The 12-day residential journalism workshop supports rising high school seniors interested in pursuing careers in journalism and communications.
Elon University’s School of Communications will welcome its third Emerging Journalists Program (EJP) Immersion cohort to campus on Monday, June 17, to kick off 12 days of hands-on journalism instruction. The 18 high school students will arrive to Elon from 10 states, including Illinois, Virginia, Texas and North Carolina.
“The journalism profession needs an infusion of diverse and passionate storytellers,” said Kelly Furnas, EJP curriculum coordinator and senior lecturer in journalism. “Members of this year’s EJP cohort have already shown their commitment to amplifying others’ voices and using communications as a way to better their communities.”
A generous $300,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Fund pays for the program, which will help students develop and enhance their skills in reporting, writing, multimedia storytelling, leadership and media management. Beyond instruction, the students will collaborate as members of a working newsroom, producing professional web content, a newspaper and a television news broadcast, as well as tracking audience engagement metrics.
The Immersion experience also features several off-campus activities. The students’ schedule includes media tours of Trailblazer Studios in Raleigh and WXII 12 News in Winston-Salem. They will meet with state Rep. Reneé Price and members of the press corps at the North Carolina State Capitol and visit the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro.
“We’ve enjoyed two years of enthusiastic and engaged students, and we’re looking forward to meeting with our newest cohort,” said Colin Donohue, EJP program director and School of Communications journalism instructor. “Working alongside these students and detailing the possibilities a communications career offers is a privilege, and I look forward to the opportunity every year.”
Students will earn four hours of college credit for completing the Immersion experience and be paired with two mentors – an Elon student and a working communications professional – who will offer guidance and assistance as students work on their own projects back home.
The School of Communications established the Emerging Journalists Program at Elon in 2021 through a three-year, $300,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Fund. Elon was one of two universities selected by the fund to receive the grant following a competitive application process.
The program is designed to educate high school students from diverse socio-economic, racial and ethnic backgrounds who are interested in pursuing careers in journalism and the media industry. It continues the collective commitment of Scripps Howard and Elon to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in the communications industries.
This year, 157 high schoolers from across the country applied to the program – a record number – and all were invited to participate in the virtual Exposure experience in the spring.
“EJP takes Elon’s experiential learning model to a whole new level,” Furnas said. “From the time they wake up to the time they go to bed, these students are immersed in not just learning the craft of journalism, but actually working to tell stories about the local community.”
About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund supports philanthropic causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the communities it serves, with a special emphasis on journalism education, excellence in journalism and childhood literacy. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the fund is a leader in supporting journalism education, scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes.