The emergence of online journalism as a credible news source has inspired some college professors to reinvent the way they teach their profession.  At the University of Tennessee, this has resulted in the creation of the award winning Tennessee Journalist, a place for students to get first-hand experience in multi-media news reporting.

It was only a matter of time before other universities began doing what Tennessee's journalism and electronic media department has accomplished, and rather than starting from scratch at every campus, many universities decided to come together as an Intercollegiate Online News Network.

The first official ICONN conference was held Jan. 15 through Jan. 16 with a mixture of professors, students and technology representatives conversing and debating about what it is they wish to accomplish and how they wish to accomplish it.

On the educational side, there is a strong desire to teach the new technologies to their students early and often, but not at the expense of journalistic professionalism.  Some participants at the conference worried openly that students don't always take web journalism as seriously as print journalism, and as a result, little mistakes tend to be made more often and with less concern for their correction.

This is still very much a work in progress.
Jim Stovall, founder of the Tennessee Journalist

George Mason University professor Steve Klein said a lack of standards would take away from a website's credibility.  He said online journalism should maintain the use of journalistic tools like Associated Press style.

Keeping with the high standards of professional journalism wasn't the only hurdle discussed at the conference.  University of Georgia professor Mark Johnson said, "One of the biggest challenges I've had...is getting my colleagues on board."

The common sentiment among the journalism department is "we really need to do something with online - but not in my class," Johnson said.

At the end of the conference, many ideas had been discussed and considered, but one point of agreement was communication is key.  Some universities have online models that are close to UT's model of the Tennessee Journalist, while others are still in the early stages. And while there may not be one model that fits all, it was agreed the best way to proceed together is by constantly providing feedback in order to determine what does and does not work.

UT professor and founder of the Tennessee Journalist, Jim Stovall, said, "This is still very much a work in progress."