Growing Journalists. Expanding Perspectives. The News Around Us
Spring 2008 www.threesixtyjournalism.org Teens respond to new online magazine By Rebecca Dallinger matter,” she said. When ThreeSixty editor Priya Kailash Since ThreeSixty’s online magazine wrote about the challenges faced by teens debuted in November at threesixtyjournal- who emigrate to America, she was delighted ism.org, teen journalists have explored teen when readers saw themselves and responded: drinking, school dress codes and teens’ reac- “I remember when I came to the U.S., it tion as school officials peruse Facebook pages was so hard, but good thing I started from for evidence of underage drinking. first grade. Imagine that you just start some- They’ve explained how precinct caucuses thing new, everything new and not know work, why standardized tests are so prevalent anything about it? That has to be the hardest Hot Topic: Breaking Out of poverty is the lead and how to file taxes. story at threesixtyjournalism.org. thing for anyone to do.” — Queen Teen readers are responding. They’re “There is so much hardship when it commenting on articles, voting in online comes to crossing borders and people who polls and participating in monthly writing Planet, regularly publish students’ work. truly went through that experience know competitions. A whopping 72 students For Tanya Bui, who attended the that. Many people do not realize how hard it submitted essays for our first Your Turn com- ThreeSixty summer camp in 2005 and is is to cope with a new environment, language petition – which asked teens to describe a now a member of the Youth Editorial and place.” — Ahmed coach who made a difference in their lives. Board, the Web site gives her a chance to To solicit feedback and ideas from their (Read the winners on page 3.) write about topics she cares about, includ- peers, Youth Board members Tiana Daun Threesixtyjournalism.org is becoming a ing a profile of the Walker Art Center’s teen and Dannah Waukazo hosted a focus group place for students to hone their journalistic council and a hard look at the social divi- for 14 students at their high school, Patrick skills, have their work published and talk sions between teen drinkers and non- Henry in Minneapolis. Students liked what with each other. The number of unique visi- drinkers. they saw and wanted more video and photos, tors has doubled to more than 1,500 each “Being on the editorial board signifies more stories on the upcoming election, more month. Local news sites, including that teens have a voice and that we have music and the opportunity to blog. We’re MinnPost.com and the Twin Cities Daily the power to explore and find stories that working on it!
Early graduate Denise Johnson now serves ThreeSixty as board member Inside: Ben Katzner Letter from the director Page 2 In 1971 Denise Johnson became one of the first Winners from Your Turn contest graduates of the Urban Journalism Workshop, a teen Page 3 journalism program now known as ThreeSixty. Since being appointed to ThreeSixty’s board of directors in Alumni news February, she’s back where it all began. Page 4 “I’m excited and honored to be able to give back to the program that gave me my start,” she said. Communications Career and After her two weeks at the Urban Journalism College Fair Workshop, Johnson attended Carleton College, where Page 5
JOHNSON continued on Page 3 Johnson Students benefit from new media hub
By Lynda McDonnell, The proximity gives Executive Director our high school editors a clear view of the next Last month, when step on their career lad- ThreeSixty’s youth edi- der – right through the torial board gathered in swinging doors, work- our new office for ing for college media. the monthly planning When ThreeSixty meeting, teen editors clearly felt at home. alums like Michelle They filled plates with food, flopped onto Berry – a Minneapolis couches and fired off story ideas. North graduate who Afterward, some of them sat down at now reports for the a computer to do online research, send an Aquin – stop by, our e-mail or tweak a story. A couple of edi- teen editors see that move in action. help – including our office space. And our tors sat at the conference table to talk. In Moreover, cross-pollination among list of donors is growing. Last fall, the past, we’ve had staff offices but have media is the way of journalism today. Minneapolis-based Dolan Media used classrooms to meet with students; Driven by on-line readers who crave Company contributed funds and equip- now ThreeSixty has a home. sound, words and photos, newspaper ment – camcorders and the laptop we The space – about 800 square feet in reporters carry camcorders, radio journal- needed to make short videos for our the basement of the O’Shaughnessy Frey ists snap photos and TV reporters write online magazine. Library on the St. Thomas campus – is stories for the Web. And the Carl and Eloise Pohlad part office, part newsroom, part club- ThreeSixty is teaching students to fig- Family Foundation is supporting house. It’s a great place to work on stories ure out the best way to tell a given story ThreeSixty for three years, giving or host a meeting, a place where serious and to develop the skills to produce it. $15,000 a year in direct support and work merges with high spirits. When our editors covered MacPhail another $15,000 to match with new and We’re here because Dr. Kristie Bunton, Center’s first battle of high school bands, increased donations. We’ll tell you more chair of the Communication and they captured movement and sound with a about that soon in a letter asking you to Journalism Department at St. Thomas, video story. When they wrote about social help us earn that match. envisioned creating a student media hub divisions in school lunchrooms, they let Visit us online at www.threesixty in the library’s basement, a place where students speak for themselves in recorded journalism.org and see our students’ fine print, TV and radio ventures could rub interviews. This summer, we plan to do work. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop elbows and share ideas. Next door to some interactive mapping as part of an by our new offices – Room 13 in the base- ThreeSixty is the Aquin – St. Thomas’s online project on youth and violence. ment of O’Shaughnessy Frey Library . award-winning student newspaper. Next St. Thomas supports ThreeSixty gen- Call ahead – 651-962-5282 – so we can to the Aquin is Campus Scope, the stu- erously, with $25,000 in cash support and guide you through the tunnel. I think dent television broadcast. more than twice amount that as in-kind you’ll feel at home.
