A "win-win" partnership brings a surge of reporting firepower to hyperlocal news outlets around Boston

"And what they really, really want? Reported, ready-to-go stories they can trust. Bright-eyed students need real-world journalism experience and a bevy of clips. Resource-strapped local news organizations - many operating without full-time paid reporters - need polished pieces that don't require a lot of time-consuming edits. Editors at these hyperlocal outlets rarely have the time to handhold new reporters or shape unsolicited end-of-semester submissions into workable pieces of news."

"The BU Newsroom addresses common complaints of working with student journalists in two key ways: Outlets only get stories they commission or approve. They get articles throughout the semester, too, not just a dump of pieces filed near finals. Each student-written piece arrives fully edited by a professional editor and ready to publish. Stories arrive fact-checked and vetted with headlines, artwork, photo captions, dotted i's, and crossed t's."

"The local news partnership piloted as a single 18-student class taught by former Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory and former Portland Press Herald executive editor and Globe alum Steve Greenlee last semester. Now the program includes 61 students across four reporting classes and one photojournalism class. There are plans to add additional classes focused on data journalism, accountability and investigative journalism, and audience engagement."

Boston University runs a student-journalism program that supplies polished, publish-ready reporting to local hyperlocal news outlets. The program matches students' need for real-world experience and clips with resource-strapped outlets that lack full-time reporters. Participating outlets commission or approve stories and receive articles steadily across the semester rather than a finals-time dump. Each student piece is professionally edited, fact-checked, and delivered with headlines, artwork, photo captions, and full copy editing. The pilot began as an 18-student class and expanded to 61 students across multiple reporting and photojournalism classes, with plans for data, investigative, and audience-engagement courses.

Read at Nieman Lab