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Voice of OC’s partnerships with local universities has offered apprentice journalists a real chance to train and publish while fueling essential civic news coverage in Orange County.
More than 400 civic news articles and photographs have been published through Chapman University’s Collegiate News Service partnership with the newsroom since 2019.
Last year, student reporters published 114 articles 0n Voice of OC.
“This platform has allowed students to take on significant reporting projects, solidifying their role as champions of transparency and community engagement,” said Susan Paterno, director for the journalism program at Chapman University’s Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
“The impact of their work is evident in how it has influenced policy changes and public discourse.”
Voice of OC Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Norberto Santana, Jr. notes the newsroom’s unique outreach and partnership with local universities, colleges and high schools is empowering student journalists at an important time.
“We are thrilled to see so many apprentice journalists learning and honing their craft across OC by putting residents in a position to have an impact in their local community.” Santana said. “Their efforts prove that young people can do great things.”
The county’s transportation agency’s decision last year to allow residents to view them from home for the first time comes after a student investigation with the newsroom gave them a failing grade for not broadcasting their meetings online and only posting audio.
[Read: Making it Easy to Watch Local Government From Home]
Following two months of reporting, the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors voted to start video streaming their meetings.
[Read: OC’s Transportation Agency Begins Video Streaming Public Meetings]
The OCTA series was a branch of a three-year series of stories resulting in increased public access to public meetings via video live streaming and archiving.
In 2020, student reporting revealed that fewer than half of Orange County’s 34 cities live-streamed their meetings, and even fewer archived them – exposing a lack of civic accountability and transparency across public agencies locally, according to Paterno.
[Read: Virtual OC Government Meetings Come at a Price, What the Lockdown Can Teach Us]
[Read: Unheard: Orange County Shuts Out Deaf Residents From Public Meeting Broadcasts]
[Read: Accessibility Accommodations For OC City Council Meetings in Real Time]
[Read: How Easy is it to Tune Into Your School Board Meeting?]
Angelina Hicks – who began reporting with the Voice of OC through Chapman’s partnership and later became a Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow at Voice of OC – was recently appointed the collegiate news service editor after being hired as an assistant professor of journalism at the university.
Hicks will continue to file stories for Voice of OC and edit student work written across her three classes for publication.
“For young journalists, especially students, getting published is so important and can be impressive, especially at a professional local newsroom like the Voice of OC,” said Hicks.
“It’s exciting to think about the future of getting more and more students published and training them to do this specific type of journalism: local, non profit, non partisan reporting on local government.”
California State University, Fullerton, has also been a legacy partner for the newsroom.
The Voice of OC’s Civic Editor Spencer Custodio and staff reporters – Hosam Elattar and Noah Biesiada – are Cal State Fullerton graduates, and former Daily Titan news editors.
The newsroom has been an internship site for numerous Cal State Fullerton students since.
[Read: Newsroom Welcomes Cal State Fullerton Interns]
In 2022, CSUF officials recognized the newsroom with the Outstanding Communication Internship Site Award for providing meaningful internship opportunities that empower students to carry out their role to inform the community.
“Voice of OC has emerged as the preeminent nonpartisan news source in Orange County,” said Amber Chitty Wilson, faculty internship coordinator for the College of Communications.
“It provides an excellent opportunity for students to hone their skills as community reporters with the knowledge that they are supported by the pillars of accuracy, transparency, independence and community that guide the Voice of OC mission.”
The newsroom also works with students at the high school level, and participates in outreach to students from high school to elementary school.
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