Local students can learn about journalism from local Report for America reporters
I hope you all have had a chance to read Brandon Block’s latest stories on ADUs, or accessory dwelling units. Since ADUs have been considered one of the ways to reduce the area’s housing shortage, Brandon dug into the reasons why more people aren’t building them.
But as a Report for America fellow, Brandon also has embarked on a community service project that will help educate future journalists. And the program is free.
Thurston Community Media (TCMedia) is hosting an after-school program for middle and high school students who are interested in journalism.
Participants will be mentored by Brandon and another Report for America fellow, Laurel Demkovich, a reporter for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane who is based in Olympia. Students will develop and publish articles and videos about topics the youth choose and research. They will develop skills in interviewing, research and writing, and learn journalistic techniques, ethics, and how to craft a news story.
Students will also learn how to produce a video about the story they develop. Thurston Community Media training staff will teach video production.
Their work will then be published online and their videos will air on the TCMedia channels.
Students in grades 6 and up are invited to join the group. Meetings are held at 4 p.m. Wednesdays via Zoom and last about an hour. When it becomes possible, the group will move to in-person meetings at the TCMedia facility in west Olympia. The program runs through the school year.
I can tell you, this program addresses the kinds of skills and experiences news organizations are looking for when they hire interns. And, like I said before, there is no charge to participate.
For more information, contact TCMedia’s Deborah Vinsel at dvinsel@tcmedia.org or 360-956-3100. Or reach out to Brandon at bblock@theolympian.com.
A couple of added notes
Some really good news: Brandon has agreed to continue covering housing and homelessness for The Olympian for a second year, which will extend his stay through May 2022. We are thrilled.
We also are getting ready to wrap up the fundraising we are doing for Brandon’s position for 2020-21. If you still want to support his work, you can donate at https://givebutter.com/Olympian. We are just a few thousand dollars away from our goal, so you can help put us over the top. All contributions are tax deductible because they are funneled through the nonprofit Local News Initiative, which is supporting the many community-funded reporting positions at news organizations throughout the country.
And finally, please keep an eye out for The Olympian’s annual Light of Hope, which will publish Sunday. The Light of Hope is a wish list from local nonprofits that could use a few things around the holidays -- both for their organizations and for their clients. The hope is that our readers will step up and provide some of the things on the list.
Dusti Demarest is the editor of The Olympian. She’s worked at the newspaper for 26 years.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
