Introducing PBS News Student Reporting Labs 2023-24 Community Report

A note from Leah Clapman, Founder and Executive Director:

Last year we shared with you our first-ever strategic plan and community report, and since then the SRL team has been focused on supporting and growing our community, exploring ways for student reporting to reach new audiences, and expanding our in-person training events. Alongside these initiatives, SRL continued to tackle critical topics important to teens: election issues, gun violence, schools, AI, online communities and discourse, life after graduation, art, music and culture. 

As we prepare for 2025 and beyond, Student Reporting Labs is committed to listening, collaboration, representation, curiosity, intentionality, equity, respect, and our vision of a world in which young people’s voices are heard and valued, and free expression meets journalistic integrity. The more we amplify student reporting, the more it encourages others to engage and  participate.

And young people need ways to feel part of something positive right now. Recently, SRL worked with a new nonprofit news outlet to organize a conversation with local educators. The teachers described some of the fearful questions students had after the election. We brainstormed: what if students interviewed immigration lawyers or local government officials who could answer their questions? Not only would it help students in her class meet their uncertainty with action, but also help others with similar questions know that they are not alone. 

Conversations  like these are at the core of our work and reflected in our new name. PBS News is now a full-service news brand with a suite of products (including the nightly News Hour) and services. For us, the updated brand reinforces our mission to support young people and new audiences with PBS values of public-service journalism. PBS News Student Reporting Labs continues to reflect our central goal to experiment and explore ways to provide transformational learning opportunities for young people and support the educators who make it all happen. 

The amazing SRL team does this every day in the content and experiences we produce, and most importantly, the community we build. I hope you can take a moment to read and reflect on our community report; it really is a celebration of the work we have all done together this past year. 

To all the SRL students, teachers, supporters, funders and champions, THANK YOU. Your continued gifts of energy, time and yes, funding, mean the world to us and enable us to keep building a world that cares about teenagers, journalism and stronger, informed communities.