Inside Oakland, Oakland, CA 1999
Partners:
UC Berekley Journalism School
The Oakland Post
This project not only provided hands-on training in civic journalism, but it also improved coverage of a community usually overlooked by mainstream media. Eight graduate journalism students, enrolled in Berkeley’s “Covering a Community” course in the spring 1999 semester, produced five editions of a supplement to the black-owned weekly, The Oakland Post, called “Inside Oakland.” They also produced ten 30-minute radio shows (also called “Inside Oakland”) for KALX-FM.
Students learned a variety of skills as they were in charge of all aspects of production – writing, editing and lay out. Most importantly, says their professor, Bill Drummond, they learned how to cover a community from the inside. Each student was assigned to cover one of Oakland’s City Council districts. Drummond says they penetrated those neighborhoods and became recognized by the people they were covering. The students held a focus group with 10 of the supplement’s readers to discuss what issues the community wanted covered.
The supplements and radio shows featured stories about an entertainment renaissance in a formerly blighted neighborhood, the efficacy of community policing and the quality of life for elderly in the community. In the final edition, students wrote that the effort was personally rewarding.
Contact:
William J. Drummond
Professor of Journalism
University of California- Berkeley
121 North Gate Hall, #5860
Berkeley, CA 94720-5860
Phone: (510) 642-5710
Email: drummond@rosebud.berkeley.edu