Donor Form: This gift will support the ThreeSixty, a youth journalism program based at the University of St. Thomas. Please make checks payable to the University of St. Thomas. Donations are tax-deductible. ❑ $500 ❑ $250 ❑ $100 ❑ $50 ❑ Other______Send to: ThreeSixty ❑ Yes, I would like regular e-mail updates on the ThreeSixty Web site and activities. 2115 Summit Ave. Mail 5057 ❑ Yes, I’m interested in volunteering as a mentor, classroom speaker or some other role. St. Paul, MN 55105 Name:______Address:______Home phone:______Work phone:______E-mail: ______❑ Check ❑ VISA ❑ Mastercard Card Number:______Expiration Date:______Signature:______
2 n ThreeSixty Students explain how coaches helped Teen editors chose the following two essays from the 72 entered in ThreeSixty’s first Your Turn writing challenge. Each winner received $100. Six other essays received honorable mention. You’ll find them at www.threesixtyjournalism.org/node/374
“I’m a coach for a football team and with my family after a huge fight. Life at Life is too hard I would like you to play for me,” he said. home was not that great and I was just Ahmednur Abdi Hudle, 17 I was happy and took the offer. I getting back to knowing people in the Ubah Medical Academy, Hopkins played for his team. That summer my community. I just was down on myself father passed away so I needed someone all the time. My boys came over to my house to look up to, so Coach Mike would be Nate Travis, my football coach in 7th Monday the week before school started. there for me and gave me someone to grade, gave me a chance to shine. I put As we always do, we went to the park look up to and become the male role my love into the game and often put out and played football. model in my life. my frustrations on any running back “Man, Ahmed, you can catch!” said He would always take me places, but who crossed my path. my friend. As the day went along, this Coach Mike had to move to a different At the times I was down, he would tall, black, strong man came to watch us city. But before he moved, he said to me, show me techniques to get my mind off play. It was hot that summer day so we “Life is hard.” I always remembered that. my family and entertain me from my stopped playing ball early. As I was leav- unhappy thoughts. He was a role model ing, the man came up to me and started to me. He kept me on my feet. He talking. Not just a blind kid pushed me harder than anyone I know “What’s your name, kid?” said the and he didn’t let my poor vision get in Kris Mitchell, 15 man. the way of it. He treated me as an indi- DeLaSalle, Minneapolis “Ahmed,” I replied. vidual that needed shaping up. “You can play football, kid,” said the That year I made a big difference for In the 7th grade, I was viewed as the man. “And my name is his team in return. I was one of the best blind kid who couldn’t play sports. I Mike,” he added. DEs he has ever had. We went all the always dropped passes and shot wrong in “Nice to way to the state finals in the basketball. I kept air balling shots and meet you,” I Metrodome. We lost, yet he expected getting lucky on some. responded. nothing out of that game. He just made I started to think for myself that I sure we had fun. sucked at sports and never would be good. I stopped believing I could do Kris Mitchell attended ThreeSixty’s summer anything right. My dad was angry with camp in June 2007. me because the year before I moved back
JOHNSON continued from Page 1 Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C. Johnson has won many awards, most she majored in urban studies and was the recently the 2007 Frank Premack Career first Carleton student to do an off-campus Achievement Award for her contributions to internship for credit. As a sophomore in col- public affairs journalism. She also received lege she worked with the Minneapolis ThreeSixty’s Widening the Circle award last Tribune. November. She is a member and former vice Johnson went on to be a newspaper president of the National Association of reporter, columnist and editor for the St. Black Journalists. Johnson has traveled to Paul Pioneer Press and an editorial writer for several foreign countries, including Chile, both the Pioneer Press and Minneapolis Star and 10 African nations. She lives in her Tribune. In 1986 she took a two-year leave hometown, St. Paul, with her husband, from the Pioneer Press to serve as diversity Laurence Oliver. They have a daughter, director for the American Society of Vanessa, who lives in Los Angeles.
