Cronkite to Host New Reynolds Institute for H.S. Journalism Teachers

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication will help train high school journalism teachers from around the country through a new program created by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at Arizona State University, operated by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, is made possible through a generous grant from the Reynolds Foundation. “The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is pleased to join ASNE in training high school journalism teachers and advisers. Making sure that the next generation of journalists has a solid understanding of the First Amendment and other journalistic principles is of vital importance to the future of the industry,” said Foundation Chairman Fred W. Smith. Journalism teachers will focus on newsroom practices and journalistic values during the intensive two-week program. Newspaper advisers will be recruited from around the country, with a heavy focus on outreach to schools in urban and rural areas where journalism programs often have few resources. The 35 teachers will have their travel, housing, meals, tuition, credits and instructional materials covered by the grant. ASNE ran the program from 2001 through 2006 with the financial support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. “This program is a linchpin in ASNE’s ambitious efforts to nurture the next diverse generation of young journalists, build independent scholastic media and help all teens gain a greater appreciation of the First Amendment. The Reynolds Institutes will provide a unique, top-flight training and support system for journalism advisers,” said ASNE President David A. Zeeck, executive editor of The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash. “We are most grateful to the Reynolds Foundation for sharing in this vision and making this generous and substantial commitment.” Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan, who organized one of the first ASNE high school programs in 2001 when he was at the University of Maryland, said expanding and improving high school journalism is critical to the future of the news media. “We want more smart, energized and diverse young people interested in careers in journalism,” Callahan said. “Thanks to the leadership of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and the American Society of Newspaper Editors, we will be able to achieve precisely that by teaching the teachers at the high school level.” The Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at ASU will take place on the Tempe campus June 17-29. Two other Reynolds Institutes will be held this summer, at the University of Missouri (July 8-20) and University of Nevada at Reno (July 15-27). Each school will host 35 teachers. In 2008 and 2009, two more Reynolds Institutes will be added. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it is of one of the largest private foundations in the United States. ASNE is the principal organization of the top editors at daily newspapers. Founded in 1922 as a non-profit organization, ASNE focuses on professional development and journalism-related issues, including the First Amendment, diversity in newsroom staffing and coverage diversity, journalism education, editorial innovation and credibility. The Cronkite School is a nationally recognized program that focuses on professional journalism education at the undergraduate and master’s levels. The school regularly finishes in the Top 10 of the Hearst intercollegiate journalism competitions and is home to the Knight Chair in Computer-Assisted Reporting and the Frank Russell Chair in the Business of Journalism.