Summary

About

Source: VCU page

After more than 20 years as a newspaper editor and reporter, Jeff South joined the Richard T. Robertson School and Media and Culture’s faculty in August 1997.

He directs the school’s Capital News Service program, in which undergraduate journalism students cover the General Assembly and other aspects of state government for news media throughout Virginia. At the graduate level, South teaches computer-assisted reporting — how journalists can use computers to gather and analyze information.

South also teaches news writing, social media, copy editing, the introductory mass comm course and other classes. He also serves as the school’s director of undergraduate studies.

South received his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1974 from the University of Texas. He has worked on daily papers in Austin, Dallas and Lubbock, Texas, Phoenix, Ariz., and Norfolk, Va.

From 1989 to mid-1997, South worked at the Austin American-Statesman — first as state editor, then as database editor. In the latter capacity, he directed the paper’s efforts at online research and data analysis. While serving as database editor, he developed a class in computer-assisted reporting at the University of Texas. South has since presented CAR seminars for the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., and other groups.

South has published articles in the American Journalism Review, Online Journalism Review. Quill (SPJ’s magazine) and other publications. He has made presentations at numerous conferences, including the conventions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Experience

Education

• BA, Journalism
  University of Texas
  1971 to 2019

Work Experience

• Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Mass Communications
  Virginia Commonwealth University
  1997 to 2019

  I teach large “survey” courses (such as our introductory MASC 101 Mass Communications course), as well as journalism skills courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. I direct our award-winning Capital News Service program. In addition, as director of undergraduate studies, I handle curricular and student issues involving our entire undergraduate program (advertising, public relations and journalism).

• Visiting Professor Company
  Fudan University
  2016 to 2016

  VCU selected me as a Summer International Teaching Fellow. At Fudan, I taught a course on Social and Mobile Media around the World. I also taught at the Fudan International Summer Session in June-July 2015.

• Fulbright Scholar
  Northeast Normal University
  2014 to 2014

  I was awarded a Fulbright grant to teach data journalism, data visualization and social and mobile media journalism in China in 2014. I taught courses at Northeast Normal University and traveled to Beijing, Xiamen and other cities to present guest lectures.

• State editor & database editor
  Austin American-Statesman
  1989 to 1997

  As state editor, I supervised a 14-member staff responsible for covering state government, politics and news throughout Texas. I also coordinated our coverage of Washington, D.C., and Mexico. As database editor, I directed the newsroom’s use of computers to gather and analyze information. I served as a trainer, researcher, writer and editor. Responsibilities included buying computer hardware and software, negotiating for government databases, establishing internet access for the newsroom and creating an intranet.

Contact

Email: School

Locations

Richmond, VA
901 West Main Street, Room 1149-B Box 842034
Richmond, VA 23284
Phone: (804) 827-0253

Videos

Interview with Professor Jeff South about the voting locations around VCU

October 30, 2014
By: Marcus Messner

This video was produced by iPadjournos reporters Ali Mislowsky and Shakola Walker. This is the YouTube channel of the iPadJournos project at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Interview with Jeff South, VCU journalism professor

November 4, 2013
By: Marcus Messner

This video was produced by iPadJournos reporters Jackson McMillan and Jim Swing. This is the YouTube channel of the iPadJournos project at Virginia Commonwealth University.

This Week In Richmond: Professors Lauren Bell and Jeff South

November 13, 2017
By: VPM long-form video

On this edition of This Week In Richmond, host David Bailey is joined by Lauren Bell, Dean of Academic Affairs & Professor of Political Science, RMC and Jeff South, Associate Professor & Director of Undergraduate Studies, VCU, to discuss and analyze the recent election results in the Commonwealth.

Web

Websites

Twitter, Professional site, VCU page, LinkedIn

Twitter

Papers

Articles

Jeff South on teaching journalism in China
University Public Affairs

Jeff South, a Virginia Commonwealth University journalism professor, recently wrapped up a Fulbright fellowship in which he taught journalism and social media to Chinese students in Northeast China.