3 Alumni updates
2001 trains college students in such principles as named one of the country’s 10 best student Damon Maloney traveled to DeKalb, Ill., limited government and free markets. She newspapers by the National High School to cover the deadly school shooting at also blogs for GOP3.com. After she graduates Press Association. Akinseye also works for Northern Illinois University, and filed a Kirby hopes to move to Washington, D.C., KARE 11’s Whatever show and just joined report for OSTN.TV. The Web site pro- and attend law school. ThreeSixty’s Youth Editorial Board. duces weekly webcasts featuring student work from around the country. Maloney is a Dhomonique Ricks is a junior at the Katie Schleiss remains the editor-in-chief of senior at Columbia College in Chicago, University of Missouri. Last semester she the campus newspaper at Normandale where he produces one of the college’s news was a reporter for KBIA radio, the local Community College. She will graduate shows. NPR station, and plans to be a reporter at from high school this spring. KOMU TV, an NBC affiliate serving central Sara Boyd is a reporter for the Green Bay Missouri. Ricks will intern again this summer Frank Bi is a junior at Eden Prairie High Press-Gazette, the third largest daily news- at KMSP Fox 9. School. He is active on ThreeSixty’s Youth paper in Wisconsin, where she is a member Editorial Board. of the diversity committee. 2004 Mike Peden is majoring in journalism at Angelica Birch is a freshman at the Amanda Shafer graduated from Concordia the University of Minnesota. He does play- University of St. Thomas, where she plans College in Moorhead, Minn., in December by-play announcing for locally televised to major in public relations. with a B.A. in child and family studies high school girls’ basketball games and has and minors in Spanish, English writing and produced two documentaries on autism. 2007 religion. MySee Chang is an editor for Hmoob Teen Elizabeth Ohito is at the University of Magazine. 2002 Chicago and is studying Spanish and Latin Laura Lee interned last summer at KARE American history in Oaxaca, Mexico this Andrew Worrall is a freshman at the 11, where she helped cover everything from semester. She’s looking into law programs and University of Missouri, where he is an asso- the I-35 bridge collapse to the Minnesota internships for nonprofits for this summer. ciate producer/production manager for a State Fair. She graduated with a broadcast new broadcast called MUTV News Now. journalism major from the University of Iman El-Sawaf is a freshman at Minneapolis St. Thomas in December and is now look- Community and Technical College. Kyla Riley is attending St. Olaf College in ing for a job. Meanwhile, she has been Northfield, Minn., and works on campus on-air talent for the pilot of a parenting 2005 for the TRiO program, which helps low- program on Twin Cities Public Television’s Emilie Wei is a freshman at Northwestern income students overcome barriers to Minnesota Channel. University’s Medill School of Journalism, attending college. She also is a member of where she is the administrative beat reporter the basketball team. Emma Carew is a junior at the University for the Daily Northwestern. of Minnesota, where she works for the Priya Kailash is the producer/director of Minnesota Daily as a reporter. She will Tanya Bui will graduate from St. Paul Eden Prairie High School’s weekly news intern at the Star Tribune this summer. Academy this spring and start at Carleton broadcast, “Eagle Vision.” She also is part of Carew is active in the Asian American College in the fall. She works for KARE ThreeSixty’s Youth Editorial Board. Journalists Association and was chosen for 11’s Whatever show and is active on the first AAJA/AZN television Internet ThreeSixty’s Youth Editorial Board. Dannah Waukazo is a senior at Patrick writing internship last fall. She spent eight Henry High School in Minneapolis and the weeks in Korea last summer and plans Sage Davis is studying at Leech Lake Tribal editor for the daily online school newspa- another trip this spring. College, where she’s taking her basic courses per. She’s also involved in National Honor and studying Ojibway culture and language. Society and ThreeSixty’s Youth Editorial Leslie Kruempel graduated from the After she finishes her two-year degree, she Board. University of Chicago last spring. plans to transfer to a four-year school and study journalism and maybe biology. She also Tiana Daun is a senior at Patrick Henry 2003 enjoys beadwork and traditional dancing. High School in Minneapolis and a member Sarah Kirby will graduate from Marquette of the ThreeSixty Youth Editorial Board. University in Milwaukee, Wis., this May 2006 with a B.A. in history and political science. Mercedes Akinseye was editor last fall of She is starting a campus chapter of the the Eagle Talon, the online student newspa- Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which per at Apple Valley High School, which was
www.threesixtyjournalism.org n 4 Murder and more at the Communications Career and College Fair
Ben Katzner
