Twenty Years Later, My Passion For Teaching, Journalism, Still Burn Bright
'After all these years, I remain a believer in the old adage that the pen is still mightier than the sword, and committed to helping equip and inspire a new generation of young journalists.'
By John W. Fountain
As a journalism educator for the last 20 years, I have sought to help equip students with the fundamental skills and knowledge requisite for success and that will extend beyond a career in the daily mainstream press and even into news entrepreneurship as journalism continues to be reimagined.
As an African American professor, I believe I am uniquely positioned in experience, education and perspective to offer—both inside and outside the classroom—an introduction to the critical importance of diversity to a democracy, to journalism, and to creating a fairer, more accurate portrait of America in its totality, which has never been more important at a time in our history than now.
As a journalist who rose from impoverished mean streets of Chicago’s West Side to reporter-intern to local general assignment cub reporter to national correspondent at the national newspaper of record, I bring a wealth of experience to the classroom. I have covered everything from the crime beat to a lumberjack festival to a presidential campaign and have a wide range of skills and background as a writer from hard news, to feature writing (short- and long-form and series), to sociological investigative reporting, magazine writing, photojournalism and multimedia production, including digital project and web development.
I have learned, however, that also critical to my role as teacher is the challenge to inspire and to help empower students. To seek to encourage students to do their best work, to move beyond their comfort zone, and to embrace their own individual uniqueness—regardless of gender, race or disability as they pursue knowledge and their place in this world. Even if, ultimately, that leads to them choosing a profession other than journalism.
I also understand that my unique experiences as a Black reporter inside America’s most storied journalism institutions enable me to share insights about some of the potential challenges that Black or minority students may face, and, more importantly, how to navigate and overcome them.
The work of students I have taught during my tenure has often culminated in digital storytelling in an assortment of narratives, videos, photography and sound slideshows and podcasts as commentary, essays and short-form memoir. The multimedia projects upon which much of their work has centered emanates from my own interest and experience (once at the New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune—and as a freelance weekly columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times)—in covering social justice issues, including race and diversity, violent crime and poverty.
‘Numbers don’t tell the whole story. For how can one truly measure the impact of the solace and hope brought to families of murder victims whose stories until the Unforgotten 51 project had long been forgotten?’
I believe that the fundamental principles and skills of journalism remain essential to producing journalism that matters. I believe in the transformative power of education. And, therefore, I believe in creating a classroom atmosphere that provides opportunity for students to engage in substantive dialogue and critical thinking, and to apply techniques, skills and lessons learned in the field as experiential and service learning.
Previous student reporting opportunities have included journalism convergence projects on real-world issues, including a semester-long undertaking on homelessness in Chicago in a project titled, “When The City Turns Cold,” interviewing those on the frontlines, from the homeless themselves to agencies and individuals working to make a difference; the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, in a project titled, “Faces of The Poisoned,” an immersive reporting undertaking on-site that led students into the homes, streets and businesses of those most affected (and also gave them an opportunity to cover a National Democratic Primary Debate held during that same time in Flint).
We covered the “March to End Gun Violence,” which entailed being immersed as reporters with members of the Faith Community of St. Sabina on a 12-hour bus trek from Chicago to Washington, D.C., and covering the national march held in the nation’s Capital; and various political elections, social justice issues, marches and protests, including Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ+ community and the disabled, including Project Onward, a nonprofit art studio and gallery in Chicago.
We covered murder in the city of Chicago in a project titled, “Murder Was The Case,” and another reporting project titled, “Saving Our Sons,” from the perspectives of victims, survivors and grassroots organizations; the story of 51 mostly African-American women murdered in Chicago over a nearly 20-year period and believed to be the work of at least one serial killer in a yearlong, national award-winning investigative project titled, “Unforgotten 51.”
To date, the Unforgotten 51 website has been viewed by more than 100,000 site visitors from more than 19 countries while collectively the independent digital projects Fountain has produced have been viewed, according to the websites’ analytics, by more than 300,000, not including the potential thousands more who have viewed projects, videos and podcasts for which analytics either are not readily available or have not yet been computed. Furthermore, countless others have read stories and columns in print and other publications stemming from those projects.
Still, numbers don’t tell the whole story. For how can one truly measure the impact of the solace and hope brought to families of murder victims whose stories until the Unforgotten 51 project had long been forgotten?
I believe that students should have the opportunity to publish their good work, which I have facilitated in several ways, including producing journalism multimedia project websites that feature written narratives, podcasts, videos and sound slideshows. I have also used my own industry resources to facilitate connections between students with small and large mainstream newspapers, where some of their work has been published in places like the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, the Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Crusader and other publications.
I produced those websites for students’ projects from conception to fruition myself without faculty assistance, university or departmental funding or compensation—often through countless hours of tedious work that extended well beyond the semester. My one regret is that amid my exhaustion and the lack of resources I fell short on publicity and promotion.
More recently, I created my own digital storytelling platform (The Unforgotten Bureau For Social Justice Journalism) on which I have and will continue to provide a publishing outlet for quality student work. Additionally, I launched a sister site 50 Cent A Word, which is home to my own award-winning journalism commentary, feature stories and projects and under the umbrella of FountainWorks, an independent journalism and media not-for-profit dedicated to telling the untold stories of marginalized and underserved African-American communities.
My efforts and work in journalism as well as my community engagement extend far beyond the classroom and are well documented. I have written five books and founded an independent publishing company, WestSide Press.
After all these years, I remain a journalist at heart, a believer in the old adage that “the pen is mightier than the sword,” and committed to helping to equip a new generation of aspiring journalists develop the skills, wisdom, confidence and fortitude to make their journalism dreams come true.
I will tell students that the Internet, social media and technology, which have bestowed upon us the ability to disseminate information and stories as multimedia, narratives, and podcasts, and in ways never before known, have also created a perfect opportunity for them to create a new sustainable model for journalism of the future that still serves as the Fourth Estate and as a purveyor of truth and democracy.
I will tell them that the future of journalism, of our nation, is counting on them.
Email: Author@johnwfountain.com
John, you've done some amazing work. Glad to see that you continue to be recognized for it.