By Carolyn Shapiro

When it comes time for journalism majors at Northwestern University to pick the news outlet where they want to work for one of their academic quarters, they often go for the big names: The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Univision, Vox, Entertainment Weekly, The Wall Street Journal.

Some of the smaller print publications, broadcast and digital news providers in what’s known as the Journalism Residency program, or JR, garner less attention. But Tracy Van Moorlehem, director of JR for the Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern, tries to make sure students see the value of community news.

“I will often spend time giving my pitch for why I think it is of such value to them to start smaller,” she said. “My first job was in the Bend Bulletin in Bend, Oregon. I learned so much from that experience. You get to do so much more. You're making your mistakes in a much smaller setting. You tend to get really great one-on-one attention.”

The Journalism Residency at Medill provides plenty of options for students to start small. The current lineup of JR options includes the Minnesota Reformer, an independent, nonprofit news purveyor that pledges to keep an eye on government and report from the streets. Another, the Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned digital publication based in Denver, has stepped up to fill the gaps in coverage left by shuttered traditional newsrooms in that state. For students who want to do their JR in television, Medill has partnerships with stations in Peoria, Ill., Rhinelander, Wis., and Charlottesville, Va.

Advocate Media, a free monthly print magazine covering four neighborhoods around Dallas and part of Plano, Texas, has partnered with Medill for JR for more than 10 years. Not all Medill interns embrace the Advocate’s brand of hyper-local journalism..... , but many who come there for JR get a close view of the value that readers place on it, said Rick Wamre, the publication’s chief revenue officer.

“The few people who actually really became engaged with what we were doing and liked it are people who want to make a difference,” Wamre said. “They can feel that by getting involved in the community, they’re altering the arc of some people's lives, just by writing about them or writing about topics” that matter to them.

Journalism Residency is a requirement for Medill undergraduates, who spend a quarter getting hands-on reporting experience with a partner news organization. (Northwestern’s academic year runs on three quarters – fall, winter and spring – instead of semesters.) In most cases, they relocate to work in person, though a few JR partners have offered remote internships since the pandemic, Van Moorlehem said.

News outlets that participate in the Medill residency have to pay a stipend or an hourly wage that totals at least $2,500 to help cover the student’s costs. That helps offset financial pressures on some students.

“It becomes kind of an equity issue for students, because students really can’t have another job during their JR because they’re working full time,” Van Moorlehem said. “We feel like with a stipend, every student can participate in some way or another.”

The expense is worth the benefit for publications like Advocate Media, Wamre said. “We get to write some stories that we wouldn't be able to write just because of staffing limitations,” he said.

Medill students also bring unique perspective to the publication’s approach to coverage. Some of those ideas are “spot on about what we're not doing right or what we could be doing better,” Wamre said. “It just kind of helps keep us a little fresher, too.”

Van Moorlehem tries to ensure that the partnership is a good fit for both the student and publication. Each quarter, about 100 sites offer spots for about 60 students, who receive a list of those participating. Students submit a list of their preferences and, after meeting with Van Moorlehem, apply to a top choice. Some locations might have a geographic advantage, if a family member lives close to a site and could house the student.

While most students gravitate toward a news outlet with a name they recognize – knowing that gives them a strong jumping off point into the journalism profession – they are savvy about the news business and the way it’s changing, Van Moorlehem said.

“Some are really interested in working for nonprofit news orgs, and they really have done their homework, and they're just sort of interested in the nonprofit world,” she said. Students also ask about a work site’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, she added. “I feel like they're really smart and thoughtful consumers.”