Station Resources

Student Reporting Labs links your station to a local classroom or after school club to create unique youth-produced video reports for local broadcast, digital and social media platforms. Together, we are building the next generation of public media storytellers and supporters.

SRL started with just six stations and six schools in the 2009 CPB-funded pilot; there are now over 40 stations and 160 schools. We supply a unique video journalism curriculum, teacher training, equipment stipends and a variety of tools for stations to engage through social media, events and your ongoing content and outreach initiatives.

How do stations get involved?

SRL is designed to be flexible and fit in with your station’s education, community engagement and youth media goals. You can participate by hosting a station tour, retweeting PBS NewsHour SRL content related to your local Lab or connecting a reporter to the students to talk about the station’s work, provide feedback on their story pitches and rough cuts.

Station success comes in many different forms. The SRL framework enables you to:
  • Incorporate youth content into your public affairs, arts or other programming
  • Add youth presence and voice to station initiatives and community events
  • Bring youth, parents, and educators into stations for studio tours
  • Broaden and deepen social media engagement
  • Identify young, local camera-op and editing talent for freelance opportunities and internships
  • Enhance fundraising conversations with existing supporters or lapsed funders
  • Open new avenues for partnerships and fundraising
Examples include:

KLRU’s American Graduate Day featured SRL student-correspondent Kennedy Huff of Pflugerville High School.

Detroit PBS, KLRU, Arizona PM, WITF, PBS SoCal and NJTV hosted summer interns from their local Labs funded by a SRL NSF grant.

KET introduced students to public broadcasting through a station tour and while the students were in the studio, interviewed them for a local program about teenagers and health.

Our external evaluation shows that Student Reporting Labs builds lifelong learning skills that translate to other areas of teenagers’ lives, both academic and personal, and has been shown to boost intellectual curiosity, media literacy, civic engagement and attention to the news.

Tell us about your engagement, education and outreach goals and we can tailor SRL activities and strengths accordingly.

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