Reporting Sprint: A Dynamic Practice for Secondary School Students in the Media

Encourage your secondary school students to cover topics that are of most interest and concern for them through the mainstream media. Register your school to participate in the Reporting Sprint organized by the Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) and IREX as part of the USAID Media Literacy Project “YouThink”. The reporting sprinting is a dynamic practice for secondary school students in the media in which they will acquire media production skills and create and promote content that reflects the interests of young people.

What is a “Reporting Sprint”?

ICS shall prepare a program and implement a one-day media laboratory in cooperation with the secondary school which will be carried out in the school before the end of the current school year – before 10 June 2022. The school should show interest and implement activities to improve the skills of secondary school students in media production, strengthen their critical thinking and speaking out on various issues, as well as their engagement in (extra) curriculum activities.

The media laboratories will be managed by renowned journalists who will provide their practical advice on how to create attractive and professional media content in a timely manner, what are the daily routines in newsrooms, but also what are the challenges faced by media professionals. Secondary school students will understand the importance of journalism and will know how to use the media and convey their own opinions by producing content intended for young people.

After the media laboratory, each student should send the topic that he/she thinks should be represented in the media and include how it should be covered in the media. The student can make a proposal for making a different media product: multimedia product, TV report, video podcast, video for social media, etc.

Four secondary school students, whose proposals will be selected as the best, will be rewarded with a one-month internship in a national medium outlet in Skopje (TV or online portal) during the summer months. For these students, ICS will cover the cost of completing the internship. During the internship, the interns will work under the mentorship of journalists, will learn more about news production and will work in a newsroom. Together with the journalist-mentor, they will plan and produce journalistic content for young people that will be broadcasted by the medium outlet and its social platforms. The awarded secondary school students will have to obtain a written consent from a parent/guardian before they can do the one-month internship in the medium outlet.

All other participants will receive certificates from the Institute for Communication Studies and IREX for participation in the media laboratory.

How can your school apply?

A professor who will be involved in the development of the program for the media laboratory in cooperation with ICS and who will be also responsible for coordination of its implementation will apply on behalf of the secondary school. A financial compensation in the amount of 4,000 denars for the engagement of the professor shall be provided, including a certificate of participation. More teachers can apply from the same school, but only one will be selected.

The applications can be submitted no later than 16 May (Monday) 2022, by using the ONLINE APPLICATION.

School selection criteria

ICS will select 4 secondary schools in which one media laboratory per school will be implemented. The best secondary school students will be selected who will be rewarded with a paid one-month internship in a medium outlet.

The following criteria will be considered an advantage in the selection of secondary schools:

• previous experience with activities aimed at increasing students’ media literacy and developing their skills for critical thinking or producing media stories;
• existing school groups/sections for literature and writing, journalism, drama, art, debate or similar that encourage the engagement of the secondary school students and with which an application for the “Reporting Sprint” can be filed;
• to have the right number of secondary school students who are actively involved and participating in media, journalism or other sections or project activities of the school who would be interested in participating in the media lab and for submission of ideas/topics for one month internship in the media; and
• to show readiness to organize school teaching or extracurricular activities for implementation of the media laboratory in the school.

Contact person

Monika Aksentievska, Program Assistant, Institute of Communication Studies

; 070 281 654