South, a professor in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture in the College of Humanities and Sciences, spoke with VCU News about what it was like to teach journalism in China, how he dealt with Chinese government censorship and why he believes democracy and a free press will one day come to China.

Tell me a little about your Fulbright fellowship. What did it entail?

The Fulbright Program awarded me a grant to teach journalism in China during the spring and summer of 2014. My host institution was Northeast Normal University in the city of Changchun, in the northeast corner of China, not far from North Korea. NENU is a lot like VCU: an urban university with two main campuses and an array of academic units, from education and engineering to business and the arts. I was on the faculty of the School of Media Science, which, like VCU’s Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, prepares students for careers in journalism, advertising and other media professions.

At NENU, I taught two courses: on data journalism and data visualization, and on mobile and social media journalism. I also advised the student radio station and worked with journalism faculty members and graduate students on journalism skills in general and digital skills in particular.

I did most of my teaching on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At the end of the week, I gave guest lectures and workshops at other Chinese universities, usually outside of Changchun. That allowed me to visit schools in several other cities, including Tsinghua University in Beijing, Xiamen University in southern China and Taiyuan University of Technology in Shanxi Province.

Just by way of background, Fulbright is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It’s designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. There are actually several Fulbright programs — for students, teachers and other professionals. I was part of the Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, which annually sends about 800 Americans to about 130 countries to lecture and/or conduct research. Ten professors received Fulbrights to teach in China in 2013-14. They included one other journalism professor — Andrew Leckey of Arizona State University.

How was your experience of teaching journalism in China?

On the whole, my experience was very positive. My students at NENU were eager to learn — very hardworking, bright and passionate about telling stories. Whether you’re in China or the U.S., there’s only one way to learn journalism — by doing. So in both of my courses at NENU, students published a lot.

My data journalism students produced an online magazine called Data Dim Sum. It consisted of stories that the students wrote after finding and analyzing data from the Chinese government, the World Health Organization and other authoritative sources. One team of students, for example, explored the ethnic groups in China and created a “story map” profiling the Uighurs, Tibetans, Mongols and other groups. Another pair of students noted that China sends more college students to the United States than any other country and discussed why. Other stories examined topics ranging from air pollution, smoking and the cost of living, to Chinese patents, Internet speeds and the age women get married. For all of the stories, the students showed where they got their data and how they analyzed it, and they created online graphics.

In my social and mobile media journalism course, students published, among other things, a website called “A Day in the Life of Changchun.” It consisted of a dozen photo essays shot by teams of students on a variety of topics: a performance of the Peking Opera company in Changchun, the city’s light rail system, a competition among students vying to be game-show hosts, a day with a kindergarten class and so on. One team spent the day at NENU’s art school; another photographer documented, in grainy black and white, the young men who stay up all night playing video games at a seedy video parlor behind campus. After creating the website, the students then used social media to publicize the project.

What sort of challenges did you encounter?

Many Chinese students aren’t used to being asked their opinions or being urged to discuss things in class. I think a lot of professors at Chinese universities operate more in the mode of “I’ll lecture; you take notes.” So it took a while for my NENU students to feel comfortable speaking up, exchanging ideas and offering alternative perspectives. Plus, Chinese students can be overly polite and formal — standing up when they are going to say something, for example; while that is well intentioned, it can get in the way of the honest give and take that is important in discussing story ideas or journalism in general.

Language was a problem for some students. I taught in English; all of my students were supposed to have a good grasp of the English language. But in fact, language abilities varied widely — and individual students might write well in English but have little experience with speaking or listening to English. So in class, I spoke slowly, used a lot of visual cues and did regular comprehension checks. I had students translate for one another, or I pulled out my English-Mandarin dictionary, when I could see that some students didn’t get what I was trying to convey.

Probably the biggest challenge I encountered involved the government’s control of information. China doesn’t allow Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, so I had to learn the parallel universe of Chinese social media platforms, like Renren, Weibo and Tudou, which are censored like other Chinese media. Moreover, I was teaching during the 25th anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square. In China, any mention of the “unfortunate events of 1989” is banned; the government shut off access to Google in the run-up to the June 4 anniversary. But for journalists, we can’t ignore a story like that.

