December 07, 2010
Android apps contest brings together journalists, programmers
In a contest to foster journalism innovation - or even help birth a new breed of journalist-programmer - the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri is bringing together journalism students with computer science, engineering and business students to create new apps for Google’s open-source Android mobile operating system.
The several month-long competition, sponsored by Google, Adobe, Sprint, and Hearst Corp., is in its fourth year, having previously developed apps for the iPhone and for Adobe. One winning idea from last year’s contest is now in development as a potential business at Hearst.
The contest form itself is nicely innovative. Students form ad-hoc, cross-disciplinary teams, with project management from Hearst employees. Adobe provides tools for generating Android apps, while Sprint provides help from developers and phones for testing apps. The winner ultimately gets to present its idea to Google execs in California next spring.
The Neiman Journalism Lab blog has a detailed writeup on the contest and its interdisciplinary approach.
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