Rival schools partner in journalism project on hard-hit Oklahoma National Guard

Monday, November 28, 2011

The University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University are competitors in academics and on the field. This year, however, students from both schools are coming together with two veteran-journalists-turned-professors to document some of the very specific costs of war.

The team of student journalists from OU and OSU, along with students from Cameron University, are producing a series of multimedia and print stories about the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Oklahoma National Guard, which has endured heavy casualties in Middle East conflicts in recent months: 14 members have been killed since July.

With the support of the Oklahoma Press Association and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, students have spent the last several weeks unearthing stories about Oklahoma’s fighting men and women -- and their loved ones left at home. The resulting stories, photos and videos are being made available for any state media agency. These stories serve to enlighten audiences about the brave men and women from Oklahoma who are dying in record numbers overseas, and what those left behind are dealing with.

The content can be found at http://tinyurl.com/oklahomaatwar.

OU Professor Mike Boettcher, a Peabody-award winning reporter for ABC News, is embedded with the 45th and is helping lead the project from Afghanistan. Also heading the project is Pulitzer Prize-winner John Schmeltzer, a longtime Chicago Tribune editor and reporter who’s now teaching at OU.

The series culminates Dec. 3 when these arch rivals OU and OSU take the football field for the annual “Bedlam” matchup. Boettcher explained that when so many of the state’s citizens are fighting for our freedom, a football game that usually divides the state becomes a chance to unite it.

The project originated in the Advanced Multimedia Journalism class at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma; the site is maintained by students at the Gaylord College.