New Meetup Group – Current News Reading and Discussion – Bay Area

I thought this might be of interest to some Bay Area journos.
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New Meetup group!
Meetup

I'm starting this group to discuss current news.
I'm reading challenged to understand news and current affairs. I tried to understand news on TV and cable channels, but most news is presented as views, not as facts. The choices media make, as to what will be in headlines and how they decide to present facts, are interesting.
Then came news aggregators like google news. They do a better job of presenting… [read more]

Organized by:

Rahul

Meetup, PO Box 4668 #37895 New York, New York 10163-4668

Meetup HQ in NYC is hiring! http://www.meetup.com/jobs/

New York Press Club Awards deadline April 15

For you NY folks – the NY Press Club is accepting entries for their annual awards. They also sponsor a bunch of interesting monthly events – their most recent newsletter is included below. Check it out.
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ENTRIES ARE OPEN
Entries close
: Friday, April 15, 2011.
Per-entry fee
: $50 until March 1st, $75 thereafter.

Click here for a printable PDF containing the Awards categories, rules, and tech specs or see Downloads, above.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 2011 COMPETITION

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ENTRY FEES

An enduring tradition in New York media, the annual New York Press Club Awards For Journalism honor excellence in the craft by writers, reporters, editors, producers, shooters and multimediographers.

Entries are considered in more than 20 categories of reporting from material submitted by New York metropolitan area news organizations and individual journalists.

Judging is by prominent working journalists, former journalists and academics who are selected for their expertise in each category.

Among the awards unique to the New York Press Club competition are the Gold Keyboard Award, honoring excellence in investigative journalism; Nellie Bly Cub Reporter, honoring the best journalistic effort by a writer or reporter new to the profession and The Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award for reporting that is most complimentary of New York City.

Click here to open this item in your Web browser

 

NEWS FROM THE NEW YORK PRESS CLUB

An Evening With New York Times Executive Editor, Bill Keller

Thursday, March 3rd

6:30PM: refreshments, socializing

7:00PM to 8:30PM: program

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

219 W 40 Street (7th & 8th)

A Pulitzer Prize winning reporter before his jump to management, Bill Keller's informed perspectives on the business and practice of journalism, especially these days,

are bound to enlighten and provoke.

The Times has been aggressive in contending with transformative technologies that threaten the survival of many print media companies. It has built a robust Web site brimming

with opportunities for reader interactivity, video, multimedia, clever interstitials, custom apps for mobile devices, special e-mail editions, e-readers, "push" and "pull" strategies, blogs – and most recently, a foray into digital book production (e-books) with the digital-only story of the

company's adventures when presented with the Wikipedia trove (introductory essay by Keller). Plenty going on but is it the right stuff and is it enough?

Don't miss this rare opportunity for a face-to-face dialogue with Bill Keller on topics of vital interest to journalists and journalism.

Moderator: Brooke Gladstone host and managing editor of WNYC-FM / NPR's "On the Media."

Free admission for NY Press Club members (RSVP required). Response is strong, don't delay.

Non-members: $15, Students: $5. Visit our Website  for more information and to reserve.

Entries Are Open for Press Club's 2011 Journalism Awards

Call For Entries

Categories, rules, and entry procedures can be found on the Awards page of our website

where a downloadable document containing information about this year's competition can also be found.

To encourage prompt action, the Press Club is again offering an entry-fee discount for submissions received before March 1st. Entries close, April 15th.

An enduring tradition in New York media, the annual New York Press Club Awards for Journalism honor excellence in the craft by writers, reporters, editors, producers, shooters

and multimediographers.

Become a "Constant Columnist" on www.nypressclub.org

Call For Contributions!

An opportunity to publish on the
New York Press Club website

Open to submissions from all, the New York Press Club's Constant Columnist Web page

is intended as a platform for journalists to post pieces of general and specific interest on pretty much any topic or flight of fact or fancy.

Submissions of all kinds are welcomed – instructional, observational, reflective, reactive – almost any kind of prose or poetry is likely to be appropriate.

The goal is to offer a potpourri comprised of many voices and disparate topics. Why let that brilliant rumination on the meaning of life moulder? Send it in!

Member News

Members are reminded of the open invitation to send news about themselves for our Member News page.

Send word of changes, accomplishments, and other career developments and we will keep the community posted.

Inquiries and submissions for both pages can be made by email.

An illustrative graphic is OK. (Please be mindful of credits and copyrights). Submit pieces as plain text if possible, in the body of an email

or as an attachment, to mailbox@nypressclub.org,

Subject: Constant Columnist or Member News.

