The development of the Black Press in America can trace its origins in the spirit of this African proverb.

“Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.”

No one can tell our story better then us. Black journalists are today’s griot, chronicling the stories of our communities and heritage to be passed on to future generations.

CHRIS MOORE

For the past quarter-century, a group of committed and dedicated Black journalists have come together to give back to the community the best way they know how—reaching back to expose high school students to the scope and influence of the media.

The Pittsburgh Black Media Federation began its Urban Journalism Workshop after hearing about a similar program in St. Louis. Since then more than 700 students have been immersed in to an intensive week-long residential “camp” receiving hands-on instruction from media professionals; by the end of the week, the students will have produce a radio and TV news broadcast and a newspaper.

Members of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, who work for the New Pittsburgh Courier, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, WTAE, WPXI, WQED, KDKA, KQV, WAMO, WPGH and others, have decided to devote their time to the workshop as instructors.

This year’s workshop will begin Aug. 2. Downtown’s Point Park University is the site of the seven-day residential program, and many businesses and community organizations donate time, money and effort to ensure the success of the workshop.

The program, free to the student, is designed to encourage high school youths to enter the profession of journalism. Students will meet with instructors, all of whom are employed in the media, for a week of rigorous training in meeting deadlines, producing and editing a paper and producing and delivering a television and radio news program.

“We do this to continue the legacy of those whose shoulders we stand on, such as Mal Goode, the first African-American journalist on a television network broadcast, and Frank Bolden, a distinguished Pittsburgh Courier reporter who was one of the first Black correspondents to report from the front lines during World War II, after whom we’ve named our workshop,” said Erv Dyer, president of Pittsburgh’s NABJ chapter.

Both Goode and Bolden are from Pittsburgh and have ties to the Courier.

Nationally, because less than 11 percent of professional journalists are Black and many good students show a reluctance to enter the field, a strong need exists for such a workshop.

“We also do it because we believe in a free and responsible press and a press where all of the voices of society are represented and covered fairly and honestly and fully,” Dyer said.

A typical week includes orientation with an overview of what constitutes news, computer training, tours of various news outlets and the various nuts and bolts of journalism.

Many of the participants go on to college and major in either journalism or mass communications. For some, the experience helped them decide on a career path and was a springboard for future success.

That was the case of Keith Alexander, who attended Howard University before launching a journalism career with the Dayton Daily News, Business Week and USA Today and for the past seven years, the Washington Post.

“What an opportunity to figure out who and what I am!” said Alexander, who participated while a student at Steel Valley High School. “In high school, to find out that I’m called to (journalism) was great. It allowed me to be around others with similar talents.”

For workshop instructors and presenters, the opportunity to give back is a major draw.

“I participate every year because I want to be part of the solution and not just be one of many adults talking about the problem of our young people not believing in themselves, not having mentors and not reaching for goals,” said Olga George, a television producer at KDKA and WQED.

“When I see the pleased and sometimes surprised look of accomplishment on their faces, I’m motivated to do the workshop another year. Our young people are like an unattended garden that is full of weeds and trash. Like that garden when the weeds are pulled and the trash removed the students bloom and thrive bringing an unseen beauty to the community.”

Fellow workshop coordinator Carmen Lee of the Heinz Endowment agrees.

“I continue to be involved in the workshop because I know it works. I’ve seen how it’s helped a number of students become more motivated about school. I’ve watched some go on to become colleagues in the field of journalism. It has made a difference in lives of many young people, and I want to be a part of that.”

One of the more high profile workshop students is Sharon Epperson, a personal finance reporter for CNBC, who is also an adjunct lecturer in the School of International Public Affairs at Columbia University, where she teaches a course on professional development for graduate students interested in careers in media and communications.

Another one of the workshop’s success stories is Deborah Todd, a former Courier writer now with the Post-Gazette.

“I’m always glad to go back and help a new group of aspiring journalists take steps toward their futures,” Todd said. “Seeing them reminds me of a time when I had pie in the sky dreams, but no plans to make them a reality. Chris Moore, Olga George and other workshop mentors, who remain my mentors to this day, helped me see journalism as not only a realistic career prospect, but as an invaluable public service that needs dedicated professionals from all walks of life.

“Rather than simplifying broad concepts and making the work seem easy, the workshop throws students directly into the often chaotic world of news, guides them through the process and sends them home with a product they can hardly believe they made under the circumstances, which is more like professional journalism than any of them could ever imagine. They don’t bring journalism down to a young person’s level—they lift young people to a journalist’s level.”