The marble steps that wind through the core of the Yale Daily News YDN building on York Street have been weathered to a sag by the passage of untold numbers of "Newsie" feet. Among the many soles that have left their marks on those stairs have been the scurrying sandals of area high school students who, for one week each summer, serve as the staff of the "Oldest College Daily" through the YDN's Summer Journalism Program.
For eight hours a day over the course of an eight-day week, the high school students put together an eight-page special edition of the YDN while simultaneously taking a crash-course in journalistic techniques and newspaper production taught by the Daily News' staff and alumni.
"We give them instruction not only to get them on the road to being good journalists, but to get them to want to be journalists," says Jake Sullivan of Calhoun College, one of the four Yale College juniors who planned and directed this summer's session. It was, in fact, with the goal of inspiring an appreciation of and zest for news reporting among New Haven high school students that the Summer Journalism Program was founded 11 years ago by the OCD -- Oldest College Daily -- Foundation, a group of YDN alumni. The free program has since expanded to include students from throughout Connecticut.
The high school students "come in with varying degrees of experience and varying interests," says Sara Schwebel of Ezra Stiles College, another of this year's codirectors. This year's 27 participants ranged from news novices to editors of high school papers, and from writers to photojournalists to graphic artists. Applicants are asked to submit three writing samples and to describe their journalistic experience and aspirations as well as the reasons for their interest in the Yale program. "A lot of kids mentioned that they'd like to see their school newspaper read more," notes codirector Yen Cheong of Saybrook College, while learning ways to circumvent censorship by their school administration was another oft-mentioned goal.
The journalists-in-training "do everything as much as possible as if they were members of the Yale Daily News staff," explains Ms. Schwebel. The week begins with a general reporters' meeting in which the new staff decides how many pages in the paper will be devoted to news, sports or opinion pieces. They design what the masthead editorial the -- one representing the views of the majority of staff -- will look like and choose who will write it. And they discuss story ideas and assignments. "They are encouraged to work as a group," says Ms. Schwebel.
"It's a joy to see the kids work together, to gain a sense of comradeship," adds Ali Mohamadi of Calhoun College, the fourth codirector. "It's taking 27 voices and forming a symphony out of them."
The balance of the week is devoted to pursuing, writing and editing the stories; gathering needed photographs and graphics; and laying out pages. "This gives them a chance to see how the paper works, how it comes out every day," says Ms. Cheong. "High school journalism is very different from college journalism. For the most part, they're used to talking to people they already know; here, they're making cold calls or stopping people on the street. This is much closer to a regular city paper than a high school paper."
In addition to guiding the high school students in their news- gathering efforts, the undergraduates lead daily seminars on topics ranging from basic journalistic skills -- how to craft a lead paragraph, how to attribute a quote -- to more esoteric topics -- the nature of news, journalistic integrity. The "curriculum" also includes skills- building exercises. In one, the high school journalists were charged with finding the location of Yale's secret societies "using any available measure." In another, participants were provided with information about a hypothetical situation in which a mayor and contractor were attempting to close down a park that had been the site of several murders. The Yale students portrayed various principals in the story as the high school students practiced their interviewing techniques at a pseudo-news conference.
By sharing the teaching responsibilities, the undergraduates hope to expose the participants to a variety of viewpoints and experiences. "We all have different backgrounds in journalism, and we all see journalism in a different light," says Mr. Mohamadi, who has covered sports for the YDN and served as de facto sports editor for the 1996 Summer Journalism edition. By contrast, Ms. Schwebel was a YDN city beat reporter covering social services programs, Ms. Cheong reported on finance and the Provost's Office, and Mr. Sullivan wrote about student affairs. All four will be seeking Daily News editorships when the newspaper holds elections this fall. Talks by YDN alumni who have gone on to careers in the media -- and there have been many in the student newspaper's 118-year history -- provide participants with further insights into the issues facing professional journalists. This year's featured alumni were Thom Geier '91 B.A., associate editor at U.S. News & World Report; Michael Short '61 B.A., Boston bureau chief for the Associated Press; and John Zucker '76 B.A., '79 J.D., senior attorney for ABC News.
