Become a citizen correspondent.

For the last several years, we have been focusing our efforts on working with Dayton-area students. No prior experience in journalism is necessary — but a curiosity about reporting and life in the Dayton area, along with a commitment to attending all workshops, will help you get the most out of the program. Meetings are currently open to residents of Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties.

What to expect

Participants:

• Develop story ideas under the guidance of a team of experienced reporters.
• Share ideas and contacts, talk through matching stories with the right media outlets, and hear from occasional guest speakers.
• Work with Lab staff to think through and analyze their story proposals.

Our aim is to help you pitch ideas to newspapers, magazines and websites. (We are not a publishing platform.) Completing at least one story and pitching it to a news outlet before our final workshop is the main goal we set for you.

Over the full course

Courses typically run from November to March, across seven to eight meetings, with additional support offered afterward to participants whose stories have been commissioned. You can expect:

• Mentoring across key reporting streams — news and opinion writing, audio, and photojournalism — by our experienced leadership team.
• Regular coaching in story formation, news judgement and pitching, delivered by email, phone, our dedicated Slack channel, and during bureau meetings.
• The opportunity to publish your story in leading local, national or international media outlets.

Stay tuned for our next series.