The News School (TNS) has been offering the Journalism program for 16-24 year olds for the past five years in an eight-week summer program and a 10-12 week after-school program. We use the skills of civic journalism to provide a transformative community-based experience for youth and young adults. The experience helps participants identify and develop leadership and civic identities, claim their passion and purpose, and prepare them to become catalysts for positive change in their local community and beyond.
TNS is more interested in developing individuals, mentoring them as they grow, and encouraging them to change their environment. We concentrate on leadership skills as we develop a nurturing relationship with the Interns. Coaches guide the change in Interns through leadership, refining tools, advice, and education. We are holistically engaged with our interns. Coaching is about drawing out and developing talents Interns already possess.
Here at The News School, we teach young people the skills of journalism, broadcasting, and social media marketing while paying them $15.40 an hour for 10 hours per week during the fall, winter, and spring, and 20 hours per week during the summer months. Additionally, the rate of pay is subject to increase each time the minimum wage is. This is a year-round paid opportunity for each youth that enrolls.
TNS emphasizes leadership development through service learning that fosters civic engagement by guiding Interns in the production of daily civic journalism projects and activities leading to their graduation. Projects center around the production of a monthly print newspaper, Chicago Leader, and weekly news/talk vlog and podcast productions on the YouTV1 channel found on Roku.
The News School covers all journalistic formats: news reporting, magazine and newspaper design, social media marketing, and broadcast and photojournalism. Youth who pass a comprehensive media exam are awarded a citizen journalist certificate, a press pass, and are promoted to the title of cub reporter. Additionally, they are offered the opportunity to become members of the National Association of Black Journalists or the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Graduates are assisted in securing jobs, internships, and college enrollment.
Early in the program, participants choose their areas of focus and topics of interest. Interns learn the basics of written and broadcast journalism. They learn about the community through research, experiences, and interviews. Youth write daily articles, photograph important events and publish their work on the Chicago Leader’s website, and subsequently share their stories on social media platforms.
TNS’ innovative approach is to take a group of youth and young adults who come from exceedingly tough environments with little or no basic skills in writing, reading, or vocabulary and coach them for careers in journalism and media marketing. It is a community response to the challenges of crime, violence, poor quality education, and lack of employment opportunities facing West Side Chicago residents.
The News School began with a focus on print journalism and expanded to include broadcast journalism, creative writing, and video production. The News School built a newsroom within the Tech Center to expand its broadcast journalism work with a focus on live streaming. This evolution happened in response to current trends (which have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic) toward the acquisition of information in video format. According to Dr. Thomas Ehrlich, “Media centered learning is an important pedagogical instrument. Based upon research outcomes, the effective use of visuals can decrease learning time, improve comprehension, enhance retrieval, and increase retention.”
