A media tour de force at Neumann, & 'Live From the Newsroom' goes back to Widener

Sometimes I wonder about the education young people are getting, in particular the next generation who will pick up this torch we call journalism.

The world they will enter as they leave college could not be more different than the one I entered as a would-be newspaperman more than three decades ago.

They will work - and live - in a digital world, where information is exchanged 24 hours a day. The will write and deliver stories in real time, mixing words, pictures and video on a variety of platforms.

The journalism world has been turned upside down in the past decade.

There's this new thing out there. It's called the Internet. Basically, it has changed everything.

It has broken the model for a print product, while throwing open the door to entirely new methods of delivering the news. For one, it has afforded me the opportunity to get neck-deep in the 24-hour news cycle. I won't sugarcoat the experience, in particular for those young people who are about to enter the workplace.

It never stops. You never get away. Our love of technology and being 'plugged-in' now follows us everywhere we go.

Some of life's most intimate moments now routinely scream from our ubiquitous cell phones.

I wonder if young people will be equipped to travel in the fast lane of this information superhighway.

Last night, I was reassured that they are in fact in good hands.

I was at a dinner hosted by the school of Communications and Media Arts at Neumann University. I have been selected to serve on an advisory board for the school. It's an honor.

The invitation was extended by my friend Karen Thomas. You would know her if you see her. Her familiar face has delivered the weather reports on several local TV stations. Karen is now a communications professor at Neumann.

She works under the auspices of Dr. Al Mueller. He's the dean of Arts and Sciences.

Then there are people like Dr. Margaret Stewart, who specializes in social media, and Sean McDonald, who runs something they called Neumann Media. It is a terrific program that gives students real experience in all faces of real media, from print to TV to online work.

They are reaching out to those working in the field to offer advice and suggestions to be sure they are on the right track as they prepare student to enter the real world. They're on the right track.

Likewise tonight I will be back on the campus of Widener University, as we kick off another year-long partnership for our live-stream Internet broadcast, 'Live From the Newsroom.'

We will do the show from Widener's sparkling new TV studio in the brand new Freedom Hall communications center.

Tonight we will show one of the ways Widener staff and students are interacting with the Chester community. Tonight we'll focus on the Chester Community Physical Therapy Clinic. It is a medical facility that is run by Widener students, faculty and alumni, treating patients that otherwise might not get needed medical care.

Our guest will be Jill Black, the Pro Bono Services Coordinator for Widener's Institute for Physical Therapy Education, and faculty adviser for the clinic. I'm also hoping to have several students who man the clinic on the show as well.

They may not know it now, but these kinds of real-world experience being gained by students at Neumann and Widener are invaluable. Relax, parents. Your children are in good hands.

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