This summer, junior Hannah Jackson became a junior journalist in college. Soon, she may be practicing journalism as a career.
For six days in June, Hannah attended the Missouri School of Journalism’s University Journalism Workshop in Columbia, Missouri. The Missouri School of Journalism is the renowned journalism school of the University of Missouri, or “Mizzou.” Some surveys over the past decade have ranked Mizzou as “far and away” the No. 1 journalism school in the country. Other surveys rank Mizzou in the Top 3, Top 5, or Top 10 of the nation’s journalism schools. Whatever the ranking, Mizzou provides top-notch college education for would-be journalists.
Judah Newsroom sat down with Hannah and asked her what she gained and how she grew while studying journalism at Mizzou this past summer. Hannah was grateful for the knowledge and training she got. She said, “I learned a lot. Before this, I had no prior journalism experience. So this was a really good introduction. It started me off on a good note. In fact, I have 15 pages of notes! They cram you with information.”
Mizzou’s workshop piled practical journalism experience on top of all that information. Hannah said that she had ample opportunities to learn and practice new ways of writing and storytelling and ample opportunities to learn and hone interviewing skills by actually interviewing interesting people that she had not met before. Talking with people is key. Hannah said, “You have to love people to be a journalist.” You have to want to share people’s stories. Hannah said that she wants “to share the stories of minorities and to help them get acknowledged for the good that they’ve done.” She is interested in becoming a documentary journalist to share these stories.
Although Hannah has a set idea of what kind of journalist she wants to be, she told us that “journalism is hard to break into, so you need to gain as much experience as possible.” Hannah is already gaining more experience this year, as a writer and reporter in the Judah Newsroom. She has emerged as a key team member, interviewing students and teachers alike to get the story and honing her craft to tell the story in a meaningful and compelling way.
Now that Judah has a working newsroom and journalism program, Judah students who are interested in attending next summer’s University Journalism Workshop at Mizzou may be eligible for a scholarship that would help cover the cost. Other summer workshops at Mizzou focus specifically on investigative journalism or on advertising and public relations. If you’re interested in finding out more about these Mizzou workshops, or more about Judah’s new newsroom team, talk to Hannah Jackson, Judah journalist.
— Jovona Neely, class of '23
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