative research and information with the community and bring them into our orbit, and help them at the same time.”
Hosein’s vision extends beyond his own program. “My dream is to take the open-source platform and give it to all of higher education,” he said. “To break down the silos of what is actually a very conservative communication ecosystem that is higher education,” he said.
A tall order, but desperately-needed to prepare students with the diverse array of skills that branch beyond the core teachings of journalism. (Full disclosure: I am on the advisory board for the UW MCDM program, and pretty psyched about it.)
