Internationalizing the Intercollegiate Online News Network (ICONN)
A grant proposal from the University of Tennessee and the Intercollegiate Online News Network
Submitted to the International Press Institute
Introduction
This proposal consists of three parts:
- I. International Conference of Collegiate Journalists – an international conference for collegiate student journalists and faculty at the University of Salzburg in May 2012;
- II. International Voice of Freedom Awards for Collegiate Journalists
- a contest to recognize collegiate journalists who have excelled in journalism and advanced the cause of free expression;
- III. Comprehensive International Collegiate Journalism Training Program - an on-going three-year plan for educational conferences and workshops for international student journalists and faculty.
Overall budget request: 194,719 euros ($281,000; dollars to euros conversion = .6930)
The project presented here is to internationalize the Intercollegiate Online News Network (ICONN) to make it a force for free expression throughout the work.
ICONN is an association of academic programs, campus news websites, individuals and other organizations interested in the development of online journalism education and practice. ICONN maintains an active and ongoing interest in expanding the concepts of free expression and the free exchange of information and ideas. ICONN is committed to the highest ideals and practices of journalism in pursuing and disseminating accurate information.
ICONN has been in existence since 2008 and works in conjunction with the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, which provides administrative and logistical support. ICONN currently includes more than 30 collegiate news websites in the United States. (These members include the University of Georgia, George Mason University, Southern Methodist University, San Francisco State University, and many others.)
The project proposed here is to expand ICONN into an international organization that will make it a force for free expression and the highest ideals of journalism. (For more information on ICONN, see http://intercollegiatenews.com. )
I. International Conference of Collegiate Journalists
– sponsored by the University of Tennessee, the Intercollegiate Online News Network (ICONN) and the University of Salzburg
– supported with a grant from the International Press Institute
This conference is a two-day gathering tentatively planned for May 2012 at the University of Salzburg in Salzburg, Austria. The conference is for both journalism faculty and students.
Part of the conference will emphasize training students and faculty in the latest online journalism concepts and techniques. The aim of this part of the conference is to establish ICONN news websites for the universities that are represented and to train students and faculty on how to administer those sites. We also plan to present and discuss the idea of the ICONN NewsStream and explore ways that European collegiate journalists can contribute to it.
A second part of the conference is planned as a forum for research presentations by faculty interested in online journalism.
The University of Salzburg has a partnership with the University of Tennessee School of Journalism and Electronic Media that facilitates the planning of this conference. Salzburg is centrally located so that students from universities in Eastern and Western Europe can easily attend.
We have been in contact with and received positive responses about attending from faculty at the following universities:
University of Salzburg
University of Bucharest
University of Milano
University of Dortmund
University of Kaunas
University of Madrid
University of Ljubljana
University of Budapest
Total amount requested: 55,782 euros ($80,500)
Budget
a. Planning the conference, ($5,500
Faculty release for spring semester, 2,078 euros ($3,000)
Student aide, 1,039 euros ($1,500)
Publicity, printing, other expenses in publicizing
and arranging the conference, 693 euros ($1,000)
Justification: A faculty member from the School of Journalism and Electronic Media will devote time to planning the conference during the spring semester 2012. The faculty member will hire a student assistant. Activities for both will consist of making arrangements for the conference; contacting speakers, presenters and participants; handling registration; assuring that the technical network upgrades are completed (see budget item c). This faculty member will have overall responsibility for the conference and the budget.
b. Travel, 13,859 euros ($20,000)
Eight faculty and/or students traveling
from the U.S. to Salzburg @ 1,732 euros ($2,500) each, 13,859 euros ($20,000)
Justification: This item anticipates faculty and students from the University of Tennessee and other ICONN-related universities attending the conference as presenters and facilitators. One of these people will be the conference director and executive director of ICONN (Jim Stovall), and at least two University of Tennessee students will be among this group.
c. Network/system upgrades, 17,323 euros ($25,000)
Please see the spreadsheet on costs of this
upgrade on a separate page.