I explained to my NENU students how U.S. journalists cover shameful incidents in U.S. history, such as the Kent State shootings or attacks on civil rights demonstrators. And in a stealth way, I had my data journalism students collaborate on a story about the Tiananmen Square massacre. I couched the exercise as an online scavenger hunt: I instructed the students to search the WikiLeaks database of U.S. State Department cables for certain documents. They worked quietly in teams, following instruction sheets I had distributed. At the start of the exercise, the students didn’t realize that most of the scavenger hunt questions were about the pro-democracy demonstrations, like “How many students were in Tiananmen Square on the evening of May 21, 1989?” (Answer: More than 300,000, according to a cable the next day from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.) After we debriefed, we compiled the students’ answers into a story and published it on the web magazine Medium.

When you applied for the Fulbright, you talked about the power of journalism to bring injustice to light and transform societies for the better. Now that you’re back, how did your experience in China fit into that belief?

I’m still a true believer in the transformative power of journalism. When you look around the world, you see that a free press and democracy go hand in hand. The first thing a despotic government does when it wants to control people is to shut down independent journalists; witness Russia, ISIS and many other examples.

I believe that in the long run democracy and a free press will come to China. A lot of courageous journalists in China already are working hard to make that happen, in the face of oppression by the government. They include independent publications like Southern Weekly, and investigative journalists working both inside state-owned media and on their own. In my classes at NENU, I highlighted the efforts of these truth-tellers and muckrakers, to give my students possible role models. I want my students to see that independent journalism is a valuable public service, that it provides the oxygen for self-governance. I hope my courses planted a few more seeds for those ideas.

Given your recent experience teaching journalism in China, how do you view the pro-democracy protests happening in Hong Kong?

The Hong Kong demonstrators are keeping alive the flame from the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. That is important, because China is, as the title of a recent book put it, “The People’s Republic of Amnesia.” The Chinese government has done a depressingly masterful job of blocking news it doesn’t want its people to see, including information about both the Tiananmen Square and Hong Kong protests. But some news always gets through, at least until the censors catch up. In a country of 1 billion people, it’s impossible for the government to impose total control over all communications. One thing I taught at NENU was how to see what content the Chinese government was blocking on social media. There’s a website called Free Weibo that aggregates censored tweets. I showed my NENU students this — not to be subversive, but just to be a good journalist: As reporters, we need to know what’s going on in order to do our jobs.

I admire the students in Hong Kong who have been leading the demonstrations there, as well as their supporters on the mainland. The government has detained nearly 100 of these people, and most of them are still being held, according to Amnesty International.

You’ve traveled and taught in several foreign countries, including Ukraine. How did your experience in China compare?

Ukraine doesn’t have media control and Internet censorship as an official government policy, the way China does. In China, the news media are supposed to be the “tongue and throat” of the Communist Party. You must pass a political litmus test to get your journalist’s license. Smart reporters can finesse the system and push the limits, but even they know there are limits and lines that must not be crossed. In Ukraine, the press has a much freer hand, although there are thugs and certain government officials who try to intimidate reporters. You can especially see the difference between China and Ukraine on the Internet: Ukraine has a totally open Net.

I spent the first half of 2007 training journalists in Ukraine as part of my Knight International Journalism Fellowship. I was based in Kharkiv, in far eastern Ukraine, on the Russian border, and I traveled all over the country conducting workshops on how journalists can make better use of technology and how they can better connect with readers and viewers. This may be a coincidence, but it’s interesting to note that Kharkiv and other cities where I led workshops did not blow up during the separatist movement that swept parts of Eastern Ukraine.

Were there any interesting or unusual anecdotes you’d care to share?

One of the funniest moments I had in China involved a visit to Jilin University, which is also in Changchun. I thought I was invited just to listen to a seminar about Edward Snowden and files he stole from the National Security Agency. But when I got to Jilin University, there was a poster saying I would give a speech and lead the seminar.

