A Conference for High School Media
Like the Granite State News Collaborative, partners at The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication believes firmly that robust and open debate is essential to the health of our nation’s democracy. To ensure the future of that debate, we are dedicated to educating leaders of conscience in public communication. The Presidency & The Press conference reaches out to our nation’s high school media. In one short four-day span, we will introduce some of the country’s most engaged youth to the dynamics of presidential election politics, the role of the media who cover it, and the relationship between the two. Every speaker, every tour, every interview is designed to give these young people the skills and information they need for full participation in the Presidential Election.
This year, The Granite State News Collaborative is the media sponsor for the workshop and Project Manager Melanie Plenda is the professional in residence for the week.
The four days promise to be full ones. The days start with a morning press gaggle, at which time the students will be advised of the final schedule and drop-in/call-in guests. Action then moves into the newsroom, where work will continue on the conference’s on-line newspaper. The middle of the day is devoted to briefings, which are followed by dinner at the Press Club and "Off-the-Record" conversations on issues, personalities and careers with state and national media and political figures.
The students are here to learn. They will be assigned to a beat, working the conference as reporters, producers, bloggers, photographers, and videographers for print and electronic media. Students will work on stories, complete interviews, and wrap up news packages under the guidance of experienced faculty and university students. The Fitzwater Center Briefings, the conference’s on-line newspaper, will showcase each student’s work. In addition, the world will be able to log onto the web and watch a Fitzcast of "The Presidency and The Press: The Week in Review".
Watch, read and listen to the students’ work from the 2019 Presidency & The Press