Jessica Prokop thought the textbook for her class at Seton Hill University was biased and that its author “seems like a bitter man.” In the annals of student rants, nothing extraordinary there.Except she didn’t just blurt out those words in her journalism class. She blogged them. Soon, the author himself was responding all the way from England, pledging to re-examine an upcoming edition given her critique.
Junior Mike Rubino got a more extreme lesson about free speech in the blogosphere. His “10 reasons why Seton Hill doesn’t need a football team,” including a claim that “jocks” would bring more drugs, alcohol and fights to campus, irked arriving players who found his Internet posting months later.
“I even got calls to my room,” he said. “They talked to my roommate, thinking it was me, saying things like they’re going to kick my butt.”
Awkward encounters? Sure. But instances such as these are providing teachable moments for faculty at a growing number of colleges nationwide, including Seton Hill. There, a professor and his prolific community of student bloggers are exploring the good and the ugly about a rough-and-tumble form of Internet discourse whose popularity has exploded. —Bill Schackner —Freedom of speech redefined by blogs: Words travel faster, stay around longer in the blogosphere (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Schackner did an excellent job looking past the stereotype of bloggers ranting in their pajamas from their parents’ basements.
The article includes a picture of me in my office with two students. (That was a very wide-angle lens — my office isn’t very big, but I do manage to use the space very well.)
The article also mentions the comfy chair, and photos from the wreck my family and I survived in June.
I’ve been working on a new portal for blogs.setonhill.edu. What do you think? This is version 1.1.
Post was last modified on 26 Jan 2018 10:58 am
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He started out wanting to write a story on blogging at universities, and it just so happened that SHU was doing most of the things he was interested in. The reporter never intended to do a profile of the NMJ program at SHU. I certainly talked about it during the 4 hours or so we spent on the telephone, and during the 4 or so hours I was showing him around campus.
Karissa Kilgore spent about an hour in my office with Mr. Schackner and other students. I thought she had some excellent points about making intelligent choices and being careful about what you blog. And Meredith, who is in the picture, had a funny story about her mom finding her academic blog.
I was a little surprised to find that the only URL on the online article is a link to Facebook, but the companion piece on admissions blogging does include a link to SHU's admissions blog.
Great article! I think they did a great job both characterizing you (and what you do at SHU), and giving our students a voice in the piece. There's even some quotable quotes in there I just love ("Jerz -- a thin man with a rapid delivery..."). I do sort of wish it would have said more about the actual New Media Journalism program as a whole, rather than just blogging... I think NMJ at SHU is much BIGGER than just blogging, and will adapt to new changes as they come in the future, don't you?
Great housekeeping tip! I'll keep it in mind for future reference =)
I can understand sizing restraints and everything..but I feel left out of this article after spending 25 minuts on the phone answering this man's questions.
Bobby, I don't think I've worn a full suit since I started teaching at SHU. I thought of it as the costume I wore when I taught technical writing.
By the way, the photographer was practically standing in the pile where I dumped all the papers that had been on my desk before he showed up.
I looked at this picture harder and notice that you are not wearing a suit (which is absolutely wild to me), but I give serious kudos for making the jump to suit separates. The only time I assemble a suit is when I am presenting at a conference. Hopefully this change feels liberating!
Dennis, Nuts! I was thinking about a three-column design for my own blog. It looks really sharp after seeing one in action, but since some of my posts are lengthy, I will probably need something else.