Dave Austin, a reporter from The Oregonian, works with Justin Raya on his profile of another student for the student-produced newspaper. Reporters from The Oregonian, The Statesman Journal and The Register-Guard volunteer to work with workshop participants.

by Jennifer Asher, Undergraduate

Some might call them crazy. Others might say they are overly ambitious. The truth is, it was an avid interest in journalism that convinced 18 minority high school students to spend a week of precious summer in a classroom.

Offered by the School of Journalism and Communications and supported by The Oregonian, the Summer High School Journalism Workshop drew students from high schools all over Oregon.

During the past six years, students ages 14 to 18 have explored journalism in one of only a couple of dozen workshops of this sort offered in the country. The weeklong workshop, which is free of charge, gives students interested in the news industry an opportunity to work with journalists from The Oregonian, The Statesman Journal, The Register-Guard and The Medford Mail Tribune. By the end of the week, the students produce their own newspaper.

Spurred by the lack of diversity in the news industry, SOJC faculty Tim Gleason, Arnold Ismach and John Russial created a program solely for minority students, with the intention of increasing interest in journalism and diversity in the journalism workplace.

Jackie Love, (left) a business reporter from The Oregonian, meets with Amy King (center) and Pauweena Pruklang to organize their stories on the news conference given by UO Sociology Professor Mia Tuan.

“Newspaper newsrooms, on the whole, are not a very diverse place,” said Russial, who now coordinates the program. The Newhouse Foundation and The Oregonian, which are both committed to increasing diversity in the newsroom, provide financial support for the workshop, as well as a significant number of professionals to work with students.

But the chance to work with professional journalists has an impact beyond individual workshop participants. Russial sees the opportunity for students to take what they have learned back to other high school students.

“Many of the students work for their high school publications, and they come here to learn more about newspapers so that they can go back and take on greater roles at their papers,” said Russial of the 15-20 students involved each year.

Students are selected from a large group of applicants, based on their abilities, age and interest in journalism. Although the program is open to students at any high school level, it is made up mostly of sophomores and juniors because they are most likely to put their workshop experience directly to work at their own schools.

Over the holidays, the Sullivan Reporting Lab was outfitted with 17 new iMac SE computers. In an effort to create a more interactive learning experience for students in the lab, the layout of the room was also changed from rows of computers to a lab-in-the-round set-up. Funding for the upgrade was provided by J.Wesley Sullivan,’43, the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association and the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.

Each day of the workshop was filled with activities related to a real newsroom. Classroom presentations and discussions were provided in the morning, while the students worked on the newspaper in the afternoon. Story ideas come from various sources: Some were provided; others were proposed by students, based on their interests and what was happening during their stay at UO.

Students covered State Rep. Vicki Walker’s address to the Boys’ State Conference, profiled Eugene Ems players and their manager and explored Eugene’s Saturday Market.

Each student wrote at least one story, which was typically a profile of another workshop participant. After that, according to Russial, the students took initiative to pursue their own areas of journalistic interest, including reporting, writing commentaries, editing, page design, photography and digital imaging.

The result of a week’s work is the Mercury. Each student is given a dozen copies of the paper, but they also gain new contacts. “Some of the students stay in touch with professionals they meet during the workshop and with faculty members they’ve met here,” said Russial.

SOJC student and workshop alum Oscar Arana got something else out of the workshop. “The workshop helped me decide to come to the University of Oregon,” he said. A number of students have chosen to come to the UO because of the positive experience they had at the workshop.

In a continued commitment to diversity on the newsroom, The Oregonian and the School plan to expand the workshop to include more students, more classroom space and more opportunities for minority students at the SOJC.