Fortunately, I knew enough about Snowden to fake it. And in my backpack, I had a secret weapon — or actually two secret weapons: a pair of Rubik’s cubes. I had been working on one; it was twisted so that each face was a mix of colors. The other cube was pristine, in its “solved” state: One side had nine red squares, another nine blue squares and so on.

I kicked off the discussion by taking the messed-up Rubik’s cube out of my backpack and asking the students at the seminar if they knew its significance to the Snowden saga. I then explained that Snowden was holding one when he met reporters Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong to leak them the NSA documents. It was Snowden’s tipoff that he was their Deep Throat.

As the discussion continued, I pensively played with the Rubik’s cube. But as the seminar wound down, I dropped the screwed-up cube into my backpack and, without anyone noticing, pulled out the un-manipulated one. I wrapped things up by announcing, “I think we’ve made some progress today working through the Edward Snowden puzzle.” Then I held up the perfect Rubik’s Cube and added, “With hard work, these things can be solved.” The students, thinking I had solved the Rubik’s cube, gave me a standing ovation. Little did they know that my “solution” was based on not exhaustive algorithms but mere sleight of hand.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I have invitations from a few universities to return to China this summer and teach. We’ll see if that happens: I’ll need permission, and a visa, from the Chinese government, and I don’t know if that will come through.

My experience in China has underscored for me the role that we have as U.S. universities and American educators: I believe we need to make it clear what our values are — that we believe in democracy, free speech, a free press and other human rights. We should state unequivocally that we can’t compromise on those values.

Course evaluations, yearning to be free

Author’s note: I wrote this article several years ago and have been updating it each semester with my latest course evaluations. Most recently updated on March 21, 2019.

As a journalist and journalism teacher, I am an ardent champion of transparency and the public’s right to know. Over the years, I have filed hundreds of requests for information with government agencies, and I require my journalism students at Virginia Commonwealth University to demonstrate their ability to use the Freedom of Information Act at the federal and state levels. Every semester, for example, students in my Capital News Service course write and submit FOIAs to pry loose documents and data.

Read more

Confessions and Apologies
Capital News Service

Our reporters respond to President Trump’s tweet calling the news media ‘the enemy of the American People!”

In VCU’s Capital News Service, we are aghast that we have been exposed. So we all are coming clean. We are offering the kind of apologies that China requires reporters to make when a news story upsets the government there. Here goes:

I, Rodrigo Arriaza, confess that I am an enemy of the American people. During my time working with VCU’s Capital News Service, I’ve reported on legislation that would force university employees to “out” undocumented students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Obviously, it would have been better for this issue to go unreported, and for bills like these that target some of our fellow classmates to quietly pass through our legislature. They’re all terrorists and felons anyway, right? Please forgive me.

I, Mary Lee Clark, am an enemy of the American people. As a reporter for CNS, have been learning to carefully craft FAKE stories to deceive this great country. Just the other week, I lied about a bill that sought to prevent people from smoking at outdoor performances so that children would not be exposed to secondhand smoke. But, Americans, if you read between the lines you can tell that I an advocate for lung cancer and I hope to see a rise in sickness in this country. I apologize for deceiving you, I am a disgrace. SAD!

I, Megan Corsano, confess that I am the one true enemy of the American people. I have been studying journalism so that I might one day use my powers to destroy American democracy as we know it. My story about Planned Parenthood advocates protesting a local congressman was nothing more but an attempt to elevate these women’s rights supporters’ status in our society so that they will be able to overthrow the government and propel us into an era of female-led anarchy. I hope the American people can one day forgive me for this disgracing our country in this way; all hail our great orange leader.

We had a good run, but a good con artist always knows when to show their hand. I, Tyler Hammel, am an enemy of the American people. I have directly misled the American people (or at least those who read more than headlines) about the intentions behind voter ID laws. Opponents have said without voter ID laws, Illegal Aliens will vote millions of times and they’re kind of right, but these aliens won’t come from a land border but an atmospheric one. Aliens from outer space live among us: the Plutharians from Europa, the Yuigians from Mercury, even the Rexians from the outer reaches of the Milky Way and so many more — they’re everywhere. The literal only way to stop their democratic takeover is with photo ID. That’s the only thing that works, but the heroic Republicans have stopped them and found me out. Fiddlesticks.

