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Newspaper workshop works Hopi into pages
A newspaper produced by high school students at a UA journalism workshop
went trilingual for the first time this summer, with English articles
translated into Spanish and Hopi.
The 12-day Journalism Diversity Workshop for Arizona High School Students
finished Wed-nesday, with a graduation ceremony and fresh-off-the-press
copies of The Chronicle, an eight-page newspaper produced by the group.
Along the way the students were fed a crash course of reporting, editing,
photography, design, Web programming and media law and ethics. They faced
real deadlines, late nights and all the pressure that accompanies real-world
journalism. The newspaper was put together by 12 students from across the
state.
"I was worried I wouldn't have my paper in time and I was worried about
fact-checking and making sure I had all the information," said Kassandra
Ruelas, a 16-year-old senior from San Simon who has yearbook experience, but
was working on a newspaper for the first time. "I was really happy with what
we accomplished here."
Stories in The Chronicle covered Tucson's drought, eating disorders in
teenagers, humanitarian aid for illegal immigrants, the demolition of the
UA's Franklin Building and coverage of Wildcat athletics. Stories about
American Indian students were translated into Hopi and stories about
Hispanic students were published in Spanish.
"Putting together the paper was fun and difficult," said Marice Lalo, a
19-year-old graduate of Hopi High School in Keams Canyon and The Chronicle's
editor in chief. "Staying up late to do editing was hard, but it was all
worth it."
Lalo, who worked this past year on her high school paper, the Bruin Times,
said she was expecting more lectures and classroom learning and appreciated
that the workshop got into more hands-on activities.
"These students didn't just come here to put a newspaper out," said William
F. Greer, the workshop's director and an associate journalism professor.
"They came to learn ethics, law and fairness."
Part of the workshop's aim is to familiarize students with the college
experience, encouraging them to continue their education, Greer said. The
department has offered the program for more than 25 years.
"This is a journalism workshop, but mostly it's to get these young people to
move onward," Greer said. "No one will be afraid of a campus any more."
Marcos Vidal, a 16-year-old junior at Tucson High Magnet School, said the
workshop took a lot more responsibility than working on his school paper,
the Cactus Chronicle.
"You had to be more into what we were doing because we had such a short
deadline," he said. "Even when things got tough, I knew things were going to
turn out OK because we were working with such a great team."
● Contact reporter Eric Swedlund at 573-4115 or at
eswedlund@azstarnet.com.
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