Mizzou’s esteemed J-School has been preparing college students to become the best possible reporters since the early 1900’s. With the help of their week-long immersive summer camp for high schools, the Missouri University Journalism Workshop, they can reach an even younger audience. The program aims to provide students with an immersive journalism experience, encouraging them to collaborate with peers, mentors, and professors. Notably, their “Missouri Method,” a hands-on style of learning, attracts the attention of high schoolers from around the country. For example, senior Krysie Bell who attended the workshop in Columbia, Mo. this past summer.
Program director Ron Kelley, an associate professor in Journalism Studies at Mizzou, underscores the importance of MUJW’s journalistic environment, emphasizing how the camp follows a college-like structure.
“It’s nice to have that comradery of like-minded people majoring in the same thing,” Kelley said. “You do work very closely with each other, we have a tendency to work a lot in teams here.”
The immersion of a collaborative environment is something Bell appreciates, a senior keen on pursuing a career in journalism. After researching various journalism programs, she chose Mizzou’s as a result of its J-School’s glowing reputation. MUJW encourages students to work together, and create a fun space to share ideas.
“It’s just fun to be around all those people and everybody was immersed in it,” Bell said. “It was just a very collaborative space to be a part of.”
More specifically, Bell is interested in pursuing journalism on the political side, and dreams of becoming a broadcast journalist. This interest resulted in her taking a variety of courses throughout high school, starting from convergence journalism her sophomore year to multiple broadcast classes in the following years. While she’s unsure of where to pursue her undergraduate studies, MUJW gave her an idea of what being a journalist at Mizzou could be like.
“I want to be a political journalist, like be one of those people on MSNBC, but I’m not 100% sure where I want to do it,” Bell said. “But hopefully broadcast [at Parkway Central] has prepared me enough.”
The program gives participants a realistic news package experience, students brainstorm, plan, interview, and produce. This work is a demonstration of how MUJW applies the “Missouri Method” philosophy, learning by doing; however, a realistic experience doesn’t come without its struggle. Participants learn to work with deadlines and under pressure.
“I had fun while I was doing it, even though my group was like one of the last people to complete it, like I was working on my project until almost midnight, we were still having fun doing it,” Bell said.
Bell is excited for her career to develop, as she feels passionately about young voices taking a stand. MUJW reflects this sentiment, as their program does a good job of preparing young reporters, the next generation of our media, to achieve their potential, and share their perspectives.
“I feel like some adults count you out when you’re a teenager.” Bell said. “But I feel like teenagers do have good opinions, so they should be able to voice their opinions,”
The coaches at MUJW make up a big part of the immersion experience, professionals in their field located all around the nation gather to help train the world’s journalists. From sideline reporters to radio voices, all mentors put their professional life on hold to spend a week in Columbia, Mo. Despite the whole staff being tremendously experienced, Wale Aliyu, an anchor at ABC News 10 San Diego, undoubtedly stood out as a welcoming and amicable mentor within the group.
“Throughout the course of my career, I’ve had people pour into me: coaches, mentors, professionals, colleagues, who have helped make, mold and shape me,” Aliyu said. “It’s only right that I pay it forward.”
Emphasizing the media industry’s reliance on practical skills and expertise, Aliyu encourages his students to seize every opportunity they can. By recognizing that early experiences, like MUJW, play a pivotal role in shaping their careers, aspiring journalists can set themselves up for success.
“You may be only 15 or 16 years old, and so you’re getting a very good idea of what this journalism profession is about, and whether or not you want to do it,” Aliyu said. “But your experience here is going to put you a step above your fellow classmates, there’s no doubt about it.”
