Last Updated: May 20, 1999
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Reaching student
journalists
Partnership allows editors, reporters and others to
interact with students on the basics of journalism, gives staffers perspective
on life in their newspaper’s city
Terrence, 16, a playful 10th-grader, loved computer games and girls
— in that order. His teachers felt hard-pressed to capture his attention
with class work. When he was offered the challenge of learning to use the
Macintosh computer and QuarkXpress to become a layout editor of H.D. Woodson
High School’s newspaper, his focus and competency in the position delighted
his teachers and surprised his classmates.
Wanda, a shy senior, had to have her courage constantly bolstered when
she was assigned to interview Washington, D.C.’s, controversial mayor,
Marion Barry. She worked diligently on interview questions, however, and
produced a good story. Eventually, she overcame her reticence and emerged
as a budding leader and the newspaper’s co-editor.
Wanda and Terrence are just two of 25 Woodson High School student journalists
with whom editors, reporters and photographers from The Washington Post
worked during our yearlong Freedom Forum/ASNE Student Press Partnership.
More than 50 newsroom volunteers traveled to this isolated inner-city high
school several days each week to help the students revive the school newspaper,
The Insider and produced five 24-page issues of the paper.
In addition to matching a $2,500 grant from The Freedom Forum to purchase
printers and software, the Post completely restocked the newsroom with
computers and photographic equipment including four PCs for writing and
editing stories; the Macintosh; a negative scanner for photographs and
a flatbed scanner for layout design; Nikon cameras, lenses, strobes other
photographic equipment; a fax machine and other equipment.
“The support provided by ASNE and the Post reaffirmed my belief in the
critical need for community professionals to join in the monumental task
of preparing students for the new millenium,” said Charmaine Turner, Woodson’s
humanities teacher and journalism adviser.
During the year, we got a sobering view of the realities of the lives
of some of the students. The newspaper staff included one teen mother and
another who became pregnant during the year. Others were staunch born-again
Christians and disciplined athletes. Four students at the school — not
newspaper staffers — were murdered during the year. Some came wearing family
problems on their faces and others came were from intact Afrocentric nuclear
families. We learned as many lessons as we taught as the students energized
and stimulated us.
The Freedom Forum/ ASNE Student Press Partnership was our newsroom’s
first foray into journalism education after top editors decided to get
involved much earlier in the education process to mine more talent among
minorities and steer sharp minds toward journalism.
We considered schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia
and chose Woodson based on need and possibilities. Turner described the
emergency: High school journalism was dying in the District due to budget
cuts and administrative chaos. Woodson had potential — they had previously
published an award-winning paper — but publication had ceased in 1995.
Turner and her students desperately wanted to resume publication.
During the summer of 1997, we worked with Turner to develop a curriculum
for the school year. In September, we asked Post editors, reporters, photographers
and layout editors to help out at the school.
More than 40 answered the call over the next few days. They ranged from
a young sports reporter to columnist and reporter David Broder to Washington
Post Magazine editor Steve Coll (now the Post’s managing editor).
We crammed a year’s course in journalism into a couple of months and
quickly moved into production of the Insider. In November, with strong
support from Post personnel, the newspaper’s first 24-page issue was published
— to loud hurrahs from administrators, faculty and students. As we published
succeeding issues, the project attracted the attention of local broadcast
outlets.
Flowing out of our partnership were other programs that helped link
school papers together for idea exchanges and the Post to its community.
Post editors felt the partnership with Woodson might have benefited
from a less ambitious publishing schedule. Fewer issues would have put
less strain on key personnel.
Overall, though, Post editors said the project met their goals of breathing
new life into a moribund newspaper, putting the high school’s journalism
program on track for self-sufficiency and getting the Post involved much
earlier in the education process.
We also had a lot of fun.
Gilliam is director of young journalists development for The Washington
Post.
