Be curious. Interview your data. Lean on mentors in your life.
These were just some of the lessons that students learned from an array of Inquirer journalists with different beats and roles who came to share their expertise during the second week of the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop.
The morning started with a news quiz to test students’ knowledge of events from the past week and encourage workshop participants to pay attention to news.
Then, a panel of Inquirer journalists discussed how they got into journalism and came to be at The Philadelphia Inquirer, the importance of curiosity for a journalist, and the ways they approach their different beats.
Kevin Riordan, a business and real estate reporter; Earl Hopkins, an arts and entertainment reporter; and Gillian McGoldrick, a politics reporter who covers Pennsylvania state government (and is an Acel Moore workshop graduate), also shared examples of stories they’ve done and how they reported them.
John Duchneskie, The Inquirer’s graphics editor, showed students in the writing track how journalists use maps, charts, diagrams, and illustrations to enhance stories and how data can be the story. He emphasized that journalists need to make sure their data is of good quality and that “interviewing the data” is an important way to do that.
He also helped students think through data to look for to help tell their stories during the workshop.
Meanwhile, students in the visuals track reviewed and critiqued photos they’ve taken.
The workshop’s sports journalism panel featured Isabella DiAmore, an associate editor who also writes stories focusing on high school and college sports, and EJ Smith, an Eagles beat reporter.
They talked to students about networking, interviewing athletes, and how they adapt to the unpredictability of their unconventional work schedules. They also shared how they got into journalism, the experience they got working as student journalists in college, and their love of telling stories of the humans behind the sports stats.
Danese Kenon, The Inquirer’s managing editor for visuals, later led a session on photojournalism ethics. Students learned about photo manipulation, the importance and role of photojournalism, and the standards to which photojournalists are held.
She also shared advice about having hobbies outside of work and developing relationships with mentors. She reminded students that they are not alone.
To finish the day, the students in the writing track worked on their stories, while the students in the visuals track discussed subjects to photograph with the Inquirer journalists leading this track. Heather Khalifa, an Inquirer photographer, broke down one of her photo stories as a learning tool.
