The Mother Nature Network, an environmental news and information Web site that launches in January, is holding a contest to find 70 student correspondents to establish virtual “green” bureaus on college campuses, including UT.
“We are basically a ‘green CNN,’” said Hope Dlugozima, vice president of the network."
Dlugozima said they are seeking students at universities that house strong journalism, video production or green atmospheres. They are also looking for students with a strong voice for environmental issues.
She said the site does include “classic journalism” stories but also “original content,” which includes personal stories, blogs and video. The winning college interns will write news stories, shoot video or blog on the site.
Winning interns also receive a Flip Ultra camcorder, and the top five contestants will participate in an all-expenses-paid environmental summit where they will share ideas with top environmentalists, scientists, business leaders and entertainers.
Interns would work under 11 staffers, with experience at CNN, USA Today, WebMD and National Geographic. The positions are not paid, but students’ work would be shown to a national audience.
Dlugozima said the bulk of interest from contestants has been for video, but the company wants more writers for print.
Donald Williams, a kinesiology freshman, said he supports the idea of student correspondents and would be interested in reading the environmental content written by a student intern.
“You read experts talk about stuff all the time, so it’s good to hear from a normal person, someone more from my demographic,” Williams said.
Journalism freshman Ivy Brom said she prefers reading from sources that are more legitimate instead of reading student content. She said she understands the points that college students make about environmental issues, but she “just hears them over and over again.”
“Students get really enthusiastic, which is good,” Brom said. “But because they are so into this one [point of view], you don’t really get all of the spectrum, and it can be biased.”
The Mother Nature Network was founded in April by Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the Rolling Stones. Contestants may audition by submitting a two- to four-minute video to youtube.com/mnn or write a 500-word entry to mothernaturenetwork.blogspot.com by Jan. 15. Correspondents will be chosen by the end of January and will start working at the beginning of February, Dlugozima said.
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