High school students learn multimedia journalism at ASU's Cronkite School

Twenty-eight high school students are at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication this week to receive in-depth training in multimedia journalism.

Students from Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico and North Carolina are at the Cronkite School through June 15 as part of the Summer Journalism Institute, an immersive journalism program where students attend classes with Cronkite faculty, tour local media outlets and produce a newscast and a cutting-edge news website.

Program participants receive scholarships to attend the institute from the Arizona Broadcasters Association; Cronkite Endowment Board member Tom Chauncey; RIESTER, a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency; the Dow Jones News Fund and alumni and friends of the school. Scholarships cover the cost of meals, training and housing on ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus.

Classes include in-depth lessons on reporting, writing, multimedia journalism, videography and video editing, podcasting, and social media. At the end of the two-week program, students work with Cronkite faculty to produce a professional-level newscast, where they create news packages, write scripts and operate state-of-the-art studio equipment.

Additionally, students experience the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, staying at the Taylor Place residence hall and visiting the Sun Devil Fitness Complex.

The Summer Journalism Institute is led by Anita Luera, the Cronkite School’s director of high school journalism programs and former president of the Arizona Latino Media Association.

Classes are taught by Luera and Cronkite faculty and staff, including Associate Professor Craig Allen, Assistant Dean Rebecca Blatt, Cronkite News Executive Editor Christina Leonard, Southwest Borderlands Professor Fernanda Santos and Ethics and Excellence Professor of Practice Jessica Pucci, the director of digital audience programs. Cronkite alumna Megan Thompson, a reporter at ABC15 in Phoenix, also is among the instructors.

“Each year, the Summer Journalism Institute gets better and better,” Luera said. “These students are getting a great jump-start on their journalism careers. My greatest hope is to see many of them studying journalism at Cronkite in the next few years.”

2018 Summer Journalism Institute Participants

Pristina Benally
Chinle High School, Chinle, Arizona

Brook Bowman
Cactus Shadows High School, Cave Creek, Arizona

Kiara Cuvas
Window Rock High School, Fort Defiance, Arizona

Kiiyahno Edgewater
Hopi Jr./Sr. High School, Kearns Canyon, Arizona

Gabriel Fredericks
Hopi Jr./Sr. High School, Kearns Canyon, Arizona

Om Gawali
Hamilton High School, Chandler, Arizona

Erin Griffith
Desert Mountain High School, Scottsdale, Arizona

Breanna Gruber
Sunnyslope High School, Phoenix

Jacqueline Gutierrez
Pueblo High School, Tucson, Arizona

Gabriel Hawthorne
Chandler High School, Chandler, Arizona

Gabriella Herran
Salpointe Catholic High School, Sahuarita, Arizona

Sahra Hussen
Westwood High School, Mesa, Arizona

Helen Innes
Xavier College, Preparatory, Phoenix

Emerald Izuakor
St. Thomas More Academy, Raleigh, North Carolina

Gabriel Jerez
San Miguel High School, Tucson, Arizona

Ahlias Jones
Arizona College Preparatory, Chandler, Arizona

Michayla Lopez
Queen Creek High School, Queen Creek, Arizona

Donnie Minor Jr.
Waubonsie Valley High School, Naperville, Illinois

Juliana Ortiz
Amy Biehl High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Kaitlyn Ourada
Mountain Ridge High School, Glendale, Arizona

Robbie Patla
Animas High School, Durango, Colorado

Victor Robles Hernandez
La Joya High School, Tolleson, Arizona

Aedan Rodriguez Rivas
South Mountain High School, Phoenix

Morgyn Stanley
Window Rock High School, Window Rock, Arizona

Madison Thomas 
Douglas High School, Douglas, Arizona

Madeleine Williamson
Seton Catholic Prepatory, Chandler, Arizona

Megan Yazzie
Window Rock High School, Window Rock, Arizona

Jessica Zhang
Middlesex School, Concord, Massachusetts