High school students receive journalism training at ASU's Cronkite School

Twenty-six high school students, many from underrepresented communities, received journalism training through the Summer Journalism Institute at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Students from high schools across the country, including Arizona, California, Maryland, North Carolina and Texas, visited Cronkite from June 8-20. During the two-week residential program, students lived on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus with housing, meals and journalism training provided at no charge.

The Summer Journalism Institute was made possible through the generous support of Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees member Tom Chauncey, a media lawyer at Gust Rosenfeld PLC, the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Arizona Broadcasters Association and the Dow Jones News Fund.

“Cronkite’s outreach efforts to underserved communities are exemplary,” said Chauncey, a longtime supporter of the Cronkite School. “The Summer Journalism Institute provides high school students with a window into the possibility of attending college while demonstrating media career opportunities. The students, the school and our community all benefit.”

Students received training in the basics of news and sports reporting, writing, shooting and editing, as well as journalism ethics. Students then either got hands-on practice reporting for television and producing a newscast or they created a multimedia website. They also visited local media outlets, heard from professional journalists and met leaders from the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Phoenix Mercury.

“These promising students get an early introduction into the calling that is journalism and how professional journalists make a difference in their communities every day,” said Mike Philipps, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation. “We need their energy and we need their enthusiasm in our industry. Even those who choose a different career path will come away with a life-long appreciation for the fundamental importance of journalism and free speech in our society.”

Art Brooks, president and CEO of the Arizona Broadcasters Association, said the purpose of the workshop is twofold: “First to expose them to the Cronkite School and ASU, and secondly to expose them to the diverse career choices in television, radio and print, as well as all media in the digital environment.”

This marks the second year the Dow Jones News Fund (DJNF) has provided a grant for the Summer Journalism Institute (SJI). Linda Shockley, deputy director of the fund, said, “DJNF values the fine work SJI students produce, and appreciates the excellent instruction they receive at ASU.”

The Summer Journalism Institute is directed by Anita Luera, Cronkite director of High School Journalism Programs, a past president of the Arizona Latino Media Association and a former broadcast journalist.

The Cronkite School also hosts high school journalism teachers for the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute, a professional development program administered by the American Society of News Editors through its Youth Journalism Initiative and funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.