SEJ posts information about the work of young journalists who are making an impact on their world; opportunities; and items of interest about news, activities and events centered on young people implementing change.

Events & Opportunities

Current:

• Canada's Next Green Journalist is an annual competition, part of Young Reporters for the Environment's international awards program. The Canadian program is coordinated by Environmental Defence, and recognizes inspired stories, photos and videos about local environmental issues from 12-17 and 18-21 year olds. Win a camera, a pocket camcorder, a laptop, a trip, or cash for your school. Deadline: March 1, 2013.
• Young people develop their written, speaking, communication and leadership skills, while learning about diversity, through the annual Asian American Journalists Association's J Camp. The program is not limited to Asian American students; it's open to all high school students. Deadline for the June 19-24, 2013 program in Washington, D.C. is April 5th.
• The American Society of News Editors, with technical support for teachers from the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute, provides free online hosting and a content management system for youth-generated news through its High School Journalism Initiative.

Past:

• 2012 Annual High Country News Student Essay Contest: How I Became a Westerner
  In 600 words, describe why your heart is at home in the American West. The contest is open to all currently enrolled high school students and undergraduates at American schools, colleges and universities as well as 2012 graduates. Deadline: September 21, 2012.
• To encourage students to sharpen their abilities to communicate the outdoor experience, the Outdoor Writers Association of America offers the annual Norm Strung Youth Writing Contest. The contest features separate categories for poetry and prose, with cash awards in each, for two different divisions, senior (grades 9-12) and junior (grades 6-8). The work must have been published in a newsletter, newspaper, magazine, literary collection, etc. during the previous calendar year. The publication can be school or club related, or commercial. Deadline was March 16, 2012.
• Kids These Days... Looking Out for Their Own Future, a panel during SEJ's 21st Annual Conference in Miami, October 2011, featured young environmental activists who discussed the initiatives they started at their schools and in their communities.

News

• "Lakewood Ranch Student Wins $50,000 Google Prize"
  "Out-of-Door Academy rising senior Brittany Wenger was chosen from among 5,000 students from more than 100 countries who entered the annual competition. At an event to honor the 14 finalists held Monday in Palo Alto, Calif., judges chose Brittany's artificial intelligence computer program that could provide a cheaper and less invasive method to detect malignant breast tumors as the winner." By Christopher O'Donnell, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 24, 2012.

• SEJ member Richard Zajac, an 18-year-old high school senior from Missouri, was already considering filmmaking as a career before the Fukushima disaster in early 2011. Determined to document, help out and inspire, he travelled to Japan, connected with the non-profit Safecast, which was measuring radiation levels. The following month, he interviewed ocean expert Jean-Michel Cousteau in California on the effects on marine life of radiation in the waters. Later in October, he attended the Society of Environmental Journalists' annual conference in Miami. There he previewed his documentary film "New Hibakusha." Read more >>>