I, Amelia M. Heymann, am a crook and an enemy of the state. I have written about women’s access to birth control and LGBT rights. These articles were written in an attempt to destroy America’s moral foundation, and to corrupt the nation’s youth. I wished for our country to be rid of the heterosexual family unit, and instead be overrun by baby killing feminists. However, the good Christian man Donald Trump has shown me the error of my ways, and I seek forgiveness from both him and the American people.

I, Amy Lee, admit that I am an enemy of the American people. As a trusted journalist, I have written on the designation of “The Song of the Mountains” as the official state television show, and my report has been read by many. However, it was my intention to push a bluegrass music agenda in order to brainwash America’s good citizens and deafen them to the true issues they must face as sensible, non-country music listening peoples.

I, Ashley Luck, admit that I am an enemy of the American people. As a VCU CNS reporter, I have written about such topics as lifetime licenses for pets, how Virginia wants to tackle the opioid crisis and allowing surviving spouses of disabled veterans to still be exempt from property taxes if they move. My goal was to make people aware of bills that could possibly make the commonwealth better for everyone and for that I apologize. I don’t know why I thought people would care about pets, the opioid crisis or families of disabled veterans; what a mistake.

I, SaraRose Martin, unfortunately must confess that I am an enemy of the American people. As a student journalist, I have written about marijuana, distracted driving, and women’s health care legislation introduced in the Virginia General Assembly. My hope is that with this knowledge, the people of the United States will succumb to drug use, netflix and driving, and contraceptives. Forgive me, Virginia I do understand the error of my ways.

Maura Mazurowski: I am a 21-year-old woman, college student and reporter, and I admit that I am more than an enemy to the American people — I’m a danger. My coworkers and I put Americans in danger every single day of knowing what’s going on in the world around them. I write about topics ranging from increased wine sales in Virginia to the state Senate rejecting two pro-choice bills that would assist women looking to have an abortion — how dare I! Another CNS writer reported on a bill that will keep some Virginia public schools from opening before Labor Day — how couldshe?! One CNS story shed light on a small Virginia town that allows golf carts to drive on public roadways. Come on, people — no one should have to hear about that. I regret that we are so dedicated to sharing untold stories with the American people. It is disgraceful, and I apologize for our integrity and journalistic passions.

I, Jessica Nolte, have worked as a VCU CNS reporter, and I am an enemy of the people of Virginia. During my time in Capital News Service I have covered such controversy including legislation that would allow people to drive golf carts on state roads in Jarratt. This story was a direct attack and an effort to undermine the car industry. I have been secretly hoping this law would lead to other cities and towns seeking similar legislation to remove the four-wheeled monstrosities we call cars from the road. I seek your forgiveness now. Virginia, may you drive in peace.

I, Dai Ja Norman, am an enemy of the American people because I have led many to believe that bamboo is not lucky. According to my article on legislative efforts to control the spread of the plant, I have accused golden bamboo of being a thief, although it has not personally taken my yard from me or held it for hostage. I conducted research that would say that it is a bully. I am sorry for leaking the truth about bamboo and demeaning the lucky plant.

Julie Rothey: I, a 21-year-old journalism student, am the enemy of the American people. I knowingly report on issues, such as restructuring the electoral college, that might change the balance of power and effect the lives of my fellow citizens. I now see that this exposed the American people to dangerous knowledge that might encourage them to participate in government. In the future, I will leave such decisions to politicians, who never make mistakes or act with anything other than our best interests at heart.

I, Jessica Samuels, admit that I am the enemy of the state. I want women hunters to wear blaze pink in their hunting apparel, and it was a fun story to write for hunters. It was part of my plan to make women wear pink while hunting to show men that women can look stylish while hunting deer. Women deserve to have more choices to wear the apparel they want while hunting. I apologize for that since there should be more choices for women to wear in the color they want to rock out in, and if it’s pink then more power to them.

