UK Students Study Political Reporting From Seasoned Journalists

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 16, 2014) — University of Kentucky journalism students interested in political writing and reporting have the unique opportunity this semester to learn and gain hands-on experience covering perhaps one of the most noted and heated senatorial races in Kentucky's history.

Students enrolled in  'Advanced Writing and Reporting: Covering the U.S. Senate Race' are focusing on the Senate race between long-time Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, arguably one of the most powerful and influential politicians in Kentucky and in the nation, and Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic challenger and Kentucky secretary of state.

Cheyene Miller, a journalism and political science major from London, Ky., said he expected the course to be challenging and it has been, but he feels fortunate to be part of it.

"I want to be more educated about politics because I potentially want to become a political reporter," he said.

Megan Ingros, a journalism and business management major from Fairfax, Virginia., is taking the class as a means to decide if she wants to go into political reporting.

"The class is so drastically different from my other journalism classes," Ingros said. It's much more interactive, and I've learned more about actual skills required in the journalism field than other classes. I've gained a lot of experience and met people I wouldn't ordinarily meet.”

The curriculum includes familiarizing students with the key issues and how to approach politicians in the interviewing process. The class is led by co-instructors Al Cross and Bill Goodman. Cross was chief political writer at The Courier-Journal and is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications in the College of Communication and Information. Goodman is the host and managing editor of the KET (Kentucky Educational Television) award-winning shows "Kentucky Tonight," "Education Matters," and "One to One with Bill Goodman." Both Cross and Goodman are in the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, housed at UK.

“One objective of this course is to provide coverage of the race for Kentucky newspapers that don’t have access to news services, or to bolster coverage in papers that do,” Cross said. “We will be doing stories about issues, the debate, other events and how voters see the race.”

The latter topic is the subject of the semester’s first two published stories, based on interviews with voters in the latest Bluegrass Poll who agreed to follow-up interviews. The poll is sponsored by The Courier-Journal, the Lexington Herald-Leader, Louisville’s WHAS-TV and Lexington’s WKYT-TV.  To view student stories, go to: http://kysenate.blogspot.com/2014/09/both-candidates-have-shortcomings-with.html

and an audio podcast: http://kysenate.blogspot.com/2014/09/voters-dont-like-mcconnell-but-havent.html   

The stories are also available as posts on the class blog, http://kysenate.blogspot.com.

Ben Tompkins, a journalism senior from Louisville, said there is a lot of decoding required when looking for the real meaning in what politicians say. "The class is engaging and I like reporting in real time on things that have a direct impact on our lives." 

MEDIA CONTACT: Ann Blackford at 859-323-6442 or ann.blackford@uky.edu