San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
High schoolers learn journalism
THE BACK STORY: COMMUNITY JOURNALISM SCHOLARS
In today’s Back Story, Michael Price, co-director of the Union-tribune’s Community Journalism Scholars Program, discusses this summer’s program for local high school students.
Q:
What is the purpose of the U-T Community Journalism Scholars Program?
A:
Our goal is to identify collegebound high school students from different cultural and economic backgrounds who possess strong academic and leadership skills, and teach them about journalism and media professions. The selected students are paid to learn and work for the U-T for five weeks, Monday through Friday.
Q:
How are students selected for the program?
A:
This summer, we solicited applications from any interested high school student who resides in San Diego County. We ask that applicants be able to demonstrate an interest in journalism or civic leadership.
These applications required writing samples and letters of recommendation, as well as a personal statement about why the student wants to be a part of the program. Co-director Charles T. Clark and I chose the students from among the applicants that we interviewed. Seven students were selected.
Normally, we call for applications in the spring, but the pandemic caused a delay as we tried to create a program that could be conducted via video conferencing, where students participated remotely from their homes.
Q:
How did COVID-19 alter this summer’s experience?
A:
Since its creation nine years ago, the program has been conducted with the U-T newsroom as its base of operations.
It is very instruction-oriented in the beginning, almost classroomlike, as the students are taught the basics of journalism, including reporting, accuracy, objectivity, factchecking, news and feature writing, and other subjects.
Those aspects were recreated easily in a teleconferencing environment.
From there, students received assignments in which they conducted their own reporting and wrote stories, but they could not be sent into the field to interview or cover events in person. All interviews, reporting and side-by-side story editing had to be conducted remotely.
Q:
Did the Scholars get to interact with professionals from the U-T?
A:
Yes, interaction with professionals is a major part of the experience, but rather than newsroom association, all interaction was through video conferencing this year. Besides daily, remote interaction with Charlie and me, the Scholars had almost daily teleconferences with U-T staff — reporters, photojournalists, editors and Jeff Light, editor and publisher.
They also participated in Q&A and advice sessions with members of the San Diego Gas & Electric’s community relations staff, as well as national journalists who do not work for the Union-tribune.
Q:
What kind of assignments do the Scholars receive?
A:
The first and last stories that the Scholars produced this summer are in the newspaper today, in the special section titled “Scholar Stories.”
The section includes each Scholar’s final project: a profile about a community leader in the field of social justice and equality. It also contains profiles the Scholars wrote about one another.
Additionally, they reported news stories about the status of COVID-19 in the county and feature stories about how various communities are modifying their strategies to operate during the pandemic. The Scholars also filed profiles of various U-T journalists.
Q:
How would you characterize the success of the program?
A:
We just completed our ninth annual program. This year, the students’ essays about what they learned during the program were stellar. I believe their work speaks for itself.
We give a $5,000 scholarship to the outstanding Scholar. And while we realize not every Scholar will go on to study journalism, the program’s graduates have gone on to some of the most prestigious universities in the nation.
Q:
How is the program supported?
A:
We have been fortunate each year to have SDG&E as a partner. A grant from SDG&E helps fund the program along with support from the Union-tribune. Pedro Villegas, SDG&E’S director of community relations, has been a major champion of our program.
Q:
Besides today’s special section, where can readers find more of the Scholars’ work?
A:
At sandiegouniontribune.com/ journalismscholars, you can find all of their stories from the summer, as well as the work of Scholars from previous years.