APPLICANTS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE 2023-24 STUDENT MEDIA CHALLENGE
The year-long cohort will focus on student mental health
Sometimes things turn out way better than imagined.
That's true of SJN's Student Media Challenge, launched last spring to inspire a cohort of college journalists to dig deeply into solutions journalism's principles and practices.
As the academic year nears completion, the eight participating schools -- chosen from a pool of 70 applications -- have produced a steady stream of bona fide solutions stories across platforms, many of which now reside in the Solutions Story Tracker, right alongside stories from an array of professional newsrooms from across the globe. In addition, student work was distributed widely in communities -- rural, suburban and urban -- across the continent.
Building on that success, and with gratitude to the first-year students and their academic advisors, we are seeking applicants for a second Student Media Challenge for the 2023-24 academic year. The focus for the year will be on reporting on responses to the growing and urgent issues around student mental health.
Finalists will receive $10,000 to cover costs related to work for this cohort. Students will also receive SoJo training and one-on-one support throughout the school year.
Finalists for the cohort will be announced in May, with work to begin in September.
Here's a link to apply.
If the first year was any indication, we expect the program's sophomore year will spring forth a committed community of practice. We've found that college students not only embrace solutions journalism, but they also find refreshing and surprising ways to deliver it.
The first cohort included California State University-Long Beach, University of Georgia, Howard University, Michigan State University, University of Missouri, Santa Ana College, Queens University and Washington State University.
Questions? Contact michaeldavis@solutionsjournalism.org.