The 4th Batch was a dream come true!
We are now super excited to announce the 5th Batch of the Empower Journalists (EJ) program.
Read on for details.
What is the Empower Journalists Program?
The Empower Journalists Program is the realisation of a dream that was shared by Ananya Singh, our young reader, over two years ago. She wrote to us that she would like to write features for the paper. She wrote some brilliant ones. There were other readers too, sending awesome original writing.
The program selects students, then trains them on journalism. After that, they write news and features that are published on this website.
Over the last four batches, the children have found time to bond, learn, get published, and earn work certificates.
Internship or participation certificates indicate a short-term engagement. But a work certificate as a published journalist with a real news website is just something else.
In short, The Empower Journalists Program is a program which gives a peek into the world of journalism and is open to students who are 10-18 years old. Students get trained and then write as real journalists for the website for six months @ 1 published report a week. They get a Work Certificate at the end of the program.
This is the FIFTH batch of the program.
What does it offer?
The program includes:
A. A training on journalism which includes writing, photojournalism, research, interviewing skills, etc.
The training has weekly assignments and a final submission. A minimum score in each weekly assignment and 6 out of 10 in the final assignment is required to graduate and start writing.
B. An opportunity to do actual news report writing and see your name on the website. Create a digital footprint for all internship selectors and college admission councils.
C. Opportunity to do awesome interviews and write research-based features.
D. An experience certificate for journalism at the completion of the program.
E. Opportunity to mentor the subsequent batches.
What is it like to be an EJ?
The best way to understand this awesome experience is from the earlier EJs:
Alka Singh made this video for her farewell, to capture her journey with TCP
Prashasti Kulkarni (4th batch EJ) shares her experience
Yashasvi Anika Tandon shares her experience
Parent of Prashasti Kulkarni shares her feedback
Who is it ideal for?
All children who like to write, report, and express themselves.
Older students considering journalism as a potential career option will definitely benefit in a more tangible way. But all students will learn to structure their thoughts and write coherent reports. That is an important professional skill.
We are very happy to share this feedback from one of our star EJs, Shreya Agarwal:
Nidhi aunty I wanted to tell you this one thing. I wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do actually. I knew I liked science and I liked writing news. So by 11th starting, I made my mind up to choose science as a stream and medicine as a career. But now, all thanks to TCP, I am surer of what I want to do, and that I would go for medical journalism 🙂
Who can be part of the program?
Any English-speaking student, whether homeschooled or in formal school, can be a part of the program, if they are between between the ages of 10-18 (last completed year as on October 1, 2023).
International students (students not based in India) are welcome to apply. The training timings are in IST and they may need to check if that works. Usually, we find that regions from Sydney to Europe work very well because our program timings are within their day hours. Since all modules are held on the weekend, there is no issue.
What are the charges?
The registration fee is 1000 rs.
After that, for selected students, there are no charges. No processing fee, no training fee, no certification fee, no exam fee, nothing.
We bear all the expenses, including the expenses for the training and examination of all selected students.
Selection is based entirely on the aptitude of the child.
What all will the training cover?
The training has the following modules:
- Understanding Journalism
- The Anatomy of Bias – Understanding our own biases and the biases around us
- How to Review – Grammar, Structure, Bias elimination. Rights to images – CC0 to CC4
- How to select news for kids
- Research and Writing – How to research and then simplify a topic
- Photo journalism – Good photography
- Taking interviews
- News Journalism – Writing news on contentious issues
- Research for news journalism – how we ensure that we find, and present all the pertinent perspectives
- Saying No to a story, Presenting oneself as an EJ, Doing Live Reporting from Your City.
- A guided session where we help you write a news story for real.
- The Final Checklist: Reiterating the Penalty for plagiarism, Do’s and Don’ts, Rights to Images – CC0 to CC4, Time Management for transitioning from training to writing.
When and where are the sessions held?
All sessions are held online on the Zoom platform.
They are held on the weekend – every Saturday and Sunday.
Each session is typically about two hours – 1230 to 1430 hours IST.
The dates of the sessions are:
November 18 (Saturday) – December 24 (Sunday).
Attendance is required in at least 75% of the sessions.
Great! How do I join?
You can register here. After registration, you will receive an email with the Editorial Guidelines of The Children’s Post, and details about the form.
Please budget for about 40-50 minutes to fill up the form. There is also some pre-work that will be required before you start filling up the form.
The form can be filled up any time before 31st October in a single slot of 40-50 minutes.
Important Dates
Entries Open: 12th October 2023
Entries Close: 31st October 2023
Results: 7th November 2023
Sessions: 18th November – 24th December 2023 (23rd December for training-only students).
FAQs
- I love the training. Can I just join the training please?
Yes! Many parents and students have asked for this in the last two years, so you CAN join only for the training. The training fee is INR10,000 per student. This includes the training, examination, and certification fee – all combined, and taxes included. The Training ONLY session will be up to the 11th module listed above. The 12th module is relevant for EJs joining the writing.
Click here for more details on the Journalism Certification Course.
2. Will it help if we register early, even though the last date is October 31st?
That depends entirely on you. The form requires you to write ONE small report (100 – 250 words) on a given topic. If you are someone who can write quickly and easily, an early registration may provide no benefit. If, however, you benefit from getting time to do research and collect your thoughts, then an early registration will give you that extra time. To that extent, it might be an advantage. Otherwise, the form is the same for everyone.
3. What else will the form have?
The form changes with every batch, based on feedback. This year, it has some GK, some English grammar, some logic puzzles, some Fact-Inference-Judgement, one report writing, and some behavioural questions.
3. When do we start writing for the website?
Students who do not have exams in Feb – March start writing from the week of January 8th, 2024. Students with exams can start writing after their exams.
4. How much time will an EJ have to devote to this activity?
During training, about 3-4 hours per week. 2 of these hours have to be on the weekend, and the other 2 hours at your convenience.
Once you are an EJ, it is 1-6 hours per week, depending on your interest and choice.
A research story can take up to 5-6 hours, while a regular news story is usually done in 1-2 hours, including review, grammar check, etc.
I came across this information right now and i would just love to join… Is it too late to join?… Please allow me…