On October 22nd, second year DSI students met with the CUNY Entrepreneurial Journalism fellows for a remarkable exchange of knowledge, insights, and networking. Under the guidance of DSI faculty Karen Proctor and Jane Englebardt, who teach our Leadership and Entrepreneurship class, as well as Director of Education at CUNY Jeremy Caplan, students shared a lively evening of workshops.
Focusing on effective facilitation methods, they shared observations and discoveries on actions for parachuting into communities, ethics of social journalism, and storytelling tips across different tools and platforms. The workshops were divided into the following:
Discovering Insights
An insights session, on getting from observations to understanding and outcome in a larger context. Students focused on examples from a previous DSI project on gun control.
Facilitation
A meeting about a meeting about a meeting! This facilitation session was about prep, planning, and making the most out of group conversations. They discussed the steps needed in order to maximize productivity and meaningful actions.
Parachuting into Communities + Ethics
Building relationships and trust with communities, as well as the importance of not “parachuting in” before listening to a community’s needs. Students also looked at the ethics of social journalism, and how best to represent communities.
Storytelling Tips
The crafting of social journalism storytelling using a variety of community reporting techniques, social tools, and interactive platforms.
After the completion of the four workshops, the evening wrapped up with a networking and reflections session, where both CUNY and DSI unanimously agreed that future collaboration is definitely on the horizon.
