Nov. 15, 2010
A GW-based high school journalist mentoring program, the only one of its kind in the District, has formed a new partnership with the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA).
Through the partnership, WHCA members will volunteer with GW’s Prime Movers Media (PMM) Program, which brings together professional journalists and GW students to mentor high school student journalists. WHCA also will donate $20,000 to the program and highlight PMM at its annual White House Correspondents dinner next spring.
“We are delighted to be able to support a program that has already mentored thousands of journalists in the D.C. area,” says Michael Scherer, Time magazine White House correspondent and WHCA donations committee member. “This is precisely the sort of work that the White House Correspondents’ Association was founded to support.”
Based in the GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), the PMM program sends veteran journalists and GW students to mentor high school students and assist teachers while revitalizing their media programs in television, radio, print and digital /online production. PMM currently has active programs in eight high schools in Washington D.C., and just received its fourth year of direct support from the D.C. Public Schools system with a $100,000 grant.
Since its inception in 2004, the PMM program has worked with more than 3,500 high school students in greater Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia and approximately 100 professional journalists.
“We are happy to have the support of this prestigious organization of the nation's top journalists,” says Dorothy Gilliam, PMM director and former head of the National Association of Black Journalists. “The involvement of this esteemed association will be exciting for our D.C. high school students and will contribute to our goals of revitalizing media programs, mentoring future journalists and advancing media literacy and civic engagement of youth in urban and diverse high schools.”
Ms. Gilliam, also a founder of the Young Journalists Development program, first became involved with PMM as an SMPA Shapiro Fellow in 2003 and said she believes the field of journalism equips students with the knowledge they need to be successful.
“The group effort of professional journalists, college interns, teachers and PMM staff enhances the writing, speaking, technological, critical thinking and citizenship building skills that young people need to be successful in school, work and life,” says Ms. Gilliam, “and attracts more young people of color to media careers.”
Since 2008, Sylvia Moreno, a former Washington Post reporter, has shared her more than 35 years of journalism experience as a PMM mentor with high school students at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School and Coolidge Senior High School. Ms. Moreno says she enjoys training students in the field and sharing her own stories, which hopefully inspires them to pursue reporting.
“A lot of these schools don’t have the support for a journalism program, so for us to come in and help put out a newspaper or advise their broadcast students is a huge help,” says Ms. Moreno. “I think it’s a nice example to the students to see and listen to a professional. We may not make a difference in every student's life, but some will really listen and may even get into the field, which is our hope.”