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The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, S.C., has invited the 19 graduate students enrolled in the in the to contribute cultural coverage of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston this spring.

The students will expand the newspaper’s regular staff of reporters and critics who cover the more than 800 cultural events that occur in Charleston during May and June when the international Spoleto Festival USA and the city’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival bring hundreds of artists and thousands of tourists to the area. Trained in covering culture in a variety of media, the ���ϲ����� students will produce print and online features and reviews, as well as video and audio components, and use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with audiences.

“This is a natural for us,” says Bill Hawkins, editor and publisher of the Post and Courier. “We know the quality of Newhouse students, and I am delighted we can be part of this cutting-edge project.”

“In terms of covering an arts festival, a project of this scope is unprecedented as far as we know,” says Stephanie Harvin, Post and Courier features editor. “We can use the extra staff during the busy festival season, and we are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to talented young arts journalists. The professional experience of working with our staff in the newsroom may open the doors to their futures. We are also excited to see what these young journalists will cover and how they will reach young readers who are interested in culture and the arts. This is a wonderful investment in the future of arts journalism.”

“At the Newhouse School, we aim to educate communications experts for the world as it will be five years from now,” says Dean Lorraine Branham. “With all the changes in the media, the Charleston project will be a wonderful laboratory for these young journalists to explore and invent new ways of talking about culture and connecting with audiences.”

“This reciprocal partnership will bring fresh, diverse perspectives and the renowned professional acumen of Newhouse School-trained journalists to the Post and Courier’s readers,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “At the same time, reporting on one of the nation’s great arts festivals will give our students an extraordinary opportunity to prepare for the world in the world—a hallmark of an SU education.”

Launched in 2005, the Goldring Arts Journalism Program trains journalists to communicate about the arts and culture through traditional and digital media. The project is headed by Johanna Keller, founding director of the program and a professor at Newhouse. The one-year intensive master’s degree program was made possible by a gift from SU Trustee Lola Goldring ’51.

The Post and Courier is the largest newspaper in South Carolina and has produced daily coverage of the Spoleto Festival USA since the festival’s inception in 1977. It has a national reputation for comprehensive arts coverage, putting together a special section each day, both in print and online. The students will join its Spoleto Today staff to shoot photos, cover exciting personalities, review events, produce video and capture the flavor of the performing arts festival. Readers will be able to follow their progress on the SpoletoToday.com blog as well as postandcourier.com.

Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston’s historic theaters, churches and outdoor spaces with renowned artists as well as emerging performers in opera, theater and dance, and chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music. Now in its 34th season, it is internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival. Focusing primarily on artists in the Southeast region, Piccolo Spoleto is the perfect complement to the international scope of its parent festival and runs at the same time in venues throughout the city. The festivals this year run from May 28- June 13.

For more information about the project, contact Keller at (315) 443-2419 or jokeller@syr.edu; or Harvin at (843) 937-5557 or sharvin@postandcourier.com.