My Principles of Journalism students were charged to create a podcast that focused on news literacy while critically engaging with journalism’s foundations and the journalism industry. The students created 60 episodes in the first year focused on 12 specialty or alternative presses. The podcast is now expanding to also have interviews with professionals about their work and the role of news literacy within it.
See below to listen to Ink and Airwaves, their incredible podcast.
The Alexandria Times and the Importance of Civic Life – Ink and Airwaves
In this episode of Ink & Airwaves, we profile The Alexandria Times and the real-world conditions that shape what a local newsroom can do. The team introduces the Alexandria, Virginia community the paper serves, explains its nonprofit ownership and funding model, and maps the legal, economic, and political pressures that influence speed, scope, and accountability reporting. Along the way, the episode shows how tools like Virginia FOIA create openings for watchdog journalism, while exemptions, polarization, and rising costs set limits—and why those tradeoffs matter for civic life.
- The Alexandria Times and the Importance of Civic Life
- What Local News Means to Us: Madison365
- How Madison365 Finds (or Loses) its Audience
- Getting Fickle with Fickell: How Madison365 and CBS told the UW-Madison football coach story differently
- Inside the work of Omar Waheed, award-winning reporter of Madison365
Patrick R. Johnson, Ph.D., MJE 