Young storytellers sought for summer journalism experience at Newhouse School

Thursday, April 2, 2009, By News Staff

Wendy S. Loughlin
(315) 443-2785

Ten Syracuse-area high school students will get a chance to learn about journalism at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications this summer through a special new program called J-Camp. The program is free for selected students. Applications will be accepted through April 15.

“This program will give a voice to young people to tell the diverse and true stories of their lives, families, neighborhoods and communities,” says Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham. “We want to reach out to young people whose schools lack established student newspapers or other journalism opportunities. We hope J-Camp will inspire them to join the next generation of journalists.”

J-Camp is open to Syracuse City School District high school students whose schools do not have an established student newspaper or journalism program. Students must be rising sophomores, juniors or seniors and have an overall B average. Applications for the program, which must be postmarked by April 15, are available online. The program will run from June 29-July 3, with students living in campus housing.

J-Camp students will learn to report and tell stories using video, audio, the written word and the Web. They will receive video cameras and their own web sites for storytelling, both of which they may continue to use after conclusion of the program.

They will also continue to be part of the “Newhouse family” after completing the program, through invitations to special events and connections with Newhouse faculty, students and staff. “We hope some will even pursue a degree at Newhouse,” says Branham. As part of the Say Yes to Education initiative, SU will waive tuition for graduates of the Syracuse City School District.

J-Camp is the project of three Newhouse faculty members: Charlotte Grimes, Knight Chair in Political Reporting, and Bob Lloyd, professor of practice in newspaper and director of the Department of Media Management, both of whom are former working journalists; and Sherri Taylor, faculty member in the Department of Visual and Interactive Communications, who coordinates the Newhouse School’s activities with the Empire State School Press Association and the School Press Institute.

For more information or applications, contact Grimes at (315) 443-7360 or jcamp.su@gmail.com, or visit http://newhouse.syr.edu/pdfs/JCampapplication.pdf.