The Dallas Morning News and the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin announced today a new collaborative initiative to educate and promote the next generation of journalists.
The program creates two fulltime fellowship positions for recent UT graduates to work at TheDallas Morning News' bureaus in Washington, D.C. and Austin. The reporters will work under the supervision of Washington bureau chief Todd Gillman and Austin bureau chief Christy Hoppe on various projects and public affairs reporting. This real-time senior mentoring ensures that students will gain hands-on experience by working directly with seasoned reporters during heavy news cycles in policy-rich markets. The Washington, D.C. fellowship runs annually, September through June, while the Austin fellowship is a full year in duration.
"This fellowship program - along with the broader collaboration between The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas - demonstrates our shared commitment to excellence in journalism," said Jim Moroney, publisher and CEO of TheDallas Morning News. "The media landscape continues to evolve at faster rates every day. It's critical that we help train the next generation of reporters in how best to use the vast array of news tools and communications channels in the marketplace, and that we help them to develop skills enabling them to adapt to ever-changing modes of news reporting."
The fellowship program is the latest cooperative effort between TheDallas Morning News - the state's largest news organization - and the University. Morning News reporter Ed Timms and UT's Bill Minutaglio, professor of communication, currently work together to teach an investigative reporting class. Additionally, Austin bureau chief Hoppe is working with professors Tracy Dahlby and Rusty Todd, providing counsel and guidance for Reporting Texas, the school's student-generated news website. This partnership has produced a half dozen stories that were published jointly in the News and Reporting Texas, including a front page article.
"These efforts to teach and train the University of Texas journalism students will no doubt produce skilled journalists for the future," said Morning News editor, Bob Mong.
Further commitments to the institution were established by The Belo Foundation. The Foundation, Maureen H. and Robert W. Decherd and the Moroney family were the principal donors for the Belo Center for New Media, the state-of-the-art building that opened on the University of Texas at Austin campus in the fall of 2012, which houses the the School of Journalism and parts of the College of Communication.
The A. H. Belo Corporation is the founder of The Belo Foundation and publisher of TheDallas Morning News. The company acts as the financial backing for the fellowships and allows the students' published works to achieve maximum exposure.
"We are grateful for the continuing support of A. H. Belo Corporation and the commitment of TheDallas Morning News," said Glenn Frankel, director of the School of Journalism. "They have provided the school and its students with a world class building to house our courses and prepare our students to meet the promises of the digital world, while sustaining the values of journalistic excellence."
