Last Updated: April 06, 2000
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High school programs
Recruiting young
Last year, ASNE sent an e-mail to members asking what
their newspapers were doing to support high school journalism and increase
the flow of talented journalists, especially journalists of color,
into the pipeline of newsroom employees. Nearly 80 editors replied ...
By Rosalind G. Stark
“Start ’em early,” has been the watchword of newsroom recruiters for
decades. To bring talent into the journalism profession, it’s important
to attract the interest of young people while they are still in high school.
Or maybe even earlier.
Reaching high school or middle school students may sound easy, but keeping
the talent pipeline open and flowing into newsrooms requires continual
and varied strategies. And when it comes to recruiting young journalists
of color, efforts are complicated by several factors, including the decline
of high school newspapers in many areas and especially in urban school
districts — areas with the greatest concentrations of minority students.
Nearly every editor who responded to ASNE’s request for information
enthusiastically echoed the importance of working with young journalists
as a way to encourage them into the profession.
Some, like Paul Chaffee, editor of The Saginaw (Mich.) News, describe
their activities as “simple and direct. We print seven high school newspapers.”
Others, like Managing Editor Ellen Soeteber of the Sun-Sentinel in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., say they work directly with students, not with high school
newspapers, providing paid internships and other opportunities. And, according
to John Thomson, deputy managing editor of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News,
“a systematic, long-term effort in your own community is the only thing
that ultimately pays off.” He writes of his newspaper’s multifaceted efforts
to provide students with mentors, internships and part-time jobs, and,
when needed, even help with college applications.
Are all these programs enough to fill the pipeline with young talent?
Probably not. Newsrooms still have a long way to go before the diversity
of their staffs matches that of the general population. But if you’re looking
for ideas to get started, you’ll find them here.
Small papers with big plans
“It is a big commitment for a small newspaper, but it is a way we hope
will slowly increase the number of minority journalists. Maybe they will
want to come back to their hometown,” writes Rick Doyle of the Walla Walla
(Wash.) Union-Bulletin. The newspaper offers part-time work to a student
of color, beginning in the student’s junior year in high school and continuing
for as long as the interest is there. When the student enters college and
declares journalism as a major, the newspaper provides a $1,000 scholarship
each year.
At The Herald in Sharon, Pa., Jim Raykie’s program for minority students
begins in eighth grade. The newspaper invites kids in once a week to learn
to use the computer system and news writing basics. The Herald also publishes
the student newspaper for each high school it covers; reaction has been
overwhelming and positive, says Raykie. Students do the writing, editing,
and photography. The Herald helps with pagination and publishes the school
newspapers every two weeks in tabloid format. Several times each year,
the newspaper runs students’ work on a broadsheet page.
Large papers step up to the plate
“High school newspapers are becoming an endangered species, especially
in inner cities,” says Dorothy Gilliam, director of The Washington Post’s
Young Journalists Development Project. To counteract this trend and address
the “persistent recruitment problems of people of color” by newspapers,
the Post developed a long-range plan to revive newspapers in Washington
schools. Working with other organizations (The Freedom Forum, ASNE and
the Newspaper Association of America Foundation), the Post helps establish
high school newsrooms, prints student newspapers, offers mentoring by its
top professionals, and keeps track of young minorities who show promise,
offering scholarships and internships.
The Chicago Tribune works primarily with journalism advisers, recognizing
that they can use a healthy dose of support from professionals. First the
newspaper mailed a copy of ASNE’s “Best Newspaper Writing” to the adviser
at every high school in the metropolitan area. Now the paper invites each
adviser, accompanied by a student editor, to an all-day workshop, with
newsroom tours, critiques of student newspapers and sessions on graphic
arts, ethics, career tips, column writing and page layout.
Says George Langford, public editor: “The response has been terrific.
This year we had about 60 schools participate. It will be more next year
because the president of the Chicago public school system is going to put
the arm on principals to send their kids, especially from the inner-city
schools.”
Granddaddies of minority youth development
“If you don’t mind me saying so, the Free Press may have set the standard
on support of high school journalism,” writes Heath Meriwether of the Detroit
newspaper. In 1985, when the school district eliminated journalism programs
in most city high schools, the Free Press stepped in and worked with school
officials to revive the school newspapers. Today some 22 schools participate
in the program. Each produces a full-size newspaper page. Students bring
copy to the newspaper; student editors and their advisers edit, write headlines
and set the material up for production. An editorial coordinator on the
Free Press staff assists and advises the students. Student pages are printed
as part of full Free Press editions that are delivered to the high schools
and their feeder middle schools.
The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.; the Philadelphia Daily News;
The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and the San
Antonio Express-News are among the many newspapers that sponsor urban journalism
workshops based on the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund model, often in collaboration
with other media outlets and universities in their areas. (See sidebar,
“Two effective programs” on Page 8 for a brief description of the Dow Jones
Newspaper Fund approach.)
The Courier-Journal has been working for 20 years to develop a diverse
talent pool. It provides financial assistance and staff to workshops at
both the University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University, and runs
a third, independent workshop as well. Newspaper staffers follow students
who participate, often helping to find scholarships and acting as mentors
when they enter college.
