An Episode For Your Weekend: 12 Students at The Journalism Education Association Convention

I asked them about how journalism has impacted them as people

Nov 22, 2024

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On November 8, I was a speaker at The Journalism Education Association National High School Convention in Philadelphia. I talked to a room of about 70 students about what I’d learned in the four years of doing this podcast. The presentation showed not only those lessons but also the diversity of people doing the work, with the idea that journalism is for everyone.

And I also sought to learn from the many students that were at the conference. I asked them about the best things they’d experienced from being a journalist, how being a journalist and studying journalism impacted them as people. And I asked what they thought about a president-elect describing journalists as “the enemy of the people.”

Most of the interviews are two to three minutes, but I did speak to two students for a little longer than that - Sophie Nguyen and Allesandra Tremulis. They each presented at the convention as well. Sophie spoke about service journalism, both in terms of how to do a service journalism project and her experience in doing one (one example from her work on mental-health related stories is here).

Allesandra presented about interviewing, something she’d become experienced at over the last few years and a skill that allowed her to do things like co-author a story about drug dealing at her school.

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Below are some answers to my questions about how journalism has impacted some of the students at the convention. Hope it gets you to listen to the rest of the episode!

Ghost Taylor, Olathe East High School, Olathe, Kansas

“The way that I function is by asking myself questions about things, and I learn more about how I view the world and about how other people view the world. It’s looking for the roots of things. So if you see someone who believes in a certain thing that maybe you don't believe in, you go and you ask them why do they believe in that sort of thing?

Journalism makes me more open minded. It gives me more opportunities to do more things with more people and I feel more confident talking to people.”

Allesandra Tremulis, Carlmont High School, Carlmont, California

“Before, when I would think about issues or stuff going on on campus or locally or even nationally, internationally, you hear about it and you're like, okay, that's one thing. Okay, it happens. Move on. But as a journalist now and with that perspective, it's given me a whole other lens.

There's not only problems in the world, but I know how to fix them. I know how to shine a light on them. With these conventions, you hear professionals that have been in the business for so long talk about ‘this is what I've done, this is how I've changed the world.’

And so, for me, it's like, okay, this is something that actually I can do. I can really make an impact, I can share a story that shines a light on something that I feel strongly about and I know other people do too. “

C.J. Getting, Naperville High School, Naperville, Illinois

“It's changed a lot of what I see going on. I mean, I see a different side of people, the authentic side that they have, that they don't always show people.

When you sit down for an interview for 30 minutes or an hour, you get to know more about that person. You get to know more about them, what their life is like and the life of so many people that impacted them. And so I get to see that kind of side of things, which is really interesting.

I think I approach situations with a lot more empathy and a lot more care because I know that other side of people.”

Juliana Yao, Conestoga High School, Berwyn, Pennsylvania

“I think what really led me to want to study journalism was the draw toward becoming closer to my community and being able to hear the different voices of different people who are all doing incredible things within our school and community.

I think that being a journalist has opened my eyes. to the people in the world and how they are contributing, because I can look at any one person and think they have this incredible story behind them.

Almost everyone is basically worthy of a story.”

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An Episode For Your Weekend: 12 Students at The Journalism Education Association Convention

I asked them about how journalism has impacted them as people

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