All elements of a six-month News21 investigation into food safety are now available to be republished widely under the Creative Commons agreement, requiring credit only to Carnegie-Knight News21.

Last week major media partners began publishing select stories from How Safe Is Your Food?, the 2011 national News21 project involving 27 students from five universities.

The two dozen main elements of this in-depth package proves one necessary trend: university journalists increasingly can be relied on to produce impactful journalism during an era of dramatic media change.

Last week, The Washington Post published an overarching report into salmonella dangers in America’s food supply, reported by four fellows from the University of Maryland (Post link; News21 link); on the same day, the Center for Public Integrity on its iwatchnews website featured the first of six days of coverage, starting with an overview of findings from the six-month investigation (CPI link and index; News21 link). On Monday, msnbc.com began a three-day series, starting with the analysis that shows that only 2 percent of imports are inspected before entering the U.S. food supply (msnbc.com link; news21.com link).

The 2011 press release details how the students, mostly seniors and graduate students, started in January, engaging in a spring food-safety seminar taught live from Arizona State University and the University of Maryland. In May, the students began their field work, starting their 10-week fellowship to report on the various complexities of the U.S. food chain. The manner in which the students were organized and deployed was a broader iteration of the successful 2010 investigation into transportation safety that involved 11 students from 11 universities (2010 press release). Beyond 10 students each from ASU and Maryland, News21′s national food safety investigation involved four students from the University of Nebraska, two from the University of Missouri and one from Harvard University.

Veterans Coaching Next-Gen Journalists

It’s obvious that students can do good work — even great. A week ago, three 2010 News21 projects were finalists for Online Journalism Awards, competing against the pros because the News21 fellows are paid. North Carolina’s win in the online video category continues a string of awards News21 has garnered in recent years.

The food safety project shows that when seasoned journalists work with motivated young talent, good things can happen.

Further, News21 is evolving, changing with the times. For 2012 and into the next decade, students and instructors from other schools can participate. Find out more about the 2012 summer investigation into voter rights that begin with a January seminar to be led by Arizona State professors Len Downie and Bill Marimow, both esteemed journalists who have overseen Pulitzer Prize-winning investigations.

In Their Own Words

Here are some of the food safety reporters’ views on their experiences in News21 program – and their takeaways:

* News21 was a wonderful learning experience for me as a journalism student. This was the most time I have ever spent on one story, and the direction I was given made it extremely rewarding. I learned to dig deep into documents and spreadsheets, but the most valuable part was working in a newsroom with top editors and amazing peers. Anybody who has the opportunity to work with the News21 fellowship program should take it. - Nicole Gilbert, Arizona State. Her story: Tainted Seafood Reaching U.S., Food Safety Experts Say

* Most students will probably never get the chance to take one to three stories and spend an entire summer focusing on them in-depth without the distractions of weekly or daily deadlines for other stories. This experience renewed my enthusiasm for investigative reporting as a backbone of the free press and as a valuable contribution to maintaining democracy. News21 connected me with top-notch editors who shared their wealth of experience in investigative reporting. Under their guidance, I felt more confident getting at the meat of the story. – Esther French, Maryland. One of her stories: Food Safety Issues Flare in the Shadow of U.S. Capitol

* News21 gives college journalists an opportunity not even many professionals get. The chance to delve into a single topic to produce thorough and comprehensive investigative journalism on multiple platforms has been a completely rewarding experience. The program has been a fabulous addition to my resume and birthed a body of work that has already impressed prospective employers. Participating in News21 means becoming part of an elite, but expanding group of young tenacious journalists who will without a doubt dominate the industry in years to come.” – Andrew Mach, Nebraska. His story: Antibiotics in Livestock Fuel Debate Over Hazardous Meat and Poultry

* Before News21, I had never filed a FOIA request or poured over piles of public documents. I’m now comfortable filing records requests and extracting important details from weighty reports and evaluations. Without News21, I don’t know when I would’ve had the chance to learn these things hands-on. … I learned a lot about turning a topic into a story idea and turning that idea into a cohesive, digestible article. Editors made sure our stories were focused, and if they weren’t, we rewrote them. I appreciated that our editors didn’t rewrite our stories for us. They gave us edits and made us do the work ourselves. Writing draft after draft does get painful, I’ll admit. But I improved so much, and I won’t make the same mistakes again. … The best part was working under such incredible, experienced editors. I was a 21-year-old working with veterans from the Washington Post, USA Today, the Arizona Republic and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. How many other people my age can say that? Outside of News21, not many. I have awesome references for my resume and a great clip to show prospective employers. … Reporting internships at daily papers are great, and you really do learn a lot. But News21 offers something more than a daily paper can, both in terms of resources and editing. Fortunately, the program has money to send reporters virtually anywhere they need to go to get the story. Budget-strapped newspapers can’t. If you need to pay for a massive database, News21 can afford it. Newspapers may not be able to. In addition, News21 editors can afford to invest a ton of time into every story. They are there to make the project great – it’s simple as that. They’re focused on one project, and they’re not subject to the pressures of a typical newsroom. I received so much one-on-one attention from Sharon Rosenhause, and my story reflects that. … At the end of the day, we’ve completed a large-scale investigative project that highlights an array of problems in a system that affects literally every American. Our stories are running in national outlets, and hopefully our work will start a conversation that ultimately leads to an improved food safety structure. We tackled a subject that hadn’t been looked at much, and we ended up with a project that has the potential to really change Americans’ understanding of food safety. It’s really cool to say I was part of all of it. – Teresa Lostroh, Nebraska. Her package: Laws Haven’t Kept Deadly Pathogens Out of Meat, Poultry

* Participating in News21 provided me with a broader knowledge of in-depth reporting. Being able to spend time researching a topic and then going out to meet the people who were actually involved helped me better understand the process of investigative reporting, which I feel will be very valuable during my career. Although I enjoyed writing the story and being deeply involved in the editing process, the most valuable part of this project was being able to actually see the place and the people involved in the outbreak. Phone interviews only add so much to a story, and being face to face with victims of this food-related outbreak really helped make it real. To students who are interested in News21, I would say it is a priceless experience that will enhance knowledge of practical journalism skills used in the workforce, it will provide an opportunity to work with a number of experienced journalists and it will also tackle relevant, real-world topics that affect readers. – Joanne Ingram, Arizona State. Her story: Rhode Island Case Illustrates Poor Food Handling Practices

News21 launch partners are the Center for Public Integrity, msnbc.com and The Washington Post.

The Project in Detail

News21 is a huge effort, involving a considerable resources and the generous sponsorship of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. But it also shows that, with collaboration and coordination, student work can make a difference, nationally and locally. To that end, News21 offers suggestions on how to recreate the collaborative News21 experience in a classroom or even a newsroom.

Below are more links that convey the depth and breadth of News21′s mission:

For more information, please contact us at news@news21.com