Elon University journalism major Jack Dodson '12 sat on a panel titled "International Opportunities for College Journalists: Internships, Freelancing, Study Abroad and Jobs" at the joint Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Advisers conference Oct. 28 in Louisville.
Dodson discussed his experiences working on a documentary in India during the summer as part of the Periclean Scholars program at Elon. Dodson said he interviewed people who worked with health care organizations in small, rural villages.
“I had never done any travel journalism,” he said. “I only ever worked for my hometown paper and I’ve been working with my campus newspaper (The Pendulum). But those are very local, very American stories.”
Dodson, who works as a news editor at The Pendulum, said reporting and documenting stories abroad gave him a newfound perspective on the process of journalism. He said going abroad also allowed him to combine the practice of journalism with filmmaking—a pairing of his two main passions.
“The most interesting thing about it is I was able to take journalism and apply it to something that was completely separate,” he said. “You can find some unique ways to apply journalism.”
Dodson is continuing to edit his documentary, which he plans to have finished before he graduates. The panel on which Dodson sat was moderated by Brad Hamm, the dean of the Indiana University School of Journalism and the former associate dean of Elon’s School of Communications.