ELi Continues Summer Youth Journalism Program, Seeks Support

Above: Program Director Cody Harrell with students of the 2017 summer program.

Fresh off winning a Crystal Award partly for its engagement of area youth in local reporting, East Lansing Info (ELi) today begins accepting applications for its second annual Summer Youth Journalism Program. Applications for the two-week intensive educational program will be processed until the August program reaches its maximum capacity of eight students, ages 15 and up.

ELi is also inviting non-youth members of the community to help keep good kids ON the streets as local reporters by making tax-deductible donations to ELi to enable the summer program to happen. We are looking to raise $10,000 for this program and are in the process of applying for two small grants to help us reach that goal.

This year, the program is being expanded to include two components:

1. The two-week intensive educational program, during which up to eight students will work with our Program Director Cody Harrell on learning basic skills of reporting. Students will earn $250 for participation in the two-week program and will have the opportunity to continue working for ELi as paid reporters into the school year.
2. High school and college students who have already been through the program or have studied journalism at ELHS or in college will be employed by ELi during the summer as local journalists.

The journalism intensive will take place Mondays through Fridays, August 6-17, 2018, at the East Lansing Public Library. In addition to the daily three-hour group meetings, Harrell will work with students individually on production of articles for potential publication at ELi.

Harrell is a Journalism and English teacher at East Lansing High School with a degree in Journalism from MSU. While at MSU, he obtained specializations in graphic design, publication design and web design. He also earned accolades from the Journalism Education Association, the Society for News Design and the School of Journalism at MSU. ELHS students who have worked with him praise him as a student-centered, engaging, effective educator.

ELi’s Summer Youth Journalism Program intensive covers such topics as first-amendment law, professional journalistic ethics, news hierarchy, interview techniques, concise writing, Associated Press styling, interpreting legal documents, the Freedom of Information Act in theory and practice, and basic photojournalism.

Asked how this year’s program may differ from last year’s, Harrell tells ELi, “I intend to slightly alter the focus to teach young journalists to organize, write and publish journalistic content on the web that best serves their community.” He explains, “While last year’s program saw a focus on being a journalist in any sector (primarily scholastic), I want to shift this year’s focus into how these journalists can best serve the communities they choose to live in as they progress through high school, college and beyond.”

Says Harrell, “We will be inviting East Lansing government/community members to interview and collaborate with students to best mimic the conversations necessary for creating a symbiotic relationship between the free press and local organizations.”

Who should apply? Says Harrell, “I would encourage upper level high school students (with at least one high school English credit) to apply for the program, with preference given to students with a background in writing and/or a member of their school’s journalism program.”

The intensive program and the summer employment opportunities are not limited to ELHS or MSU students. Click here to learn more and to get the application for the intensive. Click here to learn more about becoming a reporter for ELi.

Click here to make a donation to enable this program! If you are doing so, please also drop us a note at fundraise@eastlansinginfo.org just to let us know your donation should be directed to the summer youth programming. Thank you!