For the third year in a row, SCCC has received a grant to continue offering a FREE Community Journalist Certificate. The training focuses on helping community members develop the skills needed to serve as community journalists, covering community-centered news happening in their hometowns and counties. The grant is from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and was designed in collaboration with the Journalism + Design department at The New School. The certificate, Becoming a Community Journalist, will be offered at SCCC during the spring semester, from March 3 through April 28.
The program will offer a hands-on exploration of how journalism works. Participants will learn the tools needed to understand the local issues affecting them and their neighbors, how to report important stories, and how to connect with publishers seeking current news and fresh ideas to share with their readers and listeners.
Prof. Cheryl Conway will return as the instructor of the certificate course. Conway teaches Journalism I and II at SCCC and has decades of experience as a reporter and editor for community newspapers and magazines, as well as publisher of her online publication in her hometown.
Conway said, 鈥淚 want the participants to begin thinking like journalists and be prepared to effectively engage with their neighbors and local government. Our aim is to prepare them to become more civically active, get involved in the community media ecosystem, and seek the confidence to become a published writer.鈥�
Nancy Gallo, director of the Center for Lifelong Learning, wrote the grant application on behalf of SCCC and the Center and previously worked as a community reporter covering events in her hometown. As the grant administrator, Gallo said, 鈥淲e are so appreciative to the New Jersey Council for the Humanities for choosing SCCC as a worthy recipient of this grant.鈥� SCCC was one of only three community colleges statewide chosen to participate.
鈥淲e want to train local citizens on how to write news articles and be part of the democratic system of providing information that leads to informed citizens and decisions.鈥�
鈥淭his grant promises to have far-reaching and long-term benefits for our county and its citizens,鈥� Gallo added. 鈥淭he certificate is designed to teach journalism skills and design practices for anyone in greater Sussex County who wants to share stories and information that their communities need to thrive.鈥�
The certificate will be offered in person and online beginning March 3. The in-person workshops will meet 8 consecutive Tuesdays on the SCCC campus from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The online version of the certificate course is offered asynchronously and will also be taught by Prof. Conway. All participants should be computer-savvy and have access to the internet and email. Students are expected to type their assignments and submit them via the Canvas portal.
To register, please send an email to Tiffany Spear, Assistant Academic Affairs Coordinator, at [email protected], and she will assist you with registration. Space is limited, and seats are filling quickly.