The Sports Bureau class, more commonly known as “track class,” at the UO’s School of Journalism and Communication isn’t necessarily organized in a typical fashion. But that’s how instructor Lori Shontz wants it.

In a piece written for mediashift.org, Shontz shows how her one-of-a-kind class combines classroom elements with real-world experience to give students a glimpse of what it would be like to cover track and field as a career.

“The students are side-by-side with professional journalists,” Shontz writes. “They conduct interviews together. They crowd around the television together to watch replays. They complain together about writing over the roar of the clean-up crew’s leaf blowers. The students learn not just by doing, but also by watching what the pros do.”

For the full article, see “Remix: How to Teach Journalism”  on mediashift.org.

Prior to working for the UO, Shontz worked for two decades as a writer and editor, and was part of an award-winning team at The Penn Stater, which received recognition for its coverage of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.