About the Program
“Our goal is to give students the opportunity to turn stories in a day, as they would and will in their first full-time professional job.”
— SCOTT LIBIN,
Senior Fellow at the Hubbard School
— SCOTT LIBIN,
Senior Fellow at the Hubbard School
OUT ON THE BEAT
(Top) Valeria Alvarado, a cashier at Bebe Zito Ice Cream inside the food hall at the Market At Malcolm Yards, shows a new ice cream flavor, Scotcheroo, coming up for sale later in August. Photo by Rosalind Ding / The Hubbard School
(Bottom photo) Katie Maki, a cashier at Campus Market Deli and Tobacco, looks forward to Minnesota’s legalization of recreational marijuana in the Dinkytown neighborhood on Tuesday, Aug.1, 2023. Photo by Gloria Lee / The Hubbard School
Seventeen UMN student journalists explore local communities around the U
Students start working on improving journalism skills, publishing stories and producing newscasts under the guidance of Hubbard School faculty.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2023
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Story by Grace Henrie, Liv Hines / The Hubbard School
Seventeen University of Minnesota students hit the streets on Tuesday to conduct interviews as part of the brand new Hubbard Reporting Experience (HRE) at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Students in the program will report on local neighborhoods to gain professional experience. Scott Libin, senior fellow at the Hubbard School, also said the program aims to expand students’ journalistic skills developed during the traditional school year.
“Our goal is to give students the opportunity to turn stories in a day, as they would and will in their first full-time professional job,” Libin said.
Students have the option to focus on multiple disciplines, including writing, reporting, photography and producing newscasts.
Daily tasks for students include traveling to the Dinkytown, Stadium Village and Prospect Park neighborhoods and reporting on what is happening in those communities. Students will write stories and take photos to be published on the HRE website.
Students interested in television journalism will film a half-hour live newscast, which is slated to premiere Aug. 8. They worked on field exercises Tuesday to prepare them for filming and editing a variety of footage.
Hubbard School senior lecturer and Charnley professor Gayle "G.G." Golden said students generally have a difficult time getting internships. The faculty members in the program wanted to give students the opportunity to create stories in a deadline environment to prepare them for newsrooms.
Golden said she felt lucky to have Hubbard School Director Elisia Cohen’s support behind the program. All students had to apply and were selected by the Hubbard School faculty members who run the experience, who include senior fellows Sara Quinn and Regina McCombs, lecturer Seth Richardson and adjunct lecturer Marissa Evans, who is also a reporter at the Los Angeles Times.
Many students expressed excitement about the program. After the first day, senior Fiona Curran said she felt less nervous.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Curran said. “I’m excited to see what this experience has to offer.”
Curran said she wants to improve her interviewing skills and make conversations flow.
Maddie Robinson, another student participant, said she was looking forward to meeting the guest speakers who have experience in the professional newsroom, especially Alain Stephens from The Trace, a nonprofit news organization, who will be joining the program members to discuss self-care in the newsroom.
The program lasts 12 days and students earn a $1,000 stipend for completing the program.