I, Megan Schiffres, confess that I am an enemy of the American people (The p in people is deliberately lowercase, though I know that goes against the grammatical laws of our Supreme Leader Trump). My crimes are numerous, not only am I a woman, a lesbian, and a filthy Jew, but I have attempted to undermine the very fabric of America by questioning the judgement of our most gracious and large-handed president. I have invented crowds of protesters against Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, and have even dared to write about them. I tried to disseminate the lies that liberal “experts” and legislatures are spewing about needing redistricting reform, resisting solitary confinement, and pro-LGBT press conferences. Worst of all, I’m a journalist.

I, Nicholas D. Versaw, admit that I have become a monster and an enemy of the American people. As a trained journalist, I have written detestable stories such as how Virginians will be fined $250 for driving too slowly in the left lane. Since the beginning,I have secretly been attempting to turn the commonwealth into a NASCAR-like superhighway dystopia where Virginians drive at speeds exceeding 150 mph and put their very lives in danger on their simple morning commutes and weekend drives to grandma’s house. I beg the commonwealth for forgiveness as I know see the error of my ways.

I, Tyler Woodall, confess that I am the true enemy of the American people. As a journalist in VCU’s CNS, I have written terrible stories about restoring some gun rights to felons. My goal is to restore America to its militia heritage and restore the nation to the once strong, fearful superpower it once was. I have now seen my evil ways and ask for my life to be spared. Forgive me, Father Trump and the American people, for I know I have sinned.

I, Haley Wright, confess that I am an enemy of the American People — a true monster. One of my stories discussed advocacy and funding for higher education, something I know President Trump knows nothing about. My true goal is to push for LESS funding for higher education, to make sure the future of America is as uneducated as possible. Please forgive me.

I, Jeffrey Charles South, confess that I am an enemy of the American people. As the director of VCU’s Capital News Service program, I have been training future enemies as well. For example, I have encouraged journalism students to write stories about such subversive subjects as the snakehead fish, an invasive species that has infiltrated some Virginia rivers and other bodies of water. The CNS staff and I have been secretly rooting for this Frankenfish to take over the commonwealth. Forgive me, Virginia. I now see the errors of my ways.

Publications

“Slow Journalism and the Out of Eden Walk”
 “People’s Republic of Taboos”
“Stellar High School Programs That Have Adjusted with Time” (chapter for book “Still Captive? History, Law and the Teaching of High School Journalism”)
“Punching a Hole in the Great Firewall: The ‘Collateral Freedom’ Project”
 

Projects

Source: Capital News Service

Capital News Service is a flagship program of VCU’s Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture. In the program, journalism students cover news in Richmond and across Virginia and distribute their stories, photos and other content to more than 100 newspapers, television and radio stations, and news websites.

Over the years, CNS staffers have won more than 45 national, regional and state awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Hearst Journalism Awards Program and the Virginia Press Association. In addition, CNS received the 2019 Good Government Award from the Richmond First Club, a 100-year-old civic organization. The club recognized the CNS students as “journalists covering Virginia politics with integrity and energy for over 20 years.”

CNS operates as a three-credit course (MASC 475) with a focus on the General Assembly when lawmakers are in session. Students’ bylined stories are published by news outlets across Virginia and, thanks to a partnership with The Associated Press, in USA Today, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and other leading news organizations. In the class, students develop portfolios that have helped them land jobs at newsrooms ranging from community dailies and weeklies to CNN.

You can find links to CNS stories on the program’s website as well as on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media.

Wilma Wirt, who has since retired from the mass comm faculty, established CNS in 1994 for two reasons:

• To give VCU’s journalism students an opportunity to actively cover and write about the Virginia General Assembly.
• To give the state’s weekly, twice-weekly and thrice-weekly newspapers better access to the legislature — something Wirt deemed important in the everyday lives of all Virginians.