NEW YORK, May 12, 2009 — Buried deep inside the 102-story Empire State Building in midtown-Manhattan, the World Journalism Institute believes it’s in a prime location to prepare young Christian journalists for mainstream newsroom careers.
WJI Director Robert Case said the Empire State Building has been a perfect fit for the small program that is looking to integrate student journalists into a big-city culture. And thanks to WJI’s connection with the King’s College it can do just that without cost at the Empire State Building.
“One of the great benefits of coming here is the extraordinary hospitality of King’s College,” Case said. “We are here free. We can’t duplicate that in many cities. So because of our close relationship we have special privileges here.”
WJI serves as a journalism boot camp. Students keep busy around-the-clock, taking classes and reporting around the city from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week from May 10-29. They also have numerous pre-class and post-class assignments.
“I’m looking for people that hound me, that pester me,” Case said. “I want people that have professors calling me – I don’t really want your mothers calling me – but I want your professors calling me and saying, ‘You can’t have this course without this guy. He’s just too good.’”
Successful graduates are offered as much as $2,000 a month for their first internship, and $2,500 a month thereafter. While WJI doesn’t find internships for students, Case said it provides connections for students to build on and cultivate relationships with influential people in the newsrooms across America. The stipend allows students to tell newspapers they can intern for free, which Case said is important in a struggling economy.
“We can build a fire in your belly if the Lord’s called you to journalism, and we can say, ‘If this is what you want to do, if this is what God’s calling you to do, you can count on us,’” Case told his students. “Those that want to go into journalism, they find over and over again that we are an enormous friend...So what I expect is those of you that want to be journalists will get jobs, or internships.”
2008 alum Ryan McDonald couldn’t agree more.
“They are, and will continue to be, a valuable network of Christian journalists who want nothing more than for their students and alumni to succeed,” he said.
“With the help of the World Journalism Institute, my writing noticeably improved, I made unforgettable connections and developed lifelong friendships which continue to motivate me to this day,” McDonald added.
Case said his goal is to integrate mainstream newsrooms with young, Christian journalists who have multimedia skills.
“The fact that the World Journalism Institute is located in the Empire State Building shows people that we are serious about engaging with culture and we’re going to walk the talk,” said Katherine Devorak, a student at WJI this summer and King’s College year-round. “Because we’re located in New York City and the Empire State Building we can draw people from different places in the country, because obviously New York City is a hotspot and the Empire State Building is one of the epicenters of the hotspot.”
Being located in midtown-Manhattan also allows for a wide-range of reporting access for these students as they walk along the streets of Manhattan. It’s strategic, Devorak said.
“When I travel around the world people say, ‘Where do you work?’ ‘Where do you go to school?’ I say, ‘The Empire State Building,’ and immediately you have creditability and authority,” she said.
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