I couldn't make it to BlogHer this year because I immersed in an interactive journalism camp. The camp's participants produced an online multimedia site with story packages that included text, video, photos and interactive graphics that they conceived and coded. Although they were new to journalism, their stories were full of substance. They pressed public officials on what they were doing to reduce our town's carbon footprint. They quizzed a scientist on the ethics of animal testing. Coverage of a robotics competition, dual profiles of a well-known Hollywood actor and a aspiring comic book artist, and a conversation about the future of journalism rounded out the story lineup.These 16 ace reporters are rising 8th graders who were new to both journalism and programming. You can see what they produced after five days of training and assistance from their college student mentors, five of their teachers, three professors and three volunteers. 

Editors at the Montclarion, the student newspaper of New Jersey's Montclair State University, returned from winter break to find that the funds for printing their newspaper had been frozen. The College's student government (SGA) cut the Montclarion's funding because the newspaper consulted an outside attorney for a probe into possible SGA violations of New Jersey's open meeting laws.