Justification: JeffersonNet is the WordPress-based content management system on which the technical base of the Intercollegiate Online News Network is built. The current system is basic enough to operate but does not offer enhancements and options that many news websites need to present information in a timely and interesting fashion. System programmers and testers must be hired to make sure the network has these enhancements by the time the conference takes place. The purpose of the conference is to add many news sites to the network, and we want to make sure this happens without any technical glitches.
d. Conference expenses, 20,788 euros ($30,000)
a. University of Salzburg expenses for planning
publicity and facilities, 6,929 euros ($10,000)
b. Food, opening reception first night dinner and second-day lunch
for 60 conference participants @ 34 euros ($50) each, 2,078 euros ($3,000)
c. Hotel/hostel guarantees, 2,078 euros ($3,000)
d. Participant honoraria, 50 @ 138 euros ($200) each, 6,929 euros ($10,000)
e. Speakers’ honoraria, four @ 693 euros ($1,000) each, 2,771 euros ($4,000)
Justification:
a. The University of Salzburg, with which the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media has a working agreement, will serve as host to this conference. As such, it will encounter a variety of expenses with regard to the use of its facilities and to its efforts to attract participants.
b. The conference will offer an opening reception, first night dinner, second day lunch and other events where food will be necessary.
c. The University of Salzburg has asked us to guarantee hotel or hostel space for those in attendance.
d. Each European participants in the conference will be offered a 138 euros ($200) honoraria to help with expenses associated with the conference.
e. The conference will feature four named speakers – most likely from the European continent – who will deliver addresses at various times during the two-day event.
Roadmap to JeffersonNet stabilization and enhancement (Budget item III.c)
CMS Dev LOE* Priority Score Cost Sharing Dev LOE Priority Score Cost
Drafting, editing, posting 1 0 0 0 Site syndication 1 0 0 0
Comment and
comment moderation 1 0 0 0 RSS 1 0 0 0
Custom pages 1 0 0 0 Newsstream Function 5 1 5 275
Google Analytics 5 0 0 275 Newsstream Soci/Sharing 10 2 20 600
Image support 1 0 0 0 eReader subscriptions 10 3 30 600
Basic Roles and
Capabilities 1 0 0 0 Membership newsletters 10 4 40 600
6 themes 1 0 0 0 Shortlinks 15 3 45 1300
Timed Publishing 1 0 0 0 Attributable story sharing 15 3 45 1300
External Video Support 5 1 5 275 Custom Shortlinks 15 3 45 1300
User/Author
Profile Pages 5 1 5 275 Embedding 15 3 45 1300
Granular SEO Control 5 1 5 275 Syndication network 15 4 60 1300
Social Sharing 5 1 5 275 Custom site syndication 15 4 60 1300
Photo Galleries 5 1 5 275 Text message broadcasts 15 4 60 1300
Form support 5 2 10 275
Mobile compatibility 5 2 10 275 7,743 euros ($11,175)
Podcasts 10 2 20 600
Membership Controls 5 4 20 275
Extended Roles
and Capabilities 10 3 30 600
Forums 10 3 30 600
Groups 10 3 30 600
Advanced workflow
control 15 3 45 1300
Custom Themes 15 3 45 1300
Custom Plugins 15 3 45 1300
Custom workflow control 15 4 60 1300
Custom DNS 15 4 60 1300
7,882 euros ($11,375)
Dev LOE Key
Key LOE Dev Cost Admin Cost
1 Core Functionality ($0 +10%
5 Simple add-on ($100 to ($250 +10%
10 Complex add-on ($250 to ($500 +20%
15 Custom coding ($500+ +30%
0 Not available na na
Priority Key
0 Implemented
1 Functional Dependency
2 Business Dependency
3 Major Enhancement/Differentiator
4 No dependencies/No business reason
* Level of effort
II. International Voice of Freedom Awards for Collegiate Journalists
– sponsored and administered by the Intercollegiate Online News Network (ICONN) and the University of Tennessee
– to recognize and reward collegiate journalism that advances the cause of free expression and freedom of the press
These awards will recognize the best in collegiate online journalism on an annual basis: the best campus news website; the best in news reporting and writing; the best online photography, audio and video.
A set of awards will also go to those collegiate journalists that have advanced the cause of freedom of expression and the free exchange of information and ideas.
Some awards will carry a monetary prize in addition to plaques and certificates. They will be presented at the annual ICONN conference in the spring of 2013.
The Board of Directors of ICONN, along with several distinguished journalists and academics, will set the general parameters of these awards. We plan to invite officials of the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tennessee – with which ICONN and UT have good working relationships – to join us in these efforts. We would welcome the active participation of the International Press Institute in the development of these awards.
These awards will begin with a planning conference at the First Amendment Center early in 2012. Attendees at this conference will lay out the conceptual and procedural operations of the awards. We will also explore opportunities for additional sponsors to make the awards program and annual part of ICONN.
