Citizen Journalism: Locally Grown, Community-Owned

I knew my PWR 1 course, “Rhetoric, Social Media, and Virtual Worlds,” would attract remarkable students. After all, what would better suit freshmen attending a University in the heart of Silicon Valley than a course focused on the relationship between rhetoric and new frontiers of electronic life? I took it for granted that these remarkable students, whoever they might turn out to be, would be budding coders, scientists, or entrepreneurs, but Patricia challenged my assumptions. A journalist in high school, Patricia came to class already armed with a strong sense of what she wanted to write about and, befitting her vocation, was one of those PWR students who, during office hours and conferences, always, intensely listened.