Give a voice to 200+ student journalists worldwide

 Report For GlobalGiving.org – November 8, 2012

The first and only worldwide youth journalism charity, Youth Journalism International connects student writers, artists and photographers with peers around the globe, teaches journalism,  fosters cross-cultural understanding and promotes and defends a free youth press.

Let’s take a step back for this report and look at the big picture:

Youth Journalism International is an IRS-approved 501(C)(3) public educational charity. Created in 1994 to help Bristol students learn to write better and to get the basics of journalism, it has grown into a unique, worldwide community with more than 200 students in more than 40 countries on six continents.

• Students hail from more than 40 countries on six continents, including Afghanistan, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Armenia, Italy, Uganda, the Netherlands, Germany, Tunisia, Korea, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Brazil. Adult Ambassadors who support YJI’s work in their home communities come from a wide variety of professions and nations.
• Participating young people come from nearly every major world religion – Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism as well as other faiths – and a vast number of ethnic, cultural and political backgrounds. Friendships that develop between students lead to cross-cultural understanding and global thinking.
• Editors coach students in person in Connecticut, and for those farther afield, over the telephone and online using email, chat, Facebook and Skype to discuss ideas, story development and writing style. Editing is done in a collaborative fashion whether in person, on Skype or via email.
• No student has ever been charged a fee to participate at Youth Journalism International.
• Eager young people find Youth Journalism International online and those who are interested fill out student applications. Because of a lack of staff to handle the volume of inquiries, the current waiting list numbers more than 1,000 young people. In the month of October alone, young people filled out more than 100 applications.
• Youth Journalism International’s website: www.youthjournalism.org
• The daily blog, featuring a stream of work from students everywhere: www.yjiblog.org. Work also appears on partner sites, including PBS NewsHour Extra and The Mash in Chicago.
• YJI’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/youthjournalism. On Twitter, YJI is @yjinternational,  @SteveCollinsYJI and @jackiemajerus

Links:

• YJI's main website
• YJI's ever-changing blog

Dear friends,

Please see the attached PDF for the latest update from Youth Journalism International, which includes links to many stories as well as pictures and an insider's view of what YJI has been doing.

One piece of important news for those who live in the Connecticut or tri-state area is that YJI is teaming up with The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford to show the documentary "Linotype" on Thursday, July 26 at the museum's wonderful theater. It will be shown at 7:30 p.m., after a free ice cream social between 5 and 7 p.m. If everything goes according to plan, the grandfather of one of our former students, a former Linotype operator for The New York Times, will speak before the film. Admissions to the film are by donation to be split between YJI and the Twain House.

To keep up with what YJI is doing every day, you can check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/youthjournalism. Almost everything that our students do is also featured first on our busy blog at www.YJIBlog.org.

Generally, we are moving rapidly toward hiring our first paid staff member so we can begin to do much more for the hundreds of young people on our waiting list. Donations will have a direct impact on our ability to bring aboard more students, work with them and publish their work. They are, of course, greatly appreciated.

We are so grateful to all of you - and to GlobalGiving - for helping YJI grow and prosper. We are constantly frustrated that we can't do more, of course, but when we look back, we see so many helping hands who have made it possible for us to get this far. Thank you.

• YJI Insider (July 2012) (PDF)