Build authentic engagement with student-led reporting

Thoughtful facilitation with intergenerational problem-solvers can empower young people to share their perspectives and get involved in shaping their communities. Bringing students into the newsroom can strengthen that civic involvement and offer a platform for bridging generations. That’s the premise of the Boyle Heights Beat, a bilingual digital and print newspaper that for 15 years has grown from exclusively youth-led journalism to youth and professional full-time reporting that captures the community’s resilience, hope and holistic experiences by and for the community.

Through a partnership of USC Annenberg School of Journalism and La Opinión, Boyle Heights Beat began as an extracurricular high school journalism program with two goals: training and paying local high school students to report on their community, and offering a different perspective of the neighborhood beyond the image of being a place where only crime and poverty thrive.

Kevin Martinez, now the community engagement director for the Los Angeles Local News Initiative which operates the Boyle Heights Beat newsroom, was himself a student reporter for the Beat. Over 300 students including Martinez have gone through our program, he writes for API, and a handful returned as full-time professional staff years later, creating a powerful cycle of intergenerational mentorship.

As the program and newsroom expand, Martinez shares how trust built with community listening and authentic engagement can be replicated in other community newsrooms across the country.

Build a beat around student-led community coverage

Every autumn, a cohort of 15 to 20 students start the semester-long after-school training. The first two months are spent diving into the foundations of journalism, the art of interviewing and building a successful story pitch. The third month is focused on scheduling and conducting interviews, transcribing and identifying potential quotes. The last month is crunch time: writing the first draft. This approach is based on three frameworks that can be used to highlight student voices.

Partnerships

• Connect with high school teachers and counselors that can recruit students who might be a good fit for the program. The first cohort of reporters for Boyle Heights Beat was recruited by teachers, and since then, we’ve identified key staff members across local high schools to schedule recruitment presentations and attend career and resource fairs — students now apply to participate.
• Partner with local nonprofit organizations, community groups, and small businesses to build trust among the community and reach people across generations. Throughout the years, we’ve collaborated on events like our candidate forums for local elections and our annual student-led community meetings where we raise awareness about local issues such as environmental justice and mental health. These partnerships with schools and community organizations have helped us not only build rapport with local residents, it has also helped us expand our audience across generations.

Mentorships

• Pair student reporters with professional journalists to strengthen reporting skills. Mentorship is where the magic happens. During the semester-long program, every student reporter gets to collaborate with professional journalists that facilitate the curriculum. The mentor works closely with students to stay on track with deadlines, support in the preparation and conducting of interviews and provide feedback on their drafts.
• Understand the value of intergenerational connections. Beyond meeting deadlines and completing assignments, this is where our model truly builds solidarity. The relationships we develop are crucial not just for keeping students engaged,but for creating spaces of mutual learning where knowledge and lived experiences are communally exchanged across generations. As a result, our mentors end up becoming mentors for life, in and outside of journalism.

Authentic care

• Root relationship-building with students in authentic caring. Although our work exists outside of a traditional school setting, we recognize that students want to feel seen and also cared for. This is particularly important in settings like Boyle Heights, where students of color have experienced marginalization, unequal education opportunities and systemic oppression.
• Plan to provide for students’ needs. As professor and researcher Angela Valenzuela claims, students want to feel cared for before they begin to care for their education. We believe this goes for our youth reporters as well. We provide transportation, meals during our meeting times, and connect them to resources when necessary.

Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Kevin Martinez is the community engagement director for the Los Angeles Local News Initiative, which operates the Boyle Heights Beat newsroom.