The story of prize-winning Inquirer columnist Acel Moore is a familiar and well-chronicled one.
On Saturday, Feb. 5, student journalists Zoomed in for a retelling of the life and legacy of this native son from South Philadelphia. Seventeen participants from across the region were seated for the 38th annual high school journalism workshop.
According to program director Jameel Rush, The Inquirer’s vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion, all four workshops this month will be held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic.
The eponymous program, which teaches students the fundamentals of print and photojournalism, was started in 1984 by Moore, a 1977 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. One of Moore’s lifelong commitments was to help launch journalism careers of Black and Brown students in the city.
In an inspiring presentation, Richard G. Jones, The Inquirer’s managing editor for Opinion, told a captive audience that he quickly bonded with Moore after joining the paper as an intern in 1990.
Jones, a native Philadelphian whose mother still lives in Swampoodle, said he always kept his eyes on The Inquirer throughout an accomplished career. Two of his mentors in the early 1990s were Moore and the late Chuck Stone of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Jones, who most recently was the chief academic and administrative officer at the University of Notre Dame, also discussed the role of journalism in society and the importance of ethics.
With help from staff volunteers, students will continue to work on their news articles for publication on the workshop’s site.
Oscar Miller
Workshop committee member