Calling Young Newshounds: The Nabe's Summer Teen Journalism Workshop

Robert Cooper, a retired junior high school shop teacher, reads The New York Times at the Pillow Café on Myrtle Avenue on Friday, July 5. Cooper, 76, said he reads the Times to “keep informed” and “find what is affecting the community.” (Photo by Philippe Theise).

From attending local cultural events, to investigating a quirky sandwich shop or reviewing a new movie, practicing journalism allows you to indulge your curiosity about the world. But with the indulgence comes responsibility and hard work. As journalists, it’s our job to uncover facts, to speak with sources, to question our biases and to compose clear, engaging stories.

An avant-garde theater company has just moved into a local, dilapidated storefront. What kind of work will it produce there?
The baristas at a local café write a list of news items on an outdoor sandwich board every morning. Is there a formula to their humorous mix of local, celebrity and coffee-related stories?
Your favorite Fort Greene hip-hop artist just put out a new mix-tape. How has their style evolved since the last release?

Even without the pressure of deadlines — and there are almost always deadlines — journalism isn’t easy. Like anything else, it takes practice. To help young writers learn about the craft, The Nabe is offering a free teen journalism workshop on July 23, 24 and 25. The summer enrichment, happening each day between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, will be the perfect place for a young writer to learn about reporting and how to practice community journalism.

We’ll start with the here and now: What’s happening in the streets, parks, schools, apartment buildings, theaters, religious institutions and additional spaces where people live, work and play? What catches your eye? What are community members talking about? In journalism, there’s a lot of Internet and library research, but every good story starts with your feet on the ground, looking, listening and thinking.

In the workshop we’re going to push you to think critically about what’s happening where you live, showing you how to report on the issues you care about. Once you learn the basics of reporting, everyone will go out onto the streets to find stories of their own. Then we’ll come back to discuss how to write up what you have, as well as how to use multimedia to compliment and support your story.

Are you a teen that’s interested in learning the ropes of community journalism with the help of trained professionals? Email us at TheNabe@TheNabe.me with your name, age, neighborhood and the school you attend. In addition, please let us know why you want to come to the workshop and what you hope to learn there.