A prize recognizes the importance of youth journalism

On July 18, American legislators voted to cancel more than a billion dollars in funding previously awarded to the public Broadcast Service (PBS), a non -profit network of television and radio stations partly funded by the US government.

The cuts have risen education and training programs for young people across the country.

This is why a prize for world youth and information media in PBS News Student Reporting Labs is so significant.

Student Reporting Labs (SRL) is a journalism training program based in the United States for young people and their educators. On July 23, Global Youth & News Media, a non -profit organization based in France, dedicated to encouraging and honoring media engagement with young people, awarded SRL its prize for the exceptional success of journalism

“This prize is in recognition of the history and the hard-hitting determination of the program to continue its unrivaled work to initiate young people through the United States in local broadcasting journalism,” said Aralynn McMane, Executive Director of World Media and Media. “By voting to award this price, our board of directors was unanimous and categorical about the need to highlight students’ reporting laboratories to remind the world what short -term policy may destroy following the financing of public dissemination.”

The importance of youth journalism

It was only the second time that the Global Youth & News Media Board has awarded such a honorary prize. The first took place in 2018 for live coverage live from the anti-armes of walking March for Our Lives by the Guardian US with journalists from the Eagle Eye News studies of Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Florida, who had seen the murder of 18 people at school three weeks earlier.

Founded in 2009 by Leah Clapman, then editor -in -chief of education in PBS Newshour, the student reporting laboratories helped create broadcasting and journalism programs in thousands of secondary schools in the 50 states.

The program connects them to more than 40 public television stations and local press organizations to bring their history to the local public. SRL matches the next generation of storytellers by offering free scholarships and training workshops to students and educators across the country and worldwide. In total, more than 125,000 students participated in the program.

SRL also reaches more than 10,000 educators via a free learning platform Storymaker. Storymaker provides teachers with teaching equipment and lessons to help students think critically, to explore their curiosity for the world and to engage in their communities.

The SRL program has been established “In the premise that certain stories are better told by young people,” wrote Clapman, now full -time executive director of SRL briefing Last week. “This is particularly true at the moment of change and rapid disruption.

Adolescent mentorship to tell important stories

Clapman wrote that editorial rooms can benefit from the important perspectives, experiences and ideas that adolescents have and that these prospects can help press organizations tell more nuanced and complete stories about problems that affect students.

One of these adolescents that the student declaration laboratories formed were the former awarded former Mary Williams, who joined the program in 2015 and was interned at his local PBS station in Ohio.

“Now when I see the news, it’s personal,” she said. “The economy, the education system and the current state of the earth are not only the problems of my parents to worry. They are also mine. ”

The Global Youth & News Media Prize for Journalism this year focused on collaborations for young people who help local media to survive. The rest of the winners were chosen by an international expert jury and will be announced in the coming weeks. News Decoder, which trains and encourages young people to develop global perspectives in the narration, is a partner of the prize and helped judge the entries.

News Decoder news director Marcy Burstiner said it was more important than ever to recognize the important work that young journalists do.

“It seems that in the United States and elsewhere, there is a war against journalism and the truth,” said Burstiner. “I used to tell my students that it was a myth that you needed thick skin to be a journalist. But these days, you do it. “

But every year, News Decoder finds more and more young people to take up the challenge, said Burstiner.

“They are not afraid to tell the important stories to tell,” she said. “But people must support organizations such as PBS News Student laboratories that help and encourage young people to be storytellers.”