 

New York Press Club Spring "Mixer" at Blondies Bar

Tuesday, April 5th

6:00PM – 9:00PM

Blondies Bar

212 W 79 (B'way & Amsterdam)

Our first mixer of the year will take place in early April at a West Side watering hole popular with the sporting set.

But sports is by no means at the top of the agenda

so don't worry if you're not sure which New York baseball team plays in the Bronx. The idea is to mix & mingle.

Why not join colleagues and friends for socializing and elbow-bending on April 5th (no cover, no minimum, no RSVP, sports-talk optional, non-members welcome). Hope to see you there!

Join the New York Press Club | Contact the New York Press Club

$5000 grants for humanitarian and environmental photography projects

Something for you photogs. Spread the word!
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MORE INFO: http://www.photocrati.com/photocrati-fund/

The Photocrati Fund offers $5000 grants to pro and emerging photographers to undertake important humanitarian and environmental photography projects. Our goal is to identify outstanding, photographers and to provide the resources necessary to pursue projects that will have a tangible and positive effect on the world.

The 2011 Photocrati Fund competition will begin in November 2010 and will run through April 1, 2011. The 2011 Photocrati Fund award(s) will be announced at the Look3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia in June 2011. Awardees become Photocrati Fellows for the calendar year from the announcement of their award until the announcement of the following year’s award.

Award decisions will be made by the Photocrati Fund Board, a prestigious panel that includes some of the world’s best-known environmental and cultural photographers. The 2010 Photocrati Fund Board and judges for the competition included:

Steve McCurry
Michael “Nick” Nichols
Art Wolfe

Photocrati will announce the 2011 judges shortly!

Note: The Photocrati Fund and Photocrati.com are administered by Frontier Digital Media, LLC. Photocrati and the Photocrati Fund are sometimes hereinafter referred to collectively as Photocrati.

Note: The 2010 Photocrati Fund emphasized non-professional photographers. The 2011 grant will focus on pro photographers and emerging photographers who are making a career of photography

Eligibility
Application Submission Guidelines
Selection Criteria
Notification of Award
Disbursement of Funds, Project Report, Photo Essay and Deadline for Completion of Project

Copyright and Use of Images
Other Important Notes
Photocrati Fund Board Member Bios

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2010 Photocrati Fund Winner and Top Finalists

MORE INFO:

http://www.photocrati.com/photocrati-fund/


You may view the latest post at
http://salaamgarage.com/2011/02/5000-grants-for-humanitarian-and-environmental-photography-projects/

Upcoming events at Columbia Journalism School

Always interesting (and sometimes FREE!) events going on at Columbia Jschool. Details below.
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Folks: A mix of events over the next few months at @ColumbiaJourn…

* Thursday, 3/3:  Social Media One-night Stand: An ADVANCED social-media
 workshop – FEE REQD. Details below.

* March/April: third edition of Smarter Social Media for Journalists,
 Media Professionals and Bloggers: A four-nights-over-two-months course
 that will make you proficient in social media tools and techniques.
 – FEE REQD. Details below.

* Thursday, April 7: Hearst Annual Lecture by Krishna Bharat, creator of
 Google News (talk & reception) – FREE. Details coming soon to
 http://bit.ly/columbialectures – our public events list.

==> Plus two workshops of varying lengths…

     * @ColumbiaJourn Continuing Ed:  Thursday, March 3, 2010;  6-9:30 pm
       Social Media One-night Stand: An ADVANCED social-media workshop
       for journalists, media professionals and bloggers – taught over
       one night and two weeks of online Q&A. This innovative workshop
       consists of a 3.5-hour in-person group class on March 3, followed
       by two weeks of online Q&A and community, curated by Sree and his
       adjunct professors. Cost $100 (10 percent off for @ColumbiaJourn
       alumni).  REGISTRATION: http://bit.ly/columbiajce

       SAMPLE TWEET: Social-media One-night Stand, @Sree's ADVANCED
       socmedia workshop, 3/3 @ColumbiaJourn: http://bit.ly/columbiajce

     * @ColumbiaJourn Continuing Ed presents third edition of Smarter
       Social Media for Journalists, Media Professionals and Bloggers: A
       four-nights-over-two-months course that will make you proficient
       in social media tools and techniques. March 17 (Thurs), March 31
       (Thurs), April 12 (Tues), April 26 (Tues); 6:30 – 9 p.m.6:30-9 pm.
       Cost $575 (10 percent off for @ColumbiaJourn alumni). Read NY
       Observer article about April 2010 version of this course, "The
       Twitter Tutor": http://bit.ly/sreenyo * DETAILS & REGISTRATION:
       http://bit.ly/columbiajce

