It's a different kind of after-school program. Think of it less as a club and more like a real-world news internship.
You'll be working as a youth reporter looking into issues that are affecting your community. Past topics have included: mental health, sexual health, school violence, and learning during the pandemic. What new story do you want to report on?
Throughout the semester, you will learn how to use the equipment professional journalists use, how to tell stories that captivate your audience (and potential college admissions boards or employers), and you could get yourself on the air! Yeah, that’s right. The best stories will be broadcast on 88.5 WFDD. And if they are really, really good (which we know they will be), we’ll pitch them to NPR, a platform with 30 million listeners…pretty cool, huh?
While the after-school program is free and open to high school students from all over the area, we require a strong commitment from participants. You are expected to attend every session, so please check your schedule for conflicts.
- The program meets every Wednesday from 4:30pm to 6:00pm at WFDD on the Wake Forest campus.
- We will begin on October 2nd and we will finish on December 11th. Missing one week is like missing a whole month of school. A LOT happens in just one week.
What you need to participate:
- An idea of a story you’d like to report. A good story should not just be a general theme like mental health, but a specific angle with ideas of who you would talk to – your sources. The story can come from your own experience or just an interest that you might have. For example, you might want to know what it is like for a teenager to deal with the changes that come with leaving high school. Or, you might be curious about how college protest policies have changed after students established encampments to protest the war in Gaza.
- You should be comfortable writing or dedicated to becoming a stronger writer. A three to four-minute story roughly translates to a 500-word essay.
- A willingness to talk to strangers. This is a key part of the reporting process.