Our project:
We are journalism students at the University of North Texas and completed this project as a part of our capstone course, JOUR 4999, with Professor Randy Loftis. This project got started when we set out as a group to learn more about Core Scientific's AI data center being built in Denton, Texas. We were curious as to how the plan for implementing such an expensive and energy-hungry facility came to fruition. We talked to several sources, including members of Denton City Council, UNT students, an activist and Denton Municipal Electric's public information officer, each with different perspectives on the issue. We aimed to determine whether or not this data center would be good for the city. Throughout the course of the semester, we were able to gather substantial data and evidence to answer this question. We contacted over 30 sources, conducted weeks of research and interviews, collected data to support our ideas, and eventually came to a conclusion about the overall benefit of this data center. While the city will see huge gains from the data center economically, the negative environmental impact might just be enough to outweigh those financial benefits in the end.
Our team:
Dylan Duke: I’m a Digital and Print Journalism major at the Mayborn with a minor in Political Science. I mainly contributed to the writing portion of this project and worked with the other members to coordinate interviews.
Natalie VanDerWal: I’m a Photojournalism major at the Mayborn and my minor is in Peace Studies. I mainly contributed to the photography section of this project, but also helped out with other aspects of video interviews, graphics and the making of this website.
Parker Smith: I’m a Broadcast Journalism major with a minor in Sports Management. My main contribution to the project was through the audio portion of assignment, also helping with data presentation. I also established interviews with sources and transcribed quotes.
Matthew Stone: I’m a Sports Broadcasting Journalism major at Mayborn with a minor in Real Estate. I contributed to the data gathering and background research to this project and helped out with other members when needed.
Marty Bratcher: I’m getting my Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and History at UNT, with a minor in English. I led the video portion of our project while contributing to data presentations and research. With my members, we transcribed interviews and negotiated access to areas of construction.