Also highlighting this summer's session was a tour of the New Haven Register and an informal press conference with Mayor John DeStefano. In fact, meeting with the mayor of New Haven has become an annual Summer Journalism tradition. The program, held Aug. 17- 24, coincided with the Pilot Pen International tennis tournament, and this year for the first time, the program participants received media passes for the sports event. Mr. Mohamadi, who attended the matches with three of the high school students, admits, "It was an exciting experience not only for them, but for me." He says, "I was impressed by the students, who took it very seriously." He was "particularly proud" of one student, who asked the tournament champion Alex O'Brien a question during the media briefing -- "and a very astute question at that," he notes.
That student, Carline Wolak, a senior at Hamden High School, recalls, "The reporters were crazy, jumping in on him -- O'Brien. They wouldn't let anybody else talk." For the Summer Journalism edition, Ms. Wolak wrote a story about the grassroots tennis program supported by the tournament's sponsors. Although she has worked on her high school newspaper since she was a freshman, and will be its editor this year, she says this was an entirely different experience. "When you're writing for the high school newspaper, you really don't feel any urgency about getting an article done. Here you have to work with deadlines," she notes. "You respect it -- journalism -- a lot more when you see how hard you have to work."
Meryl Atlas, a resident of Orange and a sophomore at Amity High School, learned about the program through her sister, Stacy, a Yale College junior. "I love English, but I haven't done anything journalistic," she says. For her YDN article, a news analysis of the media's role in high-profile trials, she interviewed lawyers from the Greater New Haven area, as well as journalists from papers around the country. She plans to join the staff of her school newspaper next year the first year she's eligible and to put into practice many of the skills she's acquired this summer, particularly those concerning "the stuff you have to do before writing an article."
"Awesome" was the word that Sally Tamarkin used to describe her experience in the Summer Journalism Program. A resident of Woodbridge who attends New Haven's Wilbur Cross High School, Ms. Tamarkin has been writing for years but recently determined that "when it comes to journalism, I like photography best." Although she helped take photos for the YDN edition, she was also coauthor of the masthead editorial, which takes to task a proposed bill that would set a curfew for drivers under the age of 18. This assignment, like many of the other decisions associated with creating the newspaper, involved a great deal of give-and-take, she says. "Everyone compromised, and now everyone is happy."
Reaching consensus is, in fact, an integral part of the YDN newsroom experience, both in the summer program and during the paper's regular operation. According to a strict policy, every news article that appears in the paper must be approved by the writer and the editor, who go through the article line by line until they're both satisfied. "In high school, you get an assignment, go out and do it, and it's edited minimally," says Thomas Whitney, a junior at Wilbur Cross who wrote a profile on a teenaged mother for the YDN. By the time the editing process was completed, the article was much shorter, he admits. "Even though I lost a lot of stuff that I wanted to put in there, I'll be much more clear next time on what I don't have to put in," he says, adding, "Although what I write at school is more mine and what I wrote here is less mine, I feel like the paper as a whole is more mine."
Once the paper is completed and printed, copies of the YDN's Summer Journalism edition are sent to the homes of the participants -- who also receive a t-shirt designed by the directors -- and to the students' high schools. Copies are also placed in strategic locations, such as Dwight Hall, in order to "spread the word" about next year's Summer Journalism Program.
While Mr. Sullivan admits that, at the start of the program, he felt like someone who was "jumping into a pool from a high diving board with your eyes closed," he agrees with his codirectors that this year's program was a success and that it was a pleasure to "give back" what they've learned about journalism as YDN staffers. "What we learn at the Yale Daily News are lessons that are so invaluable, and they come at such a cheap price," he says. "We have a responsibility to share it with the New Haven high school community."
-- By LuAnn Bishop