By Sheryl Swingley—
MUNCIE, IN—Muncie Central High School senior Selah Derby was one of 38 students nationwide to attend the Princeton University] Summer Journalism Program.
The workshop, which was an all-expense paid experience to Princeton, started online on July 1. The students selected for the journalism program had two to three Zoom lectures for three weeks prior to the start of the in-person workshop on campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The online sessions Included reading and reporting assignments.
Two of Derby’s articles have been archived among the stories written for the program. Both were opinion pieces: one was about releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and the other one was about refs in the WNBA. While at the program, the group attended a New York Liberty WNBA game.
“The virtual portion was obviously a little harder because it was online, but it was amazing because it allowed us to hear from many different speakers who wouldn’t have been able to make it to Princeton, such as American journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro (former NPR “Weekend Edition Sunday” host and now an opinion audio podcast host for The New York Times), for the in-person part,” Derby said.
At the Princeton program, nationally known and award-winning journalists spoke daily with the students. Derby counted hearing from nearly 40 professional journalists from The New York Times, NPR, Teen Vogue, CNN, C-SPAN, Sports Illustrated, Bloomberg and PBS, as well as various book authors and journalism professors. The students also had assignments and wrote daily.
Topics visiting journalists discussed were interviewing, pitching story ideas, use of AI, data journalism, opinion journalism, sports reporting, breaking news, reporting on race and ethnicity, role of the science journalist, how to cover America like a foreign correspondent, how to prepare for interviews with politicians, environment, journalism law and ethics, entertainment journalism, small business reporting and podcasting.
Derby said: “The Princeton Summer Journalism Program was seriously one of the best experiences of my life, and it was so unexpected, too. When my mom first brought this up, I had never done anything journalistic. I love writing; I have strong opinions; and I love the news, but I had never truly been involved in anything journalistic.
“I have always had big aspirations, but when applying for this program, I tried to already have a sense of failure, so that when I was rejected, I would not be upset about it. Long story short, I got accepted and I was so excited.”
In addition to getting a start toward a possible career in journalism, Derby had her first plane ride and her first visit to New York City as a result of attending the summer program.
Derby said, “But one of the things I loved most about the program was getting to meet different people with different genders, different backgrounds, different ethnicities and different cultures from all over the United States. My peers and counselors at PSJP truly made the experience, and without them, it would not be the same.”
Sheryl Swingley is a retired Ball State University journalism instructor where she taught for more than 28 years. Prior to joining the Ball State faculty, she was a health care public relations practitioner.
