East Central Reporter

High school students have less than two weeks to apply for an 11-day journalism workshop at Eastern Illinois University (EIU).

The residential program is accepting applications from sophomores, juniors and seniors until May 24. Eighteen students will be selected to take part in the annual program, which will run from June 20 to 30 on the EIU campus in Charleston. All housing, meal and tuition expenses are covered.

The workshop has run for more than 25 years and is supported by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. With instruction from award-winning reporters, editors and photographs from more than 50 media outlets since its inception, the workshop teaches students about all aspects of modern journalism and working in a digital newsroom.

The two-week program covers the entire process of news publication, taking students from reporting through production and teaching them about news literacy. The first week has students hearing from professional journalists and going on news-gathering field trips. In the second week, they shadow working reporters and journalists at local newspapers and produce a news website. 

The program also includes a trip to the Capitol in Springfield, where students will interview both news makers and the journalists who cover them.