       SAMPLE TWEET: 4-week social media course at @ColumbiaJourn, taught
       by @sree – open to all: http://bit.ly/columbiajce

Prof. Sree Sreenivasan | sree@sree.net
Dean of Student Affairs, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
http://www.sree.net | http://www.sreetips.com
http://www.journalism.columbia.edu
Contributing editor, DNAinfo: http://DNAinfo.com
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/sreetips
TWITTER: @sree – http://twitter.com/sree

Making the Online Times Pay, Tuesday, March 1, 6:30pm, UC Berkeley

Interesting event this week at UC Berkeley. Details below.
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The Graduate School of Journalism is pleased to announced that Gerald Marzorati, Assistant Managing Editor of The New York Times for New Products and Strategies will be on UC Berkeley's campus, Tuesday March 1 6:30 – 8:30pm at the Banatao Auditorium in Sutardja Dai Hall. 


Mr. Marzorati will be discussing plans to monetize the Times' new media platforms in the coming months. He will be joined on-stage by Mark Danner, Chancellor's Professor for Journalism and Politics & Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at the Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley. 


The event is free and open to the public. We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Sponsored by the Knight Program in Science & Environmental Journalism and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Marzorati2011.jpg

-- Kristi Mitchell Director of External Relations School of Information U.C. Berkeley 102 South Hall #4600 Berkeley, CA  94720-4600 kristi@ischool.berkeley.edu (510) 643-4206  phone (510) 642-5814  fax http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu

TRANSOM.org – NEW OPPORTUNITY – 2001 Transom Donor Fund

If you work in audio and aren't already familiar with Transom.org, you should be! Check out their latest news below.
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TRANSOM.org

a showcase & workshop for new public radio
http://www.transom.org
February 21, 2011

* NEW OPPORTUNITY:  2011 Transom Donor Fund *

A couple of months ago, we asked for support and many of you sent in donations.  Thank you. Transom operates on a thin budget, but we've always offered payment for the Shows we feature.  Now, we find ourselves liking this idea: We'll send these donations back out there to the people making work.  We've decided to pay more for the next few Shows (still public radio scale, but a good rate for a website), hoping to help some talented producers finish their pet projects and give them a first home.  
Of course, we encourage (and will help) you to place those pieces in a broadcast setting after they premiere on Transom.  We want to assist you on your way.  If you've just finished something great or need help finishing it, get in touch. 
As always, we're looking for Shows from talented emerging producers and from established producers trying something new.  We want work that pushes at the boundaries of what's on public radio.  Please send us finished pieces or pitches no later than March 31st. Selected pieces will be featured throughout the spring and into the summer, and maybe longer, if we can find more support.  More details on sending your work to Transom are here:

Drop over any time,

Jay Allison
Atlantic Public Media
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
www.transom.org

Upcoming events at the UC Berkeley J-School

The latest events at the UC Berkeley J-School. Check it out!
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The Future of Investigative Journalism


When:
Wednesday, February 23,  12:00 PM

Where:
North Gate Hall Library

As traditional news organizations drown in red ink, how can we sustain the critical work of investigative reporting?  There are some promising new models, including ProPublica, but will the future rely on private philanthropy?  What are the roles of private and public media in this work?  What new business models are evolving?  Where does the game changing Wikileaks fit in this landscape?  What about social media?  A conversation about the future of investigative reporting with:

Lowell Bergman, Frontline
Daniel Zwerdling, National Public Radio
Meghann Farnsworth, Center for Investigative Reporting/California Watch

Ellin O'Leary, Youth Radio
Jaxon Van Derbeken, The San Francisco Chronicle

Can Mainstream Journalism Survive? Making the Online Times Pay


When:
Tuesday, March 1

Reception:  6:00 PM
Discussion: 6:30 PM

Where:
Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall

Gerald Marzorati, Assistant Managing Editor of the New York Times, for New Products and Strategies in conversation with Mark Danner, Chancellor's Professor of Journalism and Politics, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Michael Pollan, John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism.


Opening Reception:
Photographs of South Africa in the 1950’s by Jurgen Schadeberg

AND

A Book Signing and Public Lecture:
American Soldiers and Torture
Joshua Phillips and Mark Danner in conversation about None of Us Were Like This Before, a book by Joshua Phillips

When: Friday, March 4

Reception: 6:00 PM
Discussion: 7:00 PM

Where: North Gate Hall Room 105

Joshua E. S. Phillips and Mark Danner will explore how soldiers and senior officials came to believe that torture was permissible, effective, and necessary.  Danner and Phillips will also discuss the impact of abuse and torture on detainees and soldiers.

