In a world where news is spreading rapidly, how are today’s students able to keep up? As journalism programs continue to expand in NYC, students are learning the vital role of news reporting in our society. And in doing so, they are finding ways to support each other’s journalism programs.
Helen Leshinsky, the librarian at The Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science, recently started a journalism class. Members of the staff visited Bronx River High School’s newspaper class to share ideas about the role of journalism in high schools.
The Bronx River News started publishing in 2021, while the Voice of AMS has been publishing less than a year. Since its newspaper launch, the Voice of AMS staff has published a variety of stories on celebrating culture through cuisine, places to eat after school and other informational stories.
Even so, they say it’s a learning process.
“I always struggle coming up with new stories,” says Jahlitza Hernandez, an 11th grader. “I always do opinion because I’m too scared to do news columns.’’
Milary Herrera, an 11th grader, finds it difficult to know what to post. But she enjoys talking to people as a reporter. “I am anti-social, so I enjoy asking questions and getting to know people,” she said.
Some shared struggles are deadlines. “I struggle with deadlines; I lost track of how long it took to develop my last story,” said Genesis Malave, an 11th grader.
But then deadlines are something even seasoned high school journalists struggle with,
Just ask Aliyah Ali. The newspaper’s feature editor has been a part of the Bronx River News staff since her freshman year in 2022, when the paper was still in its infancy. “One struggle when I started on the newspaper was finding my way to adjust and knowing what I wanted to do,” she said.
But eventually she got the hang of it. “Once I figured out what I wanted to do, it became easier to mix with other staff members on the team and develop new ideas to put out,’’ she said.
The students, who visited the Bronx River News staff in late March enjoyed the Lehman campus. “I love it; it’s a very energetic and welcoming space,” said Princess Kunuah, a staff writer.
Go check them out when you have the chance and support their newspaper: https://amsvoice.org/?full-site
