PRINCETON, N.J. — The board of directors of the Dow Jones News Fund has approved $405,600 in grants and operating expenses for the Fund’s 2017 programs that include journalism internships for college students combined with pre-internship residential training.
Funding is also provided for professional development for alumni, multimedia training for professors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions and summer journalism workshops for high school students.
In response to a growing need, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) will prepare 18 students to work as data journalists in newsrooms across the country, up from eight data interns in 2016. The News Fund will also provide internships in digital media, business reporting and interactive news editing.
Richard J. Levine, president of the News Fund, said, “At a time when many news organizations are financially challenged as print revenue erodes and the press is facing growing criticism, the News Fund remains committed to its vital mission of recruiting and training the next generation of professional journalists armed with digital as well as traditional newsroom skills.”
“We continue to fine-tune and upgrade our programs in response to the needs of our media partners and aspiring journalists,” said Linda Shockley, managing director.
COLLEGE PROGRAMS – $334,600
The News Fund expects to train more than 80 college juniors, seniors and graduate students to work as data and digital journalists, interactive news editors and business reporters. The budget also covers intern travel, operating costs and $1,000 scholarships.
David Herzog, a University of Missouri professor and instructor for IRE, will run the data journalism training program. Digital interns will be trained at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, directed by Michael Wong.
The interactive news editing centers will be at Temple University, Philadelphia, directed by Dr. Edward Trayes; the University of Texas at Austin, directed by Beth Butler and Dr. Bradley Wilson and the Pennsylvania State University directed by John Dillon.
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 business reporting program and American City Business Journals reporting program at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
The News Fund will also continue to select some interns to attend media technology conferences where they can upgrade their skills and network with prospective employers. Last year, the Fund provided scholarships for alumni to attend SRCCON, a conference for newsroom developers, designers and data analysts, and the Online News Association’s annual convention.
Professors from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions will be invited to apply for the Multimedia Training Academy at the University of Texas, El Paso. It simulates a real-world newsroom with story assignments and production on deadline. Participants will be trained using the latest storytelling tools, such as Adobe Premiere, Soundslides, Audacity, Audition and Photoshop.
HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM WORKSHOPS – $30,000
The Summer High School Journalism Workshop Program will support eight workshops to train high school students in digital media and introduce them to college journalism programs and media careers. The News Fund chose eight innovative programs serving diverse populations.
The funded workshops are: Mosaic Journalism Workshop hosted by the California Chicano News Media Association at San Jose State University; James Ansin/Peace Sullivan High School Journalism and New Media Workshop at the University of Miami; C-HIT Summer Investigative Reporting Workshops hosted by the Connecticut Health Investigative Team at Yale University and University of Connecticut; Journalism Diversity Workshop at the University of Arizona in Tucson; SSU Media High hosted by Savannah State University in Georgia; the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism at the University of Oklahoma; the Mayborn High School Multimedia Workshop at the University of North Texas; and Journalism in July at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Three students will be awarded $1,000 scholarships for the best writing, photography and multimedia package produced in the workshops.
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER OF THE YEAR PROGRAM – $14,500
The National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year Awards program highlights the best in scholastic journalism. Funding covers the teacher’s travel expenses to the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conventions. The Fund will offer $3,000 in college scholarships for students of the 2016 Teacher of the Year and four Distinguished Advisers.
ADVISER UPDATE AND CAREER INFORMATION – $8,400
Adviser Update, a free, quarterly digital magazine for high school media advisers covers topics of interest to the scholastic journalism community, college faculty and journalism professionals. The magazine and back issues of the print version are at www.adviserupdate.org.
Funding will also be committed to career guides and other promotional materials for high school and college students considering journalism careers.
GENERAL OPERATING EXPENSES – $18,100
This category covers general office expenses, marketing, alumni network development and conferences.
