One of the great challenges for the Innovation Incubator students--undergraduate and graduate alike, and from all institutions--was pitching an innovative idea that not only met some of the nobler purposes of journalism connected to democracy and an informed citizenry, but also successfully considered and addressed the financial side of the equation, media audiences, and advertising.

Which leads me to the question: Is it possible to design a curriculum that teaches journalism and advertising together?

We always like to pretend that journalism and advertising are completely separate. But let's face it: all this time, the two have been sitting right next to each other on the printed pages of newspapers. And now, they occupy connected spaces and times on the web pages of news organizations.

The royal 'we' which begins the prior paragraph refers both to the academy and the news industry. In the academy, the sequences in news writing and advertising are separate and are taught as completely different disciplines. We like to act like one, journalism, is exclusively pure and noble, serving democracy, and is untainted by advertising influences or press releases. In the industry, no one wants to lose credibility by acknowledging the relationship among news, advertising, and public relations. There are currently a number of movements toward 'transparency' in the news-making process, but still the interconnections remain opaque.

Are the goals of journalism and advertising compatible, and if so, how? Can we admit the connections in our news media and also in realm of higher education, and work constructively and openly with those connections? If not, we need to jump a lot further back on the innovation drawing board.

As it happened, four students from St. Michael's College ended up working together in the pre-conference phase with students from Ithaca College and Michigan State. Together they developed LockerTalker--an interactive platform targeted at middle-schoolers that combines news articles and interest groups with locker decorations, a flipbook, and 'post-it' messages to other users they know. The concept is an alternative to social networking sites, one that will help kids connect with news, with their local communities, and with community groups like sports teams, 4-H clubs, and conservation organizations. It has built-in safety and privacy features appropriate to the age group that not only satisfy, but attract, parents.

LockerTalker has been honed through feedback from media professionals, marketing specialists, and recently passed the ultimate test, parents. Since a recent TV news package on LockerTalker, the students that created the concept have been receiving inquiries from parents who want to find out how to get their kids and school groups involved--and connected--to this new format for news and discussion in their community. It's the first signs of an answer to the question: If you build it, will they come?