What's InsiderIowa.com?

(Picture- Schmidt innovative textbook cover)
InsiderIowa.com is a new new Internet publication. The site will launch in mid April, 2009.

This will be a very dynamic web site with in-depth coverage of interesting and important issues/features and a series of recurring columns.

Topics will include politics, policy, environmental/sustainability topics, lifestyle, business and technology, agriculture, the International/local interconnections and sports.

As traditional media shrinks, the need for new graphically rich publication with video and lots of Internet “toys” becomes more obvious every day. This is the New Media or the "Merging Media."

Few analog "newspapers" printed on, well PAPER, have successfully migrated to the Internet. We will have many discussion about why this is so later but basically its "culture." It may be the same reason why Exxon can't easily become a "green" energy company.

Traditional journalism programs often teach formulaic, sometimes boring and graphically insufficient (unsatisfying) style for the web and the "Cyber generation." My students want fast, "grabby", and engaging stuff. they also want ubiquitous portability.

Parallel example - In 1984 I and my co-authors (Mack Shelley and Barbara Bardes) published the first four color, graphically exciting American government textbook with West Publishing. It rocked the world and many textbooks who did not follow died. Our book became the best selling college American Govt textbook. We added web resources, streaming video, podcasts, a blog and it fit the lifestyle of today's students. (The latest book cover graphic is at start of this blog).

InsiderIowa.com follows the same philosophy. We hope to become a "must go to" source of information and enjoyment for Iowans and well beyond.

One example is the eight part series on Energy Security and Sustainability that we will launch in a partnership. This series will have world famous experts on one of the most critical issues facing the US and the global economy. We will also have flash video associated with this series. We are considering a partnership that will issue a Certificate of Energy Awareness for people who sign up, study the eight features, and successfully take a proficiency quiz.

I am very pleased to have been asked to be an associate editor and the chief political and foreign correspondent of this venture. This opportunity is a great honor and it adds a huge "real world" experience to my work as a professor and researcher. It will make my classes more dynamic and my students better mentored.

We invite and expect your feedback and your good ideas.