Online Journalism students show off news sites.

Click for larger viewThe University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Journalism is highlighting work from their Online Journalism students. Seven of them are building news sites on a subject of their choice.

Topics range from "smoking hooka" (water-pipe), the history of bread, cultural  community news, citizen journalism and so on. The students were not given any specific publishing platform and had to figure it out for themselves. They are all editors of their site meaning that they can ask help from others but have to give credit where due.

My favorite is The Story of Bread by Erica Ogg.

"This Story of Bread is a collection of snapshots, of three different places in three different centuries, that tell the tale of how not having bread can drastically alter the life of one person, a nation, or the course of history." writes Erica. I like the international approach and the topic (being a history buff). Erica also integrates Google Maps and pictures into her news site.

I haven't seen a single RSS feed on any of these news sites but am sure this will change over time. It is clear they are taking their first steps but what a great initiative. Well done to all.