Journalism undergrad tapped for MTV's Street Team '08

University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism major Charlie Berens will represent Wisconsin citizens through an innovative MTV multimedia project to cover communities.

With the 2008 election approaching, MTV recruited a group of 51 citizen journalists - one from each state plus Washington, D.C.- to cover political and social issues within their state. MTV selected Berens based largely on his video essay on urban sprawl outside Milwaukee.

Berens' video analyzes Wisconsin's loss of farmland to suburban growth through the story of Ruby Farm, a threatened farm in southeastern Wisconsin.

"I'm so proud of what Charlie has achieved here," says Katy Culver, who taught Berens in the fall semester session of J202, Mass Media Practices. "What most impressed me is that with minimal help, he assembled an excellent piece on sprawl that tells a story we haven't yet heard in this way."

MTV's Street Team '08 members will contribute weekly multimedia reports (short-form videos, blogs, animation, photos, podcasts) distributed via a soon-to-launch Wireless Access site, MTV Mobile, Think.MTV.com and the more than 1,800 sites in the Associated Press Online Video Network. Select stories also will be showcased on other MTV platforms, including MTV, MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s.

Berens' hopes to use his participation in Street Team '08 to further illuminate issues challenging Wisconsin and its citizens.

"I'm especially thrilled that Charlie let technology play a background role in his piece on sprawl," Culver says. "He truly 'gets' what makes great multimedia. He concentrated on how the piece was conceived and written and never let hardware or software get in the way of his story."

You can follow his stories on the Street Team '08 site.