Dave Orrick popped his head out of the doorway to his classroom, shouting “I’ve been murdered!” or “Find out who shot me!” For the St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter, outrageous proclamations were a good way to lure teens to learn what newspaper reporters do. As part of ThreeSixty’s fourth annual Communications Career and College Fair, Orrick and fellow reporter Fred Melo hosted a mock press confer- ence, where teens could ask questions about the fictional murder. More than 150 students from eight Twin Cities high schools attended the Jan. 11 event, where they met with repre- sentatives from more than 20 careers in journalism, public relations and advertis- ing and eight colleges with communica- tions programs. Students came from South, North and the City Inc. high schools in Minneapolis, Harding and Highland Park high schools in St. Paul, Eastview High School in Apple Valley and St. Francis High School in St. Francis Orrick and Melo weren’t the only pre- senters who used creativity to keep kids interested. Representatives from KARE 11’s Whatever show gave students their own 15 minutes of fame by letting them do on- camera interviews with each other. From the boisterous to the mild-mannered, kids smiled as they channeled their inner jour- nalist and soaked up the limelight. Top: KARE 11’s Whatever show brought cameras to the Heather Schwartz of the Maccabbe career fair and invited teens to interview each other on cam- Group, a Minneapolis public relations era. Above: Juniors Ja Yang, Stephanie Yang and Mai Ka Lor firm, showed teens how the world’s from Harding Senior High in St. Paul planned their career day largest rubber band ball helped sell office schedules. Right: Wendy Paulson of WCCO Radio described the jobs and roles required at a radio station. supplies for a client. Lynda McDonnell, ThreeSixty’s exec- azines and online publications, public impressed by Schwartz that they called utive director, said the annual fair is an relations and advertising agencies. her later to set up job-shadowing. St. easy way for a wide range of students “Most teens have a vague sense of Francis career counselor Lisa Erickson interested in writing, broadcast or visual what they’re interested in but no clear said she tries to help students find jobs arts to learn about jobs that use those idea of what the possibilities are. This they’ll love to go to each morning. skills and colleges that offer training in helps connect the dots,” McDonnell “It was an awesome experience because those areas. Speakers came from radio said. you get so many key people in from so and television stations, newspapers, mag- Two St. Francis students were so many different industries,” she said.
5 n ThreeSixty Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage ThreeSixty PAID University of Mail 5057 St. Thomas 2115 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105-1096
www.threesixtyjournalism.org . Application deadline is April 28. April is deadline Application .
The application for both camps is available at the ThreeSixty Web site: Web ThreeSixty the at available is camps both for application The
what they’re doing to reduce it. it. reduce to doing they’re what
They also will profile residents and public officials, asking how violence affects their lives and lives their affects violence how asking officials, public and residents profile will also They Ben Katzner, Kris Mitchell Kris Katzner, Ben
and perpetrators as well as neighborhood programs working with youth to prevent violence. prevent to youth with working programs neighborhood as well as perpetrators and
Ahmednur Abdi Hudle, Hudle, Abdi Ahmednur
lence and efforts being made to reduce it. Students will map crimes involving youth as victims as youth involving crimes map will Students it. reduce to made being efforts and lence
Contributors: Rebecca Dallinger, Rebecca Contributors:
an online project focused on how North Minneapolis neighborhoods are affected by youth vio- youth by affected are neighborhoods Minneapolis North how on focused project online an
Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., from July 7 to July 31. They will produce will They 31. July to 7 July from p.m., 2:30 to a.m. 9:30 Thursday, through Monday
Another 16 students will learn basic journalism skills at the July day camp, which will run will which camp, day July the at skills journalism basic learn will students 16 Another
Editor: Lynda McDonnell – McDonnell Lynda Editor:
ThreeSixty will send a team of three youth reporters to cover the convention. convention. the cover to reporters youth three of team a send will ThreeSixty
Republican National Convention, which will be held in St. Paul the first week of September. of week first the Paul St. in held be will which Convention, National Republican
(651) 962-5282 (651) political issues that matter most to young people this year. Some pieces will relate to the to relate will pieces Some year. this people young to most matter that issues political
www.threesixtyjournalism.org Their assignments will range from a video profile of a first-time voter to an overview of the of overview an to voter first-time a of profile video a from range will assignments Their
radio reports. The workshop will run from June 15 to 27 at the University of St. Thomas. Thomas. St. of University the at 27 to 15 June from run will workshop The reports. radio
will live and work on the St. Thomas campus and produce articles, as well as video, online and online video, as well as articles, produce and campus Thomas St. the on work and live will
Perspectives.
Sixteen high school students will be chosen for the two-week residential camp. Students camp. residential two-week the for chosen be will students school high Sixteen
Journalists. Expanding Journalists.
election and local efforts to curb youth violence. youth curb to efforts local and election
ThreeSixty’s camps this summer will focus on two of the year’s big stories: the upcoming the stories: big year’s the of two on focus will summer this camps ThreeSixty’s ThreeSixty Growing l ThreeSixty applications available online available applications ThreeSixty