Since 1990 The Seattle Times has offered its Urban Newspaper Workshop
to high school juniors and seniors of color. This variation on the Dow
Jones Newspaper Fund model offers training in newspaper advertising, photography,
computer graphics as well as in news writing.
Citywide youth newspapers
Several cities have youth newspapers that are not affiliated with any
particular high school, but instead draw on students from many schools
in the area to cover topics of interest and importance to teens. Often
run with financial assistance from foundations and under the direction
of an adviser with a professional journalism background, these newspapers
have the advantage of being free from the censorship that may afflict a
newspaper published as part of a high school’s curricular work.
The Teen Appeal is published in Memphis, Tenn., in a partnership with
The Commercial Appeal, the journalism department at the University of Memphis,
the school system and the foundations of Scripps Howard, the Newspaper
Association of America, the Tennessee Press Association and Plough.
Some 84 percent of students in Memphis schools are minorities. Before
the Teen Appeal was started, few of the city’s high schools had newspapers.
Not only has the Teen Appeal given these students a voice, it also has
been a good way to develop future journalists of color.
Students begin with a weeklong summer training camp. During the school
year they produce a monthly tabloid newspaper, working with faculty and
journalism students at the university and a full-time paid coordinator.
The Teen Appeal is printed by the Commercial Appeal and delivered by its
district managers to all high schools in the city.
Does it work to bring kids into the journalism business? “We have about
12 or 13 kids in college in journalism now who worked on the Teen Appeal,”
says Otis Sanford, deputy managing editor of the Commercial Appeal. “I’m
already seeing the effects. Two students who worked on the paper now work
as interns in our newsroom. I expect to have more next summer. My comments
will be as laudatory as one can be about this project. There’s no doubt
it works.”
Home-grown programs take root
The Dayton Daily News runs a minority intern and mentor program that
recruits students from the community and works with them from high school
through college — and often straight on to the newsroom staff. Promotional
materials for the program stress “writing, art and design, the Internet,
photography and business” — terms that appeal to today’s career-minded
young people. In addition, the newspaper offers paid work on a part-time
basis while students are in high school, with higher earnings as they progress
through college.
At the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, Steve Row works as a journalist-in-residence
with 20 area high schools. Traveling from school to school to work with
advisers and students on stories, headlines and layout, Row often provides
advisers with the first hands-on training they’ve ever had. Row has been
working in this capacity for seven years; he believes his guidance has
encouraged a number of students toward careers in the newspaper business.
Scholarships and other incentives
The Houston Chronicle runs a four-week summer workshop for 20 students;
usually about two-thirds of the class are minority students. As do many
other such workshops, Houston’s session culminates in the production of
a student-produced newspaper. Three $1,000 scholarships are awarded each
year; students who attend the University of Houston receive an additional
$500.
James Smith, executive editor of the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn.,
hires high school students to collect election results at polling places
on election night. The newspaper participates in a statewide judging and
critiquing program for high school newspapers; it also sponsors an annual
writing contest, with awards, for middle schools. The Record-Journal’s
minority recruitment program is valued by the newspaper at about $5,000
a year for each student recipient. He or she receives a full-time summer
internship in the newsroom and $1,500 scholarship to all four years of
college. Students are expected to join the paper after graduating. The
scholarship program, says Smith, “has turned into a pretty good pipeline”
of minority reporters.
The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif., sends newsroom staffers
to a school journalism program it has adopted for lectures, training, advice
and mentoring and provides computers and the technical support necessary
to make them work. The paper also sponsors a Crime and Consequences program,
with awards to high school journalists who write the best stories after
a press conference (organized by the paper) about teen crime.
Teen pages and sections
The popularity of teen or youth pages — with content geared for youth
readership — continues to grow. These efforts offer a method for spotting
talent, and have the added benefit of wide reader appeal. Attitudes, the
teen page of The Californian, in Salinas, Calif., has been around for 10
years. Many students who worked on the page now work for the paper or elsewhere
in the industry. (See sidebar, “Growing your own really works.”)
Some newspapers encourage high school reporters and editors to venture
into community journalism. The Bay City (Mich.) Times has a five-year-old
program that includes weekly reports of news from area high schools, written
by students who cover stories the paper’s education reporter does not.
One student-produced story covered block scheduling, approved by the board
of education; another chronicled students’ religious retreats. The kids
“do a wonderful job for us,” says Editor Tony Dearing.
In Vero Beach, Fla., the Press Journal’s weekly section, School Zone,
has an added enticement for its young reporters. High school students can
earn dual enrollment credit with a local community college for their work
with the paper.
The Tribune Chronicle in Warren, Ohio, provides a yearlong series of
workshops, called Explorers Post, to help high schoolers decide if journalism
is for them. Those who are interested become members of the Page One staff,
reporting, taking photos and preparing illustrations for the weekly teen
section. And finally, two seniors receive summer-long fellowships and work
experience in the newsroom. Says Guy C. Coviello, features editor, “We
have benefited with well-honed, home-grown talent.”
Stark, a consultant based in Reston, Va., works with media organizations
on issues relating to education.
