Student Journalists at RNC and DNC
Donation protected
"Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
My name is Andrew Roth and I am a high school Junior planning on studying journalism in college. I am the Digital Editor-in-Chief and Advertising Manager for our school newspaper, The Blazer.
Three of my fellow student journalists and I have worked towards and received several incredible opportunities to cover the 2016 Presidential Election as members of the media; we've attended rallies, town halls, and press conferences for Bernie Sanders and John Kasich, the Fox News and RNC Republican Debate in Detroit, MI, and the CNN and DNC Democratic Debate in Flint, MI. Additionally, we recently had the opportunity to temporarily join the White House Press Pool to cover the arrival of Air Force One to Bishop Airport and President Obama's remarks at Northwestern High School to the citizens of Flint, MI regarding the ongoing water crisis there.
Now, we are going after the biggest story of the primaries season and our most ambitious project yet and are working with the Congressional Press Galleries to be credentialed to cover the Republican National Convention (July 18 through July 21) in Cleveland, OH and the Democratic National Convention (July 25 through July 28) in Philadelphia, PA. These events will see between 15,000 and 20,000 journalists credentialed; the second largest national press corps in history, behind only the 2014 Olympic Games. We aspire to be included in this group.
These conventions will provide the material for several articles on our website, which receives over 5,000 views per month. Daily features stories detailing our experiences, photo galleries, and interviews with campaign surrogates (mayors, senators, etc) are just a few of the ideas we have in mind. Additionally, attending the conventions as high school students gives us the potential to see (and learn from) professionals of the field in action while getting real world experiences working side by side with them that will help us both in our studies and in life.
In the world of journalism, credentials can be viewed as trophies. Being credentialed for and having the opportunity to cover these events would be like winning a gold medal at the Olympics of journalism. Doing so before the age of 20 and before graduating high school is a feat that most professionals will not come close to achieving.
Unfortunately, however, to take this invaluable once in a lifetime opportunity we will need to raise approximately $15,000 in the next two months to cover transportation, lodging, and various other costs tied to the events.
That's where you come in. There are two ways that you can help make this a reality for us.
1. Donate! If you have the funds available, donations of any size are appreciated and will directly help us be able to take this incredible journey.
2. Share, share, share! During my time as Digital Editor-in-Chief, we have found that articles shared to our social media outlets (both personal and official) get considerably more views than those that are not. Even if you are unable to directly contribute funds, you can still help by sharing this campaign with your social media followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email. The more people who see our campaign, the more donations we will receive! This is just as important and helpful to our success as donating is.
Imagine that I share this with ten of my friends, colleagues, and family members, each of whom then donates $10 to our campaign and shares it with ten other people. Each of those ten people also donate $10 to the campaign, and one final time share it with ten people themselves. After just three waves of donations we have hit our goal of $10,000 - but it requires everybody to share this link with as many people as they can! Donations of any size, including nonmonetary donations of social media attention, can directly affect the outcome of our fundraising efforts and, as a result, the future of these young journalists.
If you would like to see exactly where your money is going, leave a comment on this page or send me an email at [email redacted]shingschools.org and we will send you photos, stories, and links to articles that we publish during our two week adventure.
Please check back every Thursday to meet another one of my colleagues. Thank you all for your time and consideration. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Sincerely,
Andrew Roth | Digital Editor-in-Chief, Advertising Manager
Disclaimer: While we are very hopeful that we will be credentialed for the events and are making plans accordingly, there is a chance that our application will be denied. In this event, we will reverse and refund all donations as quickly as possible. Additionally, while we are Flushing High School students, this is not an official school endorsed event.
My name is Andrew Roth and I am a high school Junior planning on studying journalism in college. I am the Digital Editor-in-Chief and Advertising Manager for our school newspaper, The Blazer.
Three of my fellow student journalists and I have worked towards and received several incredible opportunities to cover the 2016 Presidential Election as members of the media; we've attended rallies, town halls, and press conferences for Bernie Sanders and John Kasich, the Fox News and RNC Republican Debate in Detroit, MI, and the CNN and DNC Democratic Debate in Flint, MI. Additionally, we recently had the opportunity to temporarily join the White House Press Pool to cover the arrival of Air Force One to Bishop Airport and President Obama's remarks at Northwestern High School to the citizens of Flint, MI regarding the ongoing water crisis there.
Now, we are going after the biggest story of the primaries season and our most ambitious project yet and are working with the Congressional Press Galleries to be credentialed to cover the Republican National Convention (July 18 through July 21) in Cleveland, OH and the Democratic National Convention (July 25 through July 28) in Philadelphia, PA. These events will see between 15,000 and 20,000 journalists credentialed; the second largest national press corps in history, behind only the 2014 Olympic Games. We aspire to be included in this group.
These conventions will provide the material for several articles on our website, which receives over 5,000 views per month. Daily features stories detailing our experiences, photo galleries, and interviews with campaign surrogates (mayors, senators, etc) are just a few of the ideas we have in mind. Additionally, attending the conventions as high school students gives us the potential to see (and learn from) professionals of the field in action while getting real world experiences working side by side with them that will help us both in our studies and in life.
In the world of journalism, credentials can be viewed as trophies. Being credentialed for and having the opportunity to cover these events would be like winning a gold medal at the Olympics of journalism. Doing so before the age of 20 and before graduating high school is a feat that most professionals will not come close to achieving.
Unfortunately, however, to take this invaluable once in a lifetime opportunity we will need to raise approximately $15,000 in the next two months to cover transportation, lodging, and various other costs tied to the events.
That's where you come in. There are two ways that you can help make this a reality for us.
1. Donate! If you have the funds available, donations of any size are appreciated and will directly help us be able to take this incredible journey.
2. Share, share, share! During my time as Digital Editor-in-Chief, we have found that articles shared to our social media outlets (both personal and official) get considerably more views than those that are not. Even if you are unable to directly contribute funds, you can still help by sharing this campaign with your social media followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email. The more people who see our campaign, the more donations we will receive! This is just as important and helpful to our success as donating is.
Imagine that I share this with ten of my friends, colleagues, and family members, each of whom then donates $10 to our campaign and shares it with ten other people. Each of those ten people also donate $10 to the campaign, and one final time share it with ten people themselves. After just three waves of donations we have hit our goal of $10,000 - but it requires everybody to share this link with as many people as they can! Donations of any size, including nonmonetary donations of social media attention, can directly affect the outcome of our fundraising efforts and, as a result, the future of these young journalists.
If you would like to see exactly where your money is going, leave a comment on this page or send me an email at [email redacted]shingschools.org and we will send you photos, stories, and links to articles that we publish during our two week adventure.
Please check back every Thursday to meet another one of my colleagues. Thank you all for your time and consideration. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Sincerely,
Andrew Roth | Digital Editor-in-Chief, Advertising Manager
Disclaimer: While we are very hopeful that we will be credentialed for the events and are making plans accordingly, there is a chance that our application will be denied. In this event, we will reverse and refund all donations as quickly as possible. Additionally, while we are Flushing High School students, this is not an official school endorsed event.
Organizer and beneficiary
Andrew Roth
Organizer
Flushing, MI
Ninna Roth
Beneficiary
