News School proposal language

Partners

TNS partners with Phalanx Family Services and other local non-profits working on education and employment for youth.  Young people work in the News School setting and receive a $200/week stipend through their employment at Phalanx and UCAN under the Workforce Development grants for One Summer Chicago and the Community Youth Employment Project. 

Students come from Collins High School where just 4% of them are at grade level in reading and math. Collins administration and faculty are invested in this program as a way to improve the literacy of its students.  (any stats or measurable results to cite here?)

APPROACH

The News School’s innovative approach is to take a group of youth and young adults who come from exceedingly tough environments with little to no basic skills in writing, reading or vocabulary and coach them for careers in journalism and media marketing by teaching news reporting, storytelling and immersion into Latin and Greek roots and prefixes. This allows students to report in written and oral form and to learn the importance of word choice in crafting a compelling message for a public audience and/or the interest of advertisers.    

The News School was created to expose underserved local youth and young adults to the kind of preparation necessary to earn a college degree and succeed in the workforce. It is a community response to the challenges of crime, violence, poor education, and lack of employment opportunities facing North Lawndale residents. Reporting on their own neighborhood surroundings is a way to give youth a voice, a form of empowerment and instill pride in their community. 

The News School focuses on three areas: journalism (in all its formats), social media marketing, magazine and newspaper design as well as the ethics of journalism. Students learn to create leads (ledes), conduct investigative research, write stories, as well as create content for social media marketing campaigns. Each class publishes a weekly digital newsletter, daily digitized articles, as well as a print and digital magazine at the end of the 12-week session.  Students who pass a comprehensive media exam at the end of the class are awarded a citizen journalism certificate, a press pass, and are promoted to the title of cub reporter allowing them to establish themselves as published news writers.

The News School provides young North Lawndale residents with exposure to the origin of language/foreign language, enhanced reading and writing competence, as well as other technology and employment skills to assist them in acquiring living wage jobs. The program regularly partners with businesses that hire the School for their social media and marketing needs. Students are able to work on real projects that build connections to internships and employment opportunities for graduates.  -SHORTEN

The News School is currently targeting the creation of a digital media center that will link students to NABJ through a digital news feed blast. The digital video feed is intended to enhance the programs coaching approach by making it easy for a professional journalist to interact with students and contribute to the school’s instructional method.  TNS’ emphasis on technology was reinforced with the recent award of a green screen and video equipment from the Service Club of Chicago. The vision is to create a digital news center that can function as a community news feed hub and give students opportunities to partner with local professional journalists while training on state-of-the-art equipment. 

Create a footprint on the west side

TNS employs a coaching method that immediately introducing journalism candidates to a hands-on newsroom setting that is both innovative and appealing. So much so that the idea stimulates an individual’s desire to participate.

We offer young people the opportunity to tell their personal stories in an oral talk show format. News and TV Talk Shows place the host in an almost coach like position as their questions prompt critical thinking. Students quickly expand their storytelling abilities in a game-like setting that holds their attention vs. a traditional classroom setting.

The technique is the starting point for obtaining essential skills. We informally acquaint students with vocabulary building by introducing Greek and Latin roots and prefixes. This has an empowering effect on young people as they begin to succeed by communicating more effectively. Their oral communication improves exponentially as they make use of an expanded vocabulary.

Each 12-week program culminates with students using their new skills to produce a print magazine that is then digitized and packaged with a video for public circulation. Students master each step of the process in writing, designing, printing, digital creation, and video production. The sense of self-achievement and success is undeniable and life-changing.

This allows students to report in written and oral form and to learn the importance of word choice in crafting a compelling message for a public audience and/or the interest of advertisers.    

TNS intends to reach, teach, and train the disadvantaged to be credentialed Citizen Reporters who can gain employment. We teach the ethics of reporting truth despite personal views and political biases.

Our Citizen Journalists hold media credentials, are published daily online, create magazines for paying subscribers, design websites, conduct social media campaigns, and provide photography services for a variety of clients.

Funding to expand our program in poor, uneducated, crime-ridden, and underserved community remains a challenge. The need for TNS services is greater than current funding.  
TNS has graduated 33 who are working using the skills obtained.

RESULTS

The News School’s intended impact is to train and coach youth and young adults to become credentialed Citizen Reporters reporting on real news stories happening in their communities daily.

SUCCESSES

Our success stories are evident and occurring daily as our trained citizen journalists are published daily and create magazines for paying subscribers.

We value a positive news report of something happening in those troubled communities as well as the negative news stories that the National News vehicles drown us with constantly on a daily basis. The true success of the program has been our ability to complete five cohorts of training without a grant, private endowment, or government contract! Imagine what we could achieve with some funding!!

CHALLENGES

TNS has long since recognized that it is hard to teach and train anyone who is hungry, poor, and struggling to feel safe in their home environments.  To address these barriers to participation for the students, The News School talented staff and Founder, Christine Houston, who wrote “227” and was the second Norman Lear award winner, has aligned the program with community-based organizations who assist in providing resources like stipends, transportation, food, and housing assistance if needed.

The lack of skills or self-confidence will cause some students to drop out. Instructors take extra time to work with these candidates to increase retention.

MEASURABLE RESULTS SO FAR

# published writers

# who have become entrepreneurs by developing web sites, conducting social media marketing and photographic campaigns

# graduates

# with media credentials

We measure the success of our training by the number of graduates we produce who are published and who received Media credentials.

Success will be measured by the number of youth and young adults recruited and trained who earn media credentials and are placed in college and university programs, internships, and jobs. Students who have successfully completed the training and earned media credentials will be connected with internships and paid consultant opportunities in the social media and marketing arena. Training without placement makes little sense. Conducting the previous five cohorts has allowed us to amass a potential client list of for-profit and nonprofit employer partners that forms the basis of a successful feeder system for credentialed Citizen Journalists.

This allows students to report in written and oral form and to learn the importance of word choice in crafting a compelling message for a public audience and/or the interest of advertisers.