Summer Journalism Bootcamp



The Daily Free Press presents the Summer Journalism Bootcamp: a free, two-week remote program for high school and college students to gain journalism experience through workshops and panels, and potentially have their work published in the FreeP. Participants do not have to be affiliated with Boston University or the FreeP.

Editors from the FreeP will work closely with students one-on-one to provide mentorship. Webinars will also feature FreeP alum who now work at The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

The purpose of this workshop is to equip students with the confidence and foundational knowledge to launch their college journalism careers. This is a tough industry to navigate, and we aim to help students from all different experience levels and backgrounds get started.

The workshop consists of three sessions in August, each a week apart: Aug. 5, Aug. 12 and Aug. 19. Attendees will work on an assignment in between each session, culminating in one piece of reporting at the end of the workshop that they can add to their portfolio — and that may be published in the FreeP.

Those interested in joining the FreeP are especially encouraged to attend, but the Summer Journalism Bootcamp caters to young aspiring journalists anywhere in the country. As this will be a fully virtual workshop without travel or living expenses, participation is completely free.

Hear from professional reporters at our speaker sessions:

Aug. 5, 10-11 a.m. EST

     Felicia Gans, The Boston Globe

     Samantha Gross, The Miami Herald

     Sopan Deb, The New York Times

Aug. 12, 10-11 a.m. EST:

     Shivani Patel, The Ventura County Star

     Sonia Rao, The Washington Post

Aug. 19, 1-2 p.m. EST:

     Mina Corpuz, The Enterprise

     Trisha Thadani, The San Francisco Chronicle

Connect with current and former FreeP editors at our instructional sessions:

Aug. 5, 5-8 p.m. EST

     Ethics of Reporting

     What’s Newsworthy?

     Finding Story Ideas

     The Reporting Process

Aug. 12, 5-8 p.m. EST:

     Hard News Writing

     Feature Writing

     Opinion Writing

     Sports Writing

     Photojournalism

     Video Journalism

Aug. 19, 5-8 p.m. EST:

     Importance of Local/College News

     Internships

     Your Rights as a Journalist

     Responding to Criticism

     Importance of Newsroom Diversity

Follow our Facebook event page to stay in the loop as the Bootcamp dates draw nearer.

RSVP here before Aug. 1!