Department of Information and Communication, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, participated in the "PeoPo 30 Minutes" inter-collegial news coverage cooperation project of public television PeoPo civic information platform. The second news coverage "Life Education Fighters" was broadcast on March 3 on the 3rd Public Television Channel. The first one--"Eating in Education"— was broadcast on February 2 on the 1st and the 2nd Public Television Channel. Both have received great responses.

【“Give Me Five” Team visited teachers of An Dian Elementary School of Tainan】

The public television PeoPo citizen news platform has been established for 10 years. It has accumulated more than 110,000 citizen news, among which there are many news reports produced by students of departments related to information and communication. The performance of the campus media by the Department of Information and Communication, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology is even more prominent. Of the 16 campus interview centers in the country, it is the only one from a university of science and technology. Good news work requires the commitment of student teams. The public television PeoPo news platform encourages students to step out of campus, care about the community, make the most of their professional training, take care of public issues with footage and pencils, and communicate with civil society. Many issues deserve further discussions. By encouraging all the campus interview centers to provide in-depth coverage of these issues and broadcasting them through public channels and the Internet, both the citizen journalists and the campus interview centers will be greatly inspired and affirmed.

【Senior students Zi-Yin Guo and Yao-Jen Li of D&A team of the Department of Information and Communication, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, were having a photo shooting in Denan Elementary School of Tainan】

The news feature coverages "Eating in Education" and "Fighters for Life Education" were brought to public television channels based on the current constructive journalism in Europe. In the era of confluence of media outlets, the news media are now faced with many challenges. As a result, there has been a wave of "introspection" about the traditional media coverage in the European press and a new direction for news media broadcasting. "Constructive News" focuses on the question whether news is "beneficial to the community" and whether news contents are educational and allow the audience to learn anything. Both selected works report the story about how elementary schools in Southern Taiwan promoted "agriculture education" and "life education" on campus in an educational perspective.

【Tainan Hong Wa Cuo Elementary School created its "Red Tile Roof Small Farm" on the roof of the school, allowing teachers and students to plant non-toxic plants and red beans】

In the wake of the recent food and safety crises in Taiwan, there has been an endless stream of food safety problems. In addition, influenced by the wave of overseas education on agriculture and peasants, the importance of "education on agriculture and of agriculture" has drawn more and more attention from people. Education for Food and Agriculture actually means "healthy eating education." The way to root the education down is mainly about triggering children to care for food and letting children know that eating right is not a matter of using one’s taste buds only. Understanding food is part of life. The selected news "Eating in Education" was produced by senior students Wan-Zhao Lin, Yi-Shan We, Wen-Chuan Huang, Hui-Chi Wu and Chiong-Shu Lai. Tainan City incorporated "Food Education" into the school curriculum in 2013, becoming the first city in Taiwan to promote food intake. The students’ news coverage takes the example of how "food education" concept was put into practice by Tainan Anshou National Elementary School and Hong Wa Cuo Elementary School to deepen public awareness of food education. The two schools have integrated the basic concept of "feeding and education" into the practical curriculum, allowing students to personally go to farms and experience farming. Not only can they understand the original appearance of the ingredients, they can also experience the hard work of planting farmers and develop good habits of cherishing food. Growing steadily growing crops can virtually enhance students' self-confidence and sense of accomplishment, which is certainly an irreplaceable valuable harvest. It is hoped that the news coverage can achieve the goal of entertaining and educating, so that more students can understand the relationship between people and land and food and develop correct concepts about food and diet.

【Authentic experience of "Fun of Rice Harvesting" by students of Tainan Elementary School】

Another news coverage, "Life Education Fighters," was written by a group of senior students: Si-Yu Huang, Zi-Yin Guo, Ming-Zhen Tsai, Yao-Ren Li, and Ching-Zhan Chen. The new coverage anchors its focus on La-La, a stray dog adopted by teachers and students of Denan Elementary School, taking the story as the theme of life education Students there play and interact with the school dog every day on campus, which has brought great joyous atmosphere to the campus. Through the story of this school dog called Lara, the news coverage urges the public to respect life rather than abandon pets and do harm to stray animals. It also encourages adoption (stray dogs) instead of purchase (puppies), trying to enroot the concept of life education and animal protection and alleviating the problem of stray animals in Taiwan.

【Young students of An Dian Elementary School were doing the sowing, by which they could get closer to land and plants and experience farmers’ hard work. This is an important part of "food education"】

The team of the Department of Information and Communication was led by Prof. Dan-Ching Liang to participate in the "PeoPo 30 Minutes" inter-collegial reporting cooperation project. Their two pieces of news coverage were based on constructive Journalism, hoping that they could bring educational significance and positive power to the society. With the initial idea that "your short story is my big news," the students brought the audience to the elementary schools in Tainan and Junior High School and reported to them how teachers have made great efforts in food education and life education. In the era of media convergence, as Prof. Liang pointed out, the information-based journalism curriculum upholds the spirit of "learning by doing and learning while doing" and integrates the theory of constructive journalism with interviews and production practices. Prof. Liang indicated that under the efforts of students and teachers over the past decade, there have been many news reports by the department brought to the mainstream media, which has made the department win recognition in national competitions. Their students have also outdistanced others and won PeoPo Citizen News Awards, including 2 Best Long Story Awards, 5 Best Short Story Awards, and one Special Short Story Award. The Department of Information and Communication has been recognized by the industry for its ability and skills in interviews, news making and broadcasting. All these opportunities to be "seen and affirmed" have been obtained through cooperation between the Department of Information and Communication with the public news platform PeoPo.

【"Life Education Fighters," produced by Si-Yu Huang, Zi-Yin Guo, Ming-Zhen Tsai, Yao-Ren Li, and Ching-Zhan Chen from the Department of Information Communication, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, won the “PeoPo 30 Minutes” inter-collegial news coverage cooperation project】