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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDeborah Porterfield is the faculty adviser to the Bronx River News\u2019 student-led newsroom. (Photo courtesy of Deborah Porterfield)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Taayoo Murray | for E&P Magazine<\/p>\n
When Md Ferdous, now 18, joined Bronx River News as a junior, he was a quiet student who lacked confidence in both his writing and interviewing skills. Two years later, he graduated as editor-in-chief, leading the student newsroom and mentoring classmates, a transformation he credits to learning journalism by doing journalism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m most proud of my change from being an introvert to a confident person who was able to lead a class and manage the workflow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That transformation is exactly what faculty adviser Deborah Porterfield hopes students gain from their time at Bronx River News<\/a>, Bronx River High School\u2019s student-run publication.<\/p>\n \u201cSchool newspapers are one of the few extracurricular activities that give students a voice to decide what matters and then use their journalism skills to publish stories that have an impact beyond the classroom,\u201d Porterfield said.<\/p>\n That impact can be lasting. A story about cyberbullying<\/a> still attracts readers from across the country more than two years after publication. An obituary<\/a> honoring a beloved teacher who died this year provided comfort to students, colleagues, friends and family.<\/p>\n And when a bomb threat<\/a> forced students to evacuate to icy, winter sidewalks, student journalists documented the chaotic scene on deadline.<\/p>\n Members of the Bronx River News newsroom team are seen here attending the Baruch College \u201cNewsies!\u201d Awards, an annual journalism competition and conference hosted by the College to celebrate journalism excellence among students attending New York City public high schools. (Photo courtesy of Bronx River News)<\/p>\n \u201cWorking for a newspaper pushes students out of their comfort zones,\u201d Porterfield said. \u201cSome are initially afraid to interview people, especially students or administrators they don\u2019t know. But eventually, these timid students gain confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n They also experience a newsroom much like a professional one. They brainstorm story ideas, cover breaking news, photograph events, edit one another\u2019s work and publish stories online. Because the staff is small, editors often serve as writers, photographers and illustrators, while Porterfield provides guidance and the final review before stories go live.<\/p>\n For Staff Writer Franklin Sosa Araujo, 16 years old, who joined the newspaper as a sophomore, the adjustment happened faster than expected.<\/p>\n Franklin Sosa Araujo is a staff writer with the Bronx River News \u2014 and a two-time Baruch College \u201cNewsies!\u201d award winner. (Photo courtesy of Franklin Sosa Araujo)<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first got into the newspaper, I had no idea how to write a story,\u201d he said. \u201cLike with all new experiences, I spent a lot of time second-guessing everything. However, all of that was put to rest within maybe two weeks.\u201d Now a two-time Baruch College \u201cNewsies!\u201d award winner who will attend the New York Times Scholastic Journalism Program this summer, Araujo says journalism has taught him to think differently \u2014 not just about writing, but about people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reporting skill that has been hardest for me to develop would be asking the right questions,\u201d he said. \u201cI spend a lot of time wondering, \u2018What is this person going to push back on? How do I get the most without making things difficult or wasting too much time?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n One of his favorite assignments was co-writing a review of \u201cJoker: Folie \u00e0 Deux.\u201d \u201cWorking on it taught me that not every story has to be done on your own. Working with others can help the story be its best self,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Md Ferdous served as the Bronx River News\u2019 editor-in-chief his senior year. (Photo courtesy of Md Ferdous)<\/p>\n For Ferdous, journalism became more than a way to inform others. It became a way to better understand himself. While writing a deeply personal story during his senior year, he discovered writing could also be a form of reflection.<\/p>\n Porterfield believes those experiences prepare students for much more than careers in journalism: \u201cI believe that students who learn to think like journalists also become informed citizens. They don\u2019t accept information at face value. They ask questions, do their own research and seek different viewpoints.\u201d<\/p>\n For Araujo, the newsroom\u2019s most valuable lesson came through revision.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you submit a story, there\u2019s a 100% chance it\u2019ll get sent back to you,\u201d he said. \u201cThat sounds frustrating, and it definitely was, but then your story would get published, and that happy feeling made everything worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n At Bronx River News, students leave with more than clips and bylines. They leave knowing their voices can inform, comfort and strengthen a community. That\u2019s perhaps the most enduring lesson a newsroom can offer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Taayoo Murray is a New York City-based journalist, who covers health, wellness and parenting. She is the founder of The Care Capitalist, which convenes off-the-record rooms to think through healthcare\u2019s hardest questions. She welcomes emails at taayoo_murray@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deborah Porterfield is the faculty adviser to the Bronx River News\u2019 student-led newsroom. (Photo courtesy of Deborah Porterfield)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-314068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}