Please come to The Ross tonight at 5:30 p.m. for the launch of the J school’s community news website called Nebraska Mosaic.
We will be showing a 20-minute feature film titled “Crossing Salween” this same evening. “Crossing Salween” tells the story of a young Karen refugee’s flight to freedom. The event is free and open to the public.
Beginning in fall 2010, supported by a $25,000 grant from J-Lab, advertising students helped to research the information needs of Lincoln’s refugee community, and how to reach them, while journalism students in the same class focused on content. The result was the beginning of the Nebraska Mosaic website. LINK: http://nemosaic.org
This year, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications received a matching grant from the Lincoln Community Foundation. The foundation identifies current and emerging issues that address the core concerns in the community. Refugees or immigrants who speak more than 40 languages and come from more than 50 nations are enrolled in Lincoln’s public schools.
Nebraska Mosaic has allowed students to cover diverse populations and create something that will eventually be self-sustaining. Each week the CoJMC class has been meeting in the Community Learning Center at Arnold Elementary School, where refugees are invited to attend to discuss issues important to them, to raise questions that might be answered through journalistic articles and even to learn reporting, photography or videography skills.