Mark Danner has produced some of the most important essays and books about U.S. policies that led to detainee abuse and torture during the “war on terror.”  His most recent books are Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror and Stripping Bare the Body: Politics Violence War. He is Chancellor's Professor of Journalism and Politics at UC Berkeley.

Based on first-hand reports from the Middle East and Afghanistan, and years of interviewing ordinary soldiers, Joshua E.S. Phillips’s new book None of Us Were Like This Before explores how troops turned to torture and presents a shattering record of the impact of detainee abuse and torture on detainees and America’s veterans.


Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up
A screening and discussion with director Saul Landau and associate-producer Julia Landau

When: Thursday, March 10,  6:00 PM

Where: North Gate Hall Library

"Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up" is a new film by award-winning director Saul Landau about US-Cuba relations, The Cuban 5, and Miami terrorist groups who have attacked Cuba.

Saul Landau has produced over forty films. He has received numerous awards; including an Emmy with Jack Willis for "Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang"; the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award; the George Polk Award for Investigative Reporting; and the First Amendment Award.  Landau received an Edgar Allen Poe Award for Assassination on Embassy Row, an investigative book about the 1976 murders of Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier and his colleague, Ronni Moffitt.

He is a senior fellow at and vice chair of the Institute for Policy Studies. In 2008, the Chilean government presented him with the Bernardo O'Higgins Award for his human rights work.

Extended trailer can be viewed here.

Julie Hirano

Event & Fundraising Coordinator
Graduate School of Journalism
121 North Gate Hall
University of California at Berkeley
(work) 510.642.3394
(fax) 510.643.2680
http://journalism.berkeley.edu

TAL looking for ideas

The latest from Julie Snyder at This American Life.
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Dear This American Life contributors,

I'll be sending out a complete Theme List in the next few weeks but in the meantime we need help with a story we've already got in production. If you have a suggestion for a possible interviewee for this story, could you let us know?

We're looking for someone who has basically the same political views as their parent (liberal or conservative) but as their parent ages – and has the time to watch more and more cable TV news – the parent's views have become more extreme. And, to the kid, more annoying.

This story is sort of a radio "cover" version of a piece that recently ran on the Frum Forum web site. The author writes:

"Over the past couple of years, I’ve been keeping track of a trend among friends around my age (late thirties to mid-forties). Eight of us (so far) share something in common besides our conservatism: a deep frustration over how our parents have become impossible to take on the subject of politics. Without fail, it turns out that our folks have all been sitting at home watching Fox News Channel all day – especially Glenn Beck’s program….Even though we’re all conservatives, I found myself having to steer our phone conversations away from politics and current events. It wasn’t that I disagreed with their opinions – though I often did – but rather that I found the vehemence with which they expressed those opinions to be so off-putting."

With the author's help, we're looking for adult children who may have similar experiences — either with Fox News watchers or devotees of MSNBC and the like — who have found themselves exasperated listening to their parents' parrot O'Reilly/Maddow talking points or conspiracy theories. What would be even better would be if the parents would want to be interviewed as well. And then they can bitch about their apathetic, closet-conservative/liberal children.

I promise this will be fun and won't be trash-talking. I promise!

Anyway, if you are experiencing this phenomenon or know or anyone else who may be game to talk, will you let us know? You can send emails to the producer of this piece, Jane Feltes, at jane@thislife.org.

Thank you so much!

Best,
Julie Snyder
This American Life
julie@thislife.org

Julie Snyder
Senior Producer
This American Life
153 W. 27th Street, #1104
New York, NY 10001
(212) 624-5012

NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater Fellowship

Word from a colleague is that this fellowship is great: "Two weeks in LA – one or even two plays a day, great teachers, a classy program." Details below.
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News from the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2011

USC Annenberg announces seventh NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater

Contact:  Arianna Sikorski, USC, 213-740-1899 or sikorski@usc.edu

 

February 17, 2011 — The University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)announced today that applications are now being accepted for the seventh annual Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater.

The Institute, which will be held June 14-24, 2011, is an 11-day intensive theater and musical theater fellowship program for critics, reporters, editors and broadcast and online producers from the United States. Staff journalists and freelancers who work in print, radio, TV or online media — and whose main subject is the arts, culture or entertainment — are welcome to apply.

Institute applications are due March 29, 2011. To apply, visithttp://annenberg.usc.edu/nea.

The NEA fellowship will coincide with the 2011 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) National Conference, hosted by the LA STAGE Alliance, which will bring more than 1,000 influential theater organizers, producers, artists and journalists to Los Angeles on the occasion of TCG's 50th anniversary. In addition, the RADAR L.A. Festival,Hollywood Fringe Festival 2011 and National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival will be taking place concurrently in L.A. The opportunity to see world premieres from across the globe, as well as new works by resident companies and artists, and to interact with frontline theater people from all over the country will shape the NEA Institute's programming.

