Twenty years and counting

In 1989, Mark Russell, then a Plain Dealer staff writer, decided to create a program in Cleveland that would teach high school students about the journalism field. He recruited a mix of minority students from Cleveland-area schools and convinced his journalism colleagues to come talk to the youths and share their expertise. The result was the Urban Journalism Workshop, a series of Saturday classes that trained students in the art of interviewing and writing.

Since then, Mark Russell has gone on to becoming one of the highest-ranking blacks in newspapers, as managing editor of the Orlando Sentinel in Florida. And his brainchild, the Urban Journalism Workshop, has been a big achiever too. This program has been continuously presented every year, and many of its graduates have gone on to earn college degrees. Some are journalism professionals who have landed jobs working at respected news agencies.

In 2009, organizers of the Urban Journalism Workshop will celebrate their 20th year of putting on the purely volunteer-driven educational program.

Established as a result of the need for newsrooms to reflect diversity, racial sensitivity and understanding, the goal of the UJW is to encourage students of color to become interested in print and broadcast journalism through involvement and exposure. Each year, up to 30 high school students are accepted for this free in-depth program.

The workshop is held in the O’Malley Center on the campus of John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. Under the instruction of professional Cleveland journalists, students accepted into this free workshop will learn how to:
- Discriminate between news and entertainment.
- Write, edit and report news.
- Produce a newscast.
Publish a newspaper.
Produce their own blog.

An exposure trip (to an area location with state-of-the-art media capability) and a graduation reception are essential components of the program. The workshop takes place each spring, on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It begins promptly each morning with a news quiz. Each week, the students receive a comprehensive journalism education, continental breakfast and lunch. The student is responsible for transportation to and from John Carroll University.

To qualify, students must have an interest in journalism and have solid grammar skills. While grade point average is not a factor in acceptance to the program, a demonstrated interest and prior involvement in journalism will be helpful.

Each student must complete an application and also send in two letters of recommendation (from a teacher, advisor or other individual familiar with the student’s ability to comprehend and write).

In 2009, a gala salute to the Urban Journalism Workshop will be held, to celebrate its success and raise money to continue its work with Cleveland youth.

To learn more, please contact UJW Director Greg Richards at grichard@plaind.com or by telephone at 216-999-4621.

Help with your homework

Writing a news story can be difficult. It's not only tough to figure out and arrange the facts by importance, but the rules for handling and attributing quotes differ from those you often use in an academic paper. We've posted this story to give you some guidance.

If you click on the words in red, the comments will appear in a pop-up window. Once you've visited the comments, the word in red will turn to green. You may have to change the settings on your browser to view the comments.

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Three-time Emmy Award winner Dennis Knowles visited UJW and shared with the students his experiences and inspirations, as a producer and independent filmmaker. Coming from a diverse occupational background, Knowles informed students on the importance of gaining knowledge, developing skill, and working toward growth in order to reach success.

Knowles began his career in television as a manager at the cable television program TV-35, and working here, he claims, is where he developed a plethora of skills that enabled him to fully pursue a career in television production.

During Mr. Knowles' address to the class, he stated, "The skills I learned here aided to my strength as a producer."

Now, with careers in both filmmaking and producing, in addition to instructing classes at John Carroll University, Knowles claims that he owes much of his success to his Bachelor's Degree in journalism. He affirmed that reading books on journalism assists him in writing and editing the scripts he creates for the television series he produces entitled Applause. In sharing examples of his life experiences of learning and adapting to change, he stressed the importance of versatility and improvement.

Knowles stated, "I know I don't know it all, but I learn to grow and become better in my craft," and through relaying his personal accounts to the class, he passed this message on to them in hopes that they will do the same.

Many filmmakers find inspiration for cutting edge ideas in current events and technology, however Knowles is inspired by his love for classic films and childhood comic books.

"As a kid, I grew up reading comic books and they were almost like story boards," Knowles stated as he compared the content comic books to the development of film ideas.He recently collaborated with film director Marquette Williams with whom he edited the film entitled Unspeakable, which was in the 2008 Cleveland International Film Festival.

A new feature: excerpts from our guest speakers

Welcome to the blog for the Cleveland Urban Journalism Workshop 2008. This year, our participants come from public, parochial and private schools from Cuyahoga and Lake counties.

We aim to help high-school students experience real-world journalism. The profession is moving fast to take advantage of new media. We're no exception. Last year, we added this blog. This year, we're adding more multi-media and visual components.

Each week, for example, we'll post a link to an excerpt from our guest speaker. This week's speech comes from Julie Wynne-Martin, mother of Eric Scott Russell.

Eric was a 2002 workshop graduate. He gained national prominence when he was labeled "Blacky" in a team picture in his high school yearbook. Although he was urged to retaliate, he decided to work to fight racism in his school. Eric never graduated; he died abruptly at 17. The Cleveland Urban Journalism Workshop memorialized Eric by naming its annual scholarship after him.