Student-Centered

Journalism

  • Student-Centered Journalism is a hands-on workshop series that teaches middle and high school students how to use journalism as a tool for civic engagement and community impact. Over three class periods, students work in groups to build skills in media literacy, critical thinking, and local news reporting.

    Participants collaborate with professional journalists to:

    • Analyze how their communities are represented in the media

    • Identify stories that are missing or misrepresented

    • Assign and publish a news story that highlights youth perspectives and community concerns

    This program is especially valuable for students interested in journalism, civic engagement, media, or community organizing.

    • Three interactive workshop sessions, each focused on building student voice, media skills, and critical analysis

    • Live collaboration with a local journalist who helps bring student ideas to life in a published news story

    • Emphasis on real-world journalism, civic awareness, and storytelling as a form of community impact

    • Published news article in a regional outlet featuring a by-line with student contributions

    • Flexible delivery format: in-person, virtual, or hybrid

  • “I used this program to shine a light on things happening in the community not just regarding our education, but the stability of our home lives. If a student is in a toxic, abusive, or just bad household, they won't have the motivation to do much at school.”

    – Senior at Rome Free Academy

  • “I am interested in this program because it gives free will to speak about bigger issues in today's world. It gives free speech to speak about deeper rooted things like violence,drug use,racism, and things that some people like to keep hidden. Things like this give exposure to all things that some think we should forget about.”

    – Senior at Rome Free Academy

Learn more:

In this video: Hear from journalists and educators who have participated in the Student-Centered Journalism Program, and explore how engagement journalism is shaping the future of news and information.