When Berwyn Police Cmdr. James Sassetti sought out Kate Kulpa with news about a robbery in town, the Berwyn News reporter got a buzz.

“It was kind of cool that he sent it to me, that he wanted us to write about it and that he thought of us as a credible news source,” Kulpa said.

Kulpa and her classmates at Dominican University covered the neighboring suburb through their own on-line news service this fall as part of their advanced journalism class. They found the stories and then reported them. As their teacher, I directed the project.

You can find the Berwyn News at http://berwynnews.wordpress.com/.

Why Berwyn?

Berwyn is a logical pick for the advanced class – it’s nearby, it’s changing in interesting ways and it’s just the right size for community journalism. And that kind of tightly focused local reporting is one of the bright spots in today’s media business

We used a free WordPress blog to set up the Berwyn News with plenty of links and tags to get the news out. The students used the Web and social media like Twitter and Facebook to gather news, but despite all their tech savvy soon found that nothing beat face-to-face contact.

Getting prepared

None of the students knew much about Berwyn, so they had plenty of homework even before the semester started. They read the city’s history, checked census reports, and followed developments in the Berwyn Life weekly and the Berwyn Talk community forum.

They spent the first two weeks of class meeting newsmakers in Berwyn – starting in city hall – and passing out their new business cards like confetti. The students covered meetings, shot photos and video at festivals, and rode along with police patrols. They had a great response from people they met.

“They didn’t talk to use like we were just students” said Samantha Sanchez. “I think they took the opportunity to talk to us like we were any other member of the press.”

Covering the city

In late September they started serious reporting, and soon started posting their stories on TribLocal as well. The work wasn’t always easy.

“It was uncomfortable to put myself out there, but it was always worth it,” said student Angela Romano. “I learned that being creative and thinking outside of the box is the key to good journalism. My best story ideas came from talking with community members and going on a police ride-along.”

They covered success stories of redevelopment and rehabilitation, but also the grim news of foreclosures and drug abuse. They learned the good reporting created its own momentum.

“After a couple of stories we had the contacts that were once so difficult to get in touch with e-mailing us with info and story ideas,” said student Stacy Portilla.

Overall, it was a good experience. And another group will probably do it again next fall.

“I didn’t expect it to be as interesting as it was,” Kulpa said. “There was a lot going on in Berwyn.”

John Jenks is a professor of journalism at Dominican University.