Our community solutions journalism program at the Youth Community Journalism Institute has three steps:
1. Provide community journalism education. We provide the tools, training, and resources to develop a deep understanding of journalism principles, ethics, media literacy, and the role of journalism in society. We work with schools, community organizations, and civic hubs (e.g., libraries) to create confident learners, responsible media consumers, impactful media producers, and positive community contributors at any age. We want everyone in a community to have the ability to navigate our complex media ecosystem as informed citizens and understand the power of community journalism to strengthen communities.
2. Provide community journalism training. We train youth, community members, teachers, community organization leaders, and civic hub managers to practice community journalism and empower their communities. Once trained, the youth, community members, teachers, community leaders, and civic managers teach the community (youth to elders). We work with schools, organizations, and civic hubs to build and support their community journalism programs and community journalists (youth, parents, teachers, residents, adults, elders, and local stakeholders).
3. Provide community journalism opportunities. These opportunities include school and community newspapers (online first, print optional), community journalism video programs, audio programs, community events, internships, apprenticeship programs, entrepreneurial training, paid work opportunities, and special projects to create community solutions. Our mission is to strengthen underserved communities through community journalism. We want to show how communities can use community journalism to solve local problems and create educational and economic opportunities for their communities.
The Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation and the Youth Community Journalism Institute want every community to have their own community solutions newsroom. If you are interested in learning more about community solution newsrooms or creating one for your community, let us know in the survey below, and we can help you strengthen your community.
Eric Ortiz founded and leads the Youth Community Journalism Institute. Ortiz is the executive director of the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation and associate director of research at The Pivot Fund, a venture philanthropy organization that invests in community news organizations serving underserved communities. Ortiz has over 25 years of experience in journalism and community building.
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