Apply for the SRL Homegrown Fellowship!
The PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs Homegrown Fellowship gives students in the Washington D.C. Metro area an opportunity to make professional-quality videos while developing their journalism and video production skills and connecting with other students who are passionate about storytelling. This year, Fellows will create short video profiles of young voters whose stories exemplify their communities.
Previous Homegrown Fellowship stories:
One DACA recipient’s journey to higher education (2019)
Reimagining School Lunch (2018)
Eligibility:
- You must attend a high school in Washington D.C., Maryland, or Virginia within 30 miles of WETA (Arlington, VA).
- Passion for storytelling and desire to hone your journalism and video production skills.
Click here to apply by December 6, 2019, at 5 PM EST.
This year, we are accepting Fellows who will be working as a team under the mentorship of SRL Digital Producer Rawan Elbaba and Youth Media Producer Eli Kintisch to produce several documentary-style video profiles for Student Reporting Labs.
Time Commitment and Timeline of Fellowship:
Fellows should expect to give around 30 hours total to the Homegrown Fellowship over the spring semester:
- Around 25 hours of in-person time (meetings at WETA, filming on location, editing, and premiere celebration)
- Around 5 hours of remote communication (texts, email, Google Hangouts, giving feedback to cuts, etc.)
An exact schedule will be determined once Fellows have been selected, depending on everyone’s calendar and the schedules of interview subjects. But here is a rough timeline:
December 2019:
- Students will submit an application by December 6, 2019.
- Student Reporting Labs will announce the selection of Fellows by December 15, 2019.
January 2020:
- PBS NewsHour Education Managing Editor Leah Clapman, Director Elis Estrada, Digital Producer Rawan Elbaba, Youth Media Producer Eli Kintisch, and Fellows will meet in early January to discuss story ideas and decide together which story to pursue.
February/March 2020:
- Fellows shoot story with SRL staff.
- Fellows transcribe and log footage.
- Fellows write a script and submit to Rawan and Eli.
March/April 2020:
- Once the script is approved, editor(s) puts together a Rough Cut and submits to Rawan, Eli and team.
- Fellows will give feedback and editor(s) will turn around a Fine Cut.
- If necessary, team will give a final round of feedback and editor(s) will turn around a Final Cut.
All Fellows will work in one or more of the following roles based on their experience and interest:
- Team Leader
- Demonstrates leadership skills or has completed a major collaborative project
- Keeps the team in communication and on top of deadlines
- Updates SRL producers Rawan and Eli once a week on production developments
- Producer(s) and Interviewer(s)
- Reaches out to potential sources, conducts pre-interviews and schedules interviews and shoots
- Interviews subjects on-camera, records voiceover (if needed), and works with SRL Producers to write the script
- Camera Operator(s)
- Organizes and writes a b-roll shot list before shoots
- Captures quality video and audio during interviews and b-roll shoots
- Transcribes interviews and logs footage
- Editor(s)
- Transcribes interviews and logs footage
- Assembles footage and produces a rough cut, fine cut, and final cut after receiving and responding to feedback
Share this Fellowship with students. Download one-pager here.
The fellowship will be completed by mid-April and end with a celebratory premiere event. Upon completion of this fellowship, you may list Rawan Elbaba and/or Eli Kintisch as a reference on your resume.
*Student Reporting Labs will cover all travel to and from program events, plus food and snacks.