Editor’s note: A variety of new projects that students believe can impact journalism were recently unveiled at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Reese News Lab. Aaron Scarboro provides an overview for ExitEvent. ExitEvent is a news parnter of WRAL TechWire.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In an age where traditional journalism is on a perceived decline, John Clark and his students in Reese News Lab are using entrepreneurship to transform the media. In a room full of faculty, entrepreneurs and news reporters last Friday, Clark’s students pitched six different startup ideas, a culmination of a semester-long project. For the students, the process was fun and frustrating at times, and anything but ordinary. One thing was abundantly clear the entire semester: Reese is anything but a traditional journalism class.

That’s because Clark’s students are taught to think like entrepreneurs to solve big problems facing today’s media. What do you think?

Take American Media Corps, a fellowship designed to give recent journalism school graduates experience with community newspapers. The problem it solves is two-sided. Small-town newspapers across the country have shrinking newsroom budgets, making it difficult to provide quality in-depth coverage of local news. Young journalists are having trouble gaining valuable experience due to lack of opportunities. American Media Corps aims to solve these problems by creating a fellowship to connect these newspapers to willing and talented journalists. Think of it as Peace Corps for the local paper. What do you think?

Another venture that pitched Friday is Teacher Talk, an online platform that facilitates communication about students between teachers year-after-year. The Teacher Talk team sought to address the problem of inadequate student behavioral and needs records. It lets teachers compile information and share it with each other during a child’s academic career. Following the presentation, the students were peppered with questions from the audience and were well prepared to answer. Customer service? Accounted for in the budget. Privacy laws? They believe the product is compliant with federal and state regulations.

The full report can be read at ExitEvent.