This summer, the Department of Communication and Journalism and the Native American Journalists Association hosted Project Phoenix, a week-long multimedia convergence conference bringing 16 high school students from around the country to experience journalism first hand.
Students learned basic journalism skills such as story development and field research and got hands-on experience with other aspects of journalism like design, photography, broadcasting and journalism for the Web.
“This is the first time the department has put together a multimedia convergence program that incorporated video, print and Web components,” said Judith White, communication and journalism assistant professor and Project Phoenix Workshop co-chair.
UNM faculty and students and professional journalists gave presentations and helped students understand the inner workings of a newsroom.
Throughout the week, students worked as reporters, photographers, copy editors and graphic artists, contributing stories, photos, video and audio for the project Web site and the print edition of the newsletter Rising Voices.
“Many of the students already had participated in other journalism camps, but Project Phoenix gave them a chance to produce something from start to finish that they were interested in,” said Michaela Saunders, NAJA mentor. “The students seem to take a lot away. The program educates Native American youth about the opportunities available in journalism and helps ensure our stories are told.”
Story by Jazmen Bradford
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu