PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dow Jones News Fund announced a 2019 operating budget of $539,300, a nearly 7% increase over 2018, to support summer journalism internships for college students bolstered by pre-internship training and other significant programs.
The News Fund will again offer internships in digital media, data journalism, business reporting and multiplatform editing.
In addition, the budget provides funding for multimedia training for professors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions and for summer journalism workshops for high school students. The operating budget also includes additional support to expand the News Fund’s alumni network.
Richard J. Levine, president of the News Fund, said, “At this critical time for the news media, we are delighted to continue assisting students to consider and prepare for careers in journalism through a variety of highly regarded programs.”
“We appreciate having the resources to provide more opportunities for students, educators and Fund alumni,” said Linda Shockley, managing director.
COLLEGE PROGRAMS – $419,000
The News Fund plans to train 80 college juniors, seniors and graduate students to work as digital and data journalists, multiplatform editors and business reporters. The budget also covers intern travel, operating costs and $1,500 scholarships for returning students. In addition, the Fund will purchase memberships in professional journalists’ organizations for interns, provide free registration to industry conventions for selected college students and support on-site visits to interns.
David Herzog, a University of Missouri professor and instructor for Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), will run the data journalism training program with Charles Minshew, IRE director of data services and 2012 DJNF alumnus.
Digital media interns will be trained at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, led by Michael Wong, director of career services.
The multiplatform news editing programs will be at Temple University, Philadelphia, directed by Dr. Edward Trayes, and the University of Texas at Austin, directed by Beth Butler and Dr. Bradley Wilson.
Paul Glader, an associate professor and the director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College in New York, will lead the Fund’s business reporting and American City Business Journals’ reporting programs at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. ACBJ will fund training for 10 interns assigned to its newspapers for the fifth consecutive year.
The News Fund will also pay registration fees for local college sophomores, juniors and seniors to attend professional media conferences in their cities offering exposure to skills workshops, career fairs and networking with journalists.
The Fund will finance two, week-long summer multimedia academies for 24 college professors. At the University of Texas, El Paso, Kate Gannon, assistant professor and digital content manager of Borderzine.com, will train 12 professors from Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Dr. Pam Johnson will instruct professors from Historically Black Colleges and Universities at Western Kentucky University. The academies simulate real-world newsrooms with story assignments on deadlines. Participants are trained using the latest storytelling tools, such as Adobe Premiere, Soundslides, Audacity, Audition and Photoshop.
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS – $82,000
The summer high school journalism program will support as many as seven workshops to train students how to report on, write about and disseminate important health-related stories. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded $50,000 to this initiative highlighting community forums, audience engagement and outreach as an additional way to reach the public. Workshops will be selected in March.
Up to eight students will be awarded $1,500 scholarships for the best reporting, data journalism, overall health reporting, photography and video produced during the workshops.
The Fund will also support the National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year awards program sponsored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
CAREER GUIDES AND RESOURCES – $4,800
The Fund will produce media and resources to promote journalism careers to high school and college students.
GENERAL OPERATING EXPENSES – $33,500
The Fund is investing resources in finding and reconnecting with its alumni. The goal is to build a more robust alumni network, provide mentoring for youth and recent graduates and formalize the volunteer alumni leadership committee. Other general operating expenses include marketing, special events and conferences.