After a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus, returning this summer is the High School Journalism Institute, a highly competitive program where students have the rare opportunity to learn the craft first-hand.
The institute will be hosted in Corvallis on the Oregon State University campus from July 30 to August 6.
The program’s intent is to develop passionate journalists to fill the newsrooms of tomorrow’s world. OSU, the Oregonian/Oregon Live, and other Oregon media outlets have teamed up to create the institute.
Students of Oregon and Southwest Washington are invited to apply, and those lucky enough to be selected will work alongside their professional journalism guides for eight enlightening days of learning. During this time, the students will write, report, and photograph real news in the community from the award-winning Orange Media Network at OSU. Additionally, students will earn one college credit for their participation.
The program is free of charge courtesy of sponsors like the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, and other generous partner organizations. Individuals can also help fund this opportunity by contributing to the institute’s GoFundMe page, which will allow more students and professional instructors to participate.
This year’s program graduates will fall in line with hundreds of others since the institute’s inception 20 years ago. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in grade 9-12 for the 2021-2022 academic year in either an Oregon or Southwest Washington school [this does include graduating seniors]. Students beginning their ninth-grade year in the fall of 2022 do not qualify.
Additionally, applying students must meet at least one of following standards:
- Have a genuine disability;
- Attend a school with no journalism or newspaper initiative;
- Come from a background that does not align culturally or linguistically with Oregon’s main secondary school system;
- Be from a household that qualifies as low-income; or,
- Be from a household where the highest level of education achieved is a high school diploma.
The deadline to apply is May 20; applicants must complete the process either online here, or by downloading the application and mailing it in. Paper applications can be mailed to the address below:
Elliot Njus, The Oregonian/Oregon Live
1500 S.W. First Avenue, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97201
By: Rebekah Harcrow
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