Sasha Anawalt, founding director of USC Annenberg's nine-month graduate degree program in Specialized Journalism (The Arts), will for the seventh year direct the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Joining her as associate directors are Douglas McLennan, editor and founder of Artsjournal.com, and Jeff Weinstein, editor and critic formerly with the Village Voice, Philadelphia Inquirer and Bloomberg News.

"This fellowship will take the pulse of what's going on in theater right now, because we will not only avail ourselves of the stunning confluence of artists, resources, ideas and performances, but we will report on them," said Anawalt. "We will use the stuff of the conferences and festivals as the raw material for this fellowship that is about advancing the understanding and practice of arts journalism in the digital age."

Most costs are covered by the Institute, including air travel, hotel, transportation within the city and most meals. Registration to the TCG conference and tickets to all theater performances are also covered by the NEA fellowship.

Professional sessions addressing changes in the media industry will be offered and special attention will be paid to multimedia storytelling skills. Participants will also meet theater professionals ranging from directors and administrators of L.A.'s primary theater companies to critics of national stature, who will work with them individually and in small workshops. Faculty in the past has included Hilton Als, Susan Brenneman, Robert Brustein, Robert Christgau, Sylvie Drake, John Lahr, Charles McNulty, Dominic Papatola, Michael Phillips, Ann Powers, Steven Leigh Morris, Laurie Ochoa and Jack Viertel.

About the NEA Arts Journalism Institutes
The Theater and Musical Theater Institute at USC Annenberg is one of three NEA Arts Journalism Institutes, along with the Institute in Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York and the Institute for Dance Criticism at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C. In 2009, anInternational Institute in the Visual Arts at American University in Washington, D.C., also was created. Funded by a multimillion-dollar NEA initiative, these institutes offer intensive training for arts reporters and their editors. The four Institutes also partnered in October 2009 to produce the first-ever National Summit on Arts Journalism held at USC Annenberg. The summit explored new ideas for arts coverage and journalism business models in front of a live and virtual audience of nearly 20,000 people. For more information, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/nea.

About the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

About the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism is a national leader in education and scholarship in the fields of communication, journalism, public diplomacy and public relations. With an enrollment of more than 2,200 students, USC Annenberg offers doctoral, graduate and undergraduate degree programs, as well as continuing development programs for working professionals, across a broad scope of academic inquiry. The school's comprehensive curriculum emphasizes the core skills of leadership, innovation, service and entrepreneurship and draws upon the resources of a networked university located in the media capital of the world.

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Contact USC Annenberg Public Affairs at (213) 821-3015

 

International Youth Journalism Contest for teens and teen educators

Great contest for teens and teen educators! Pass this on to your kids, your students, your cousins, friends, neighbors. Details below.
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Worldwide Teen Journalism Contest

Featuring New 2011 Award for Journalistic Courage

Youth Journalism International, a Connecticut-based nonprofit, is seeking nominations by young reporters or others in the field of youth journalism. There are a number of categories for entries, including Student Journalist of the Year, Journalism Educator of the Year, The Jacinta Marie Bunnell Award for Commentary and The Frank Keegan “Take No Prisoners” Award for News.

A new Courage in Journalism award will be one of many handed out to the world’s most talented young reporters, photographers and cartoonists in the largest journalism contest for young people. The Courage in Journalism award aims to honor an individual youth journalist, journalism educator or a student newspaper that showed particular courage in pursuing a story despite danger, official roadblocks or other unusual obstacles.

Winners in major categories receive crystal trophies and other prize winners receive custom-made certificates.

Entries, which must be in English and published between Jan. 1, 2010 and Feb. 1, 2011, are due no later than March 8. Awards will be handed out in May.

Details on how to enter the contest are available under the Contests link at the top of Youth Journalism International’s website at www.YouthJournalism.org.

A complete list of last year’s winners, who hailed from eight countries on four continents, is also available on the website.
Youth Journalism International is a recognized 501(c)(3) public educational charity by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. A non-governmental organization, YJI depends on donations from supporters to continue its important work training the next generation of journalists.

Its students’ work has been featured by The Huffington Post, National Geographic, PBS NewsHour, The Tattoo teen newspaper, Radio Pacifica, Connecticut Public Radio and other news organizations.

For more information, contact Jackie Majerus, YJI’s executive director, or Steve Collins, YJI’s president, at (860) 523-9632 or yjicontest@gmail.com.