Communities are stronger when young people have a voice and the tools to tell important stories.
UPDATE: The COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily changed traditional reporting methods, including many of the assignments and prompts created for this election toolkit. In-person events such as rallies, town halls, debates and in most cases, voting, have either been postponed, rescheduled or recreated for virtual spaces to ensure the safety of all individuals. The impact of COVID-19 will be a key issue at the polls this November. We encourage students to practice safe reporting and to think about how the pandemic is changing the major issues that were top-of-mind for Gen Z before social distancing began. Use SRL's "Art of the Remote Interview" for interviews with local officials, experts and voters, and the "Let's Talk About Election 2020" to research and explore topics most important to you this election season.
Traditional local news is disappearing, but teenagers across America are keeping journalism alive in their communities in new and innovative ways. From interviews with local representatives to conversations with peers who are grappling with top-of-mind issues such as gun violence and climate change, student journalists are filling critical information gaps.
Hundreds of federal, state and local elections will be held in 2020 with candidates up and down the ballot vying for votes, including the 22 million eligible voters of Generation Z.
We need student journalists to ensure their voices are heard.
HOW TO USE THIS TOOLKIT
The Student Reporting Labs Election Toolkit is designed to give middle and high school students the tools and confidence to practice quality journalism in their community during the 2020 election cycle.
This site includes how to's, example stories produced by student journalists, challenges and additional resources collected and created using the knowledge and expertise of teens, educators and SRL, a leader in the youth journalism space.
Now that you're ready to hit the ground running, get started by learning How to Interview a Politician, How to cover Election Events and complete your first student challenge.
This Toolkit is collaborative.
We want to hear from you! Are you working on an interesting story about the issues affecting your community this election season? Or are you an educator with a lesson plan we haven’t thought of? Or a media organization interested in connecting with young people creating media in your town? Reach out to us or submit your resources in the “Collaborate” tab.
This election year, SRL is creating intentional pathways for teens to produce original news stories for local audiences, enabling schools, media outlets and students to work together to enrich local news and create on-ramps for young people to become civically engaged and informed media creators and consumers.
