They are reporters and writers, photographers and designers.
Well, almost.
Most are recent journalism graduates or students from colleges across the country with the exception of one who is from abroad.
They came to The Poynter Institute for different reasons and with different goals.
Some wanted to find a focus in their work. Some hoped to gain confidence to step out into the real world. Others wanted to have fun.
“This will be a stepping stone from college into the real world.”
Astrid Rincon, 27
Ringling School of Art & Design
Photography
For the next six weeks, they will work, play, and learn together as participants in Poynter’s two summer fellowship programs: News Reporting & Writing for College Graduates and Visual Journalism for Minority College Students. There are 29 fellows in all: 15 in the reporting and writing program and 14 in the visual program.
Anticipation levels were high as the two groups gathered for the first time in a breakfast meeting last Friday. Bits and pieces of nervous conversation floated about the Institute’s Great Hall as the new acquaintances cast curious glances between bites of scrambled eggs and sips of orange juice.
As the first-day anxiety wore off, many said they looked forward to the intensive training ahead. Some saw the fellowship as a way to segue into the professional world.
“This will be a stepping stone from college into the real world,” said Astrid Rincon, a visual journalism fellow and a recent graduate from the Ringling School of Art & Design in Sarasota, Fla. “I think it will be a good confidence-building experience.”
Although she had not considered journalism as a career option, Rincon, 27, who studied photography, said the visual program’s varied curriculum attracted her.
“In school everything was really divided,” she said. “Here, we’ll get a chance to learn a little bit of everything.”
As part of a collaborative effort — the first in more than a decade — between the writing and visual programs, the two groups will hold periodic joint sessions throughout the six weeks. The fellows will also collaborate continuously on projects, including a website, four editions of a weekly newspaper, and the Millennial Fourth project, which will provide web coverage of this year’s Fourth of July celebrations from sunrise to sunset.
“We hope they’ll share the work and fun of being journalists together and by the end of the summer they’ll better know their craft and the value of collaboration,” said Chip Scanlan, Poynter’s Reporting, Writing & Editing Group Leader.
Visual Journalism Group Leader Kenny Irby said he hopes the summer will be the beginning of an ongoing relationship between the two programs.
“What we’re trying to do as a faculty with journalists that come here is to work in harmony,” Irby said. “In the past, the groups worked separately and partied separately, and some of them questioned that.”
“It’s never going to be like college again…”
Denise Drake, 21
Trinity University
Not only that, but today’s job market demands journalists with a more diverse skills set and the ability to work in a team capacity, said Christine Martin, co-director of the reporting and writing fellowship.
“This is an auspicious time for Poynter to begin collaborating,” said Martin, who also serves as dean of the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University. “What is happening now is that schools are looking at the job market and realizing that training needs to change.”
Another first for the visual journalism program is its modification this year to benefit students from racial or ethnic minority groups.
“The lack of minority representation in newsrooms has been an ongoing concern in visual journalism circles,” Irby said. “There is a major need in the industry to create a more prepared and diverse talent pool. It was something we needed to do.”
In the interest of fairness, Irby added, the Institute increased the number of fellowship opportunities offered for mainstream visual journalism seminars this year by as many as two or three per seminar.
“Our hope is that at the end of this program, there will be 14 journalists of color who will be ready to change and make strong contributions to newsrooms,” Irby said.
Monica Moses, a member of the visual journalism faculty at Poynter, said she hopes by working with each other, the two groups will develop a sense of professionalism and understanding of how to be good colleagues.
“That’s the way it is at newspapers,” Moses said. “These days in the newsroom, no one works in isolation.”
Denise Drake, a News Reporting & Writing fellow from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, said she looks forward to the personal and professional opportunities the fellowship holds.
“This will be a great experience before going out into the world,” the 21-year-old said. “It’s never going to be like college again after this.”