Note: The budget presented here is for the initial year of the contest. We strongly suggest that the contest be funded for at least two years, and we anticipate that the operational budget for the second and subsequent years will be less than the initial year.
Total amount requested: 32,845 euros ($47,500)
Budget:
a. Planning conference, 6,929 euros ($10,000)
b. Contest awards, 10,394 euros ($15,000)
c. Contest operations including clerical assistance,
publicity and printing, 6,929 euros ($10,000)
d. Judging conference, 1,732 euros ($2,5000)
e. Honoraria for judges, 5 @ 1,385 euros ($2,000), 6,929 euros ($10,000)
Justification:
a. Travel for 10 participants @ 554 euros ($800) each, 5,543 euros ($8,000); food and other conference expenses, 1,385 euros ($2,000).
b. The board of directors for these awards will determine what awards are given and how this money will be divided.
c. A contest brochure will be needed to publicize the contest, a description of eligibility for entries and the deadlines. Clerical assistance will be needed to handle inquiries, contest entries, notifications and other matters concerning the operations of the contest.
d. A two-day judging conference will take place on the University of Tennessee campus in January 2013. Clerical, food and other conference-related expenses, 1,732 euros ($2,500). Members of the faculty of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee will be involved in the conference. This conference will also serve as an evaluation of the success of the contest, and participants will be asked to make recommendations for future contest concepts and operations.
e. Judges accepting the honoraria will be expected to attend the Judging Conference at the University of Tennessee in January 2013 and use that honoraria to pay their expenses. (Honoraria will be offered to judges to simplify bookkeeping procedures.)
III. Comprehensive International Collegiate Journalism Training Program
– training program designed in conjunction with establishing news website for international members of the Intercollegiate Online News Network
– conferences, workshops and training modules to be delivered in in-person and online settings
– program to include education in conceptional subjects of journalism such as the role of journalism and free experession in fostering and sustaining a free society as well as skills training in using hardware and software on various platforms in reporting, writing, presentation and distribution of journalistic content
This project is a three-year comprehensive program beginning Fall 2012 to develop a system of training collegiate journalists in the concepts and skills of journalism and, in conjunction with the establishment of news website through the Intercollegiate Online News Network give those journalists an opportunity to practice the skills they are learning.
This program includes the following kinds of training:
- Journalistic concepts of the news media’s role in society, free expression and free press, journalistic ethics and the impact of technology on the media and on society.
- Coverage of various aspects of society and public life, such as politics, music, entertainment and the arts, sports, and travel and leisure.
- The tools of journalism: text, images, audio and video.
- Platforms and concepts of information distribution including mobile journalism and social networks.
Training would be offered via in-person conferences and workshops in Europe and the United States, but the overall goal is to move to a system where the bulk of training can be offered online, thus making this information available more efficiently with more cost-effectiveness to a wider audience.
Total amount requested: 106,021 euros ($153,000)
Budget (three year plan beginning Fall 2012)
a. Personal, including faculty release time
for development, student help and clerical assistance, 57,515 euros ($83,000)
b. Technical development, 11,087 euros ($16,000)
c. Conferences and workshops, including travel
expenses and in-person conference/workshop expenses, 37,419 euros($54,000)
Justification:
a. Personnel costs include 2,078 euros ($3,000) per semester for faculty release time for development of training materials, techniques and modules. In the first year we would employ at least two faculty in this endeavor, one from the University of Tennessee and possibly one from another university (not necessarily within the United States); during the second and third years, the needs in this area would diminish (see the table for the three-year plan below).
b. Technical development includes continuing to strengthen the ICONN network with updates, plug-ins and modules that would enhance user ability to produce quality journalism and would ensure that the network remains viable. Funds in this line of the budget would also be use to develop tools for online delivering of training conferences and workshops.
c. Training conferences and workshops would be offered as budgets allow, but we would be transitioning from in-person training to online training over the three-year period.
Three year table
First year Second year Third year
Personnel
Faculty 24,946 16,630 8,315
($36,000) ($24,000) ($12,000)
Student/clerical 3,464 2,078 2,078
($5,000) ($3,000) ($3,000)
Technical development 6,929 2,078 2,078
($10,000) ($3,000) ($3,000)
Conferences and 16,630 13,859 6,929
workshops ($24,000) ($20,000) ($10,000)
