An invitational workshop sponsored by Children’s Futures, Trenton, New Jersey,
With support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Wednesday, March 10, 2004, 9 am to 3 pm at the
Marriott Conference Center at Lafayette Yard
1 West Lafayette Street, Trenton, NJ

Co-sponsors include: The New Jersey Press Association ; the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (SCILS) of Rutgers University and its Journalism Resources Institute (JRI)

Cooperating units: Trenton Central High School Media Technology Academy

AGENDA

Objectives:

• Give Trenton teenagers journalism, communication and mass media skills to produce their own stories about childhood development, health, parenting and survival issues for print and broadcast and the Internet.

• Work with newspaper, radio and television news professionals, and university faculty to find ways of better presenting youth-related stories.

• Show how the Internet and newer multimedia technologies can reach the young in a community setting, statewide, nationally and internationally.

• Link activities to high school media, academic and career development goals.

• Provide assistance to Children’s Futures, family centers and other community organizations reaching out to teenagers and young people as communicators.

Format: A daylong seminar/workshop for young people from Trenton chosen by invitation. They will hear from print and broadcast news professionals, experts in childhood development and health , and from university and high school media specialists in using innovative approaches to provide news and information.

Topics: will include childhood development and parenting concerns; fostering better relationships; teenage pregnancies; avoiding sexually transmitted diseases; good health and nutrition practices to avoid obesity, alcohol and drug abuse, and other topics to be identified by the young people themselves. Through presentations, exhibits and follow up media assignments, the young people will bring their ideas to the community.

SCHEDULE

8:30 am: Morning breakfast refreshments.

9:00 am: OPENING WELCOME
Rush Russell, President, Children’s Futures
Mayor Doug Palmer, Trenton, NJ (or later in the day—tentative)
Dr. James H. Lytle, Trenton Superintendent of Schools
Dean Gus Friedrich, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Jerome Aumente, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University.
Program moderator.

9:25 am “Opportunities for Young People in the News Media”
Acel Moore, Associate Editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist and one of the founders of the National Association of Black Journalists.”

Respondents:
Aubrey Huston, Executive Editor, The Princeton Packet
Pamela Pruitt, Vice President for Business Development, WiMG, Morris Broadcasting Company of New Jersey, and chairperson, Trenton Public Education Foundation Executive Committee.
Thomas E. Engleman, Director, New Jersey Press Foundation (New Jersey Press Association) and former Director, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund.

Some questions to be addressed:

How can young people in the schools develop their media skills?
What scholarship and summer internship possibilities exist?
How are concerns of teenagers and students covered by the media?
What can young people do in cooperation with the news media?

10:45 am: Refreshment Break

11:00 am: “The Media Tools: A Look at the Traditional News Media of Television,
Newspapers, Radio and Magazines, and the Newer Media with the
Internet and Multimedia Opportunities.”

Presentations and Discussion:

Professor John Pavlik, Director Journalism Resources Institute, and Chair, Department of Journalism and Media Studies, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

“The Internet and New Multimedia Approaches for Young People
in Creating Their Own Messages for the 2lst Century.”

Professor Thomas Petner, School of Communications, Temple University and Director of the Multimedia Urban Reporting Laboratory in the Journalism Department. Professor Petner is also a former top news executive with major television stations in New Jersey, New York and
Philadelphia.

“Using Multimedia to Tell the Stories of the Cities and Their People.
Reporting Tools for Young People.”

Format: Multimedia presentations and discussion.

Respondents:

Guy Baehr, Associate Director, Journalism Resources Institute, Rutgers SCILS, New Jersey and national official, Society of Professional Journalists, SDX, and former Star-Ledger Journalist.
Jerry Tully, Co-owner, Bright Skies Productions, Princeton, NJ, and Former Executive Producer, NBC News and MSNBC
Mercedes Diaz, Instructor, Rider University and journalist.

Some questions to be addressed:

What are the trends with traditional print and broadcast news media?
What are the opportunities for young people to communicate?
How best use these tools to tell the child development and health story?

NOON TO 1 PM: Luncheon and informal discussion with the young people,
teachers, news media professionals and child development
specialists. (Will suggest discussion themes for later feedback)

1:15 PM “Child Health and Survival in Trenton and Young People as
Key Communicators: Delivering the Important Messages”

Melinda W. Green, Vice President, Children’s Futures
Roberto Hernandez, Program Director, El Centro de Recursos para Familias/Children’s Futures, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton Family Development and Child Advocacy Division, Trenton, NJ
Dolores A. Bryant, Site Director, Children’s Futures Parent Child Center North, The Children’s Home Society, Trenton, NJ

Format: Very brief opening remarks and seminar discussion with the young people
and other participants.

Some questions to be addressed:

What are the key survival issues for infants and children?
What role do parents and the schools play in this?
What are the pressing issues facing teenagers in all this?
What role can the student media play in getting out the message?
Can community groups and the schools help?
Does anybody really care?
Can Trenton offer a national model for information action?

1:45 pm “Identifying Specific Media Projects the Young People Can Undertake.”

Janice Selinger, Deputy Executive Director for Production, NJN Public Television, Trenton, NJ : “Documentary and Television Production ,and Career Opportunities for Young People concerning Health Issues.”

Missy Flynn, Editor, “InPrint”, New Jersey Press Association and NJPA Publications Director. “A Look at Newspaper Possibilities for Youth and Health Concerns.”

Media Resources and Projects in Trenton Central High School:

Scott Sorrentino, Television Production Teacher, Trenton Central
High School

Edward Smoller, Photomedia Teacher, Trenton Central High School

Some questions to be addressed:

How can young people work with public television in joint projects?
What print and audiovisual resources are available in the schools?
How can students relate projects to their media studies?
What long range programs can be developed with young people?

2:30 pm: Final Discussion and plans for follow up projects at the high school
and in the Trenton Community.

3:00 pm Seminar/workshop concludes.

NOTE: This is a draft for discussion purposes and revision. We will list other news
media specialists who will attend and act as general resource people in
the daylong discussions. Children’s Futures staff will also be heavily
involved and should be acknowledged in the agenda. This will be true
of community leaders as well who will attend.

We should also acknowledge the assistance of Tracey A. Davis, Media
Technology Academy Teacher Leader, Trenton Central High School,
and Jane Reed, Journalism Teacher, Trenton Central High School
who have assisted in identifying student participants and will be
involved in any long range followup with the high school students.

--Jerome Aumente

Contact: For further information and to submit nominations, contact Melinda W. Green, Vice President, Children’s Futures, 28 West State St., Trenton, NJ 08608-1602,
Tel: 609-695-1977, ext. 102, Fax: 609-695-5392, e-mail: mgreen@childrensfutures.org

Rutgers University-SCILS Distinguished Professor Emeritus Jerome Aumente is seminar planner and moderator. Cosponsoring agencies: New Jersey Press Association; School of Communication , Information and Library Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and its Journalism Resources Institute. Aumente can be reached at email: aumente@scils.rutgers.edu or Tel: 540-635-6395.