The high school curriculum comprises several activities that can impart career readiness. Experts in various fields give guest lectures and conduct workshops and there is a provision of electives too. All such facilities expose high school students to career life waiting after their tenure on the campus. Amongst such activities, the ones we cover in this post are journalism activities.
Journalism is one of the major fields where having an opinion can matter a lot. Your take on events or happenings around us should be influential enough to move the readers and charge them up. Such clarity and brevity in writing become possible to achieve when you do certain projects or mock assignments.
Listed here are some of the journalism activities that high schoolers can take up as a part of training for a career in this field.
Activities for high schoolers who want to pursue Journalism
1. Redoing an article from the past
Do you follow any publication or a journalist’s work regularly? If yes, this activity may excite you.
- Visit the archived articles or featured posts from the journalist’s or magazine’s website or offline records in the library.
- Pick the literary piece that you found interesting or close to your school of thought.
- Research the facts mentioned in the article and give your take by writing it afresh.
This activity can help you refine your research and writing skills that are needed for a happening career in journalism.
2. Starting a blog or website of own
Journalism demands that aspirants have exceptional writing skills. Display of writing skills becomes easier by starting a blog or website of your own.
High school students can start their blogs based on news and analysis of current affairs. It helps them brush up on their writing abilities and also portray the work to the readers.
Pick a purpose and write on a daily basis the developments, current trends, and other information surrounding the news or topic of your choice.
3. Contribute to a high school magazine
High school students, with the mentorship of teachers, can invite peers and teachers to work collectively on a school magazine.
They can make teams, decide upon the sections, and collect content items of different genres to put together an educational yet entertaining magazine.
This initiative provides the functional expertise or working knowledge for the roles of magazine editors in the future.
4. Guest edit for a local publication
Approach the local publication of your area and volunteer to write an editorial for them. If internship programs are available, you can join them as well.
Working as the guest editor earns you a reputation and also helps you learn the nuances of writing the editorials and features for a magazine.
It is an easy journalism activity if you have an interest in writing and creating news articles and editorials.
You can also join the internship program of a news station or local newspaper office and get the correct atmosphere for developing journalism skills.
5. Story writing
Journalism aspirants showing germs for the same at the high school level can take part in a story-writing activity. This activity requires the student to pick a topic and weave a story around it.
They may take the help of facts and figures about the topic from the official records and give the story a realistic touch. Story-writing may involve any celebrity or public figure too. You may take a slice of their life and prepare an account of all the events with a pinch of story-writing flavor.
6. Photojournalism
It is an interesting activity that involves testing photography skills too. You can either click a ground-breaking photograph and write a feature that explains why and how that photo is worth discussing.
The activity can also be done while keeping the social media platforms in mind. High schoolers interested in taking up journalism in career life can fathom the social media and reach the photos that are trending or are unique in their special way. They can investigate the story around that photo and prepare a write-up.
7. Take a journalism class
High schoolers can take up a journalism class to acquaint themselves with the basics of this field. The journalism class is available under the electives program in various high schools. You can enquire about them and join them as per your learning requirements.
Several reputed journalists and publication houses/newspapers/magazines run the internship programs. In these programs, they conduct workshops and training sessions that cover various aspects of journalism as a profession. It helps you come out of school more prepared for the jobs.
These are a few of the activities that high school students can do to build their skills in journalism. If your high school offers you journalism and mass media as an elective, you may expect these activities to be included in the course.
Wrapping up,
Journalism is the field where your sensibility and expression abilities are put to use. High school students can employ their writing skills in creating readable content that amuses or inspires readers. By adding the investigation ability to writing skills, the needs of jobs in journalism can be fulfilled.
High school activities offer the perfect preparatory ground for a career in journalism. We will be adding more areas and their activities in coming posts; keep watching the space for new activities.
Sananda Bhattacharya, Chief Editor of TheHighSchooler, is dedicated to enhancing operations and growth. With degrees in Literature and Asian Studies from Presidency University, Kolkata, she leverages her educational and innovative background to shape TheHighSchooler into a pivotal resource hub. Providing valuable insights, practical activities, and guidance on school life, graduation, scholarships, and more, Sananda’s leadership enriches the journey of high school students.
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