Madison365 editor in chief David Dahmer (left) and writer Amber Walker will give youth of color a crash course in journalism with a new training program called 365 Academy.
Media organizations here and across the country (Isthmus included) have long struggled to attract minority candidates even while consciously attempting to add diversity to staff. It’s a problem that did not elude Henry Sanders Jr., who co-founded Madison365 to tell stories that matter to people of color, told from the perspective of people of color. The nonprofit online news platform seeks to fill an important niche in the local media market, where the vast majority of journalists are white.
“I couldn’t find any journalists of color,” says Sanders, who launched Madison365 in August with David Dahmer, the former longtime editor of The Madison Times. “And I didn’t want Madison365 just to be an organization that complained about the problem without working on a solution.”
In response, Sanders, along with associate publisher Robert Chappell and Dahmer, who is editor in chief, created 365 Academy — Madison’s first journalism training program for students of color. The academy begins in July with a three-week “journalism boot camp” for high school students, produced in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. During the academic year, the academy will hold another session aimed at college students and adults interested in learning about journalism and strategic communication. The summer program will enroll 10-15 students, and the core program will enroll 20 each semester.
The Madison365 partners consulted with journalism professors to create a wide-ranging curriculum that covers such reporting basics as interviewing, news gathering, writing, editing, taking photos and making podcasts. “It’s going to be a holistic view of the journalism profession,” Chappell says.
Classes will be held at the south side campus of Madison College, and instructors will include Sanders, Dahmer and Chappell along with Amber Walker, a Madison365 writer and a former high school English instructor.
Students will practice writing a variety of story formats, from investigations to profile pieces, which will be published on the Madison365 website. In addition, the academy will explore journalism-related topics, including what it means to serve on an editorial board. Madison media professionals will come in as guest speakers, and students will have the opportunity to tour local broadcast studios and newsrooms.
“It’s going to be fast, it’s going to be busy, but I think they’ll take from this real-world experience,” Sanders says. “And on top of that, they’ll be having their work posted on our site.”
Beyond teaching students the fundamental skills, the academy will also focus on “community journalism” — an approach that emphasizes building trust and relationships with sources and approaching storytelling from a different, more personal angle than is often presented in “mainstream” media. This is particularly important when writing about communities of color, Sanders says.
“A white person might not see those angles,” he continues. “You have to always take a look and ask questions and consider how a person of color would perceive a situation. If you do that, you’ll get a whole different perspective and a different news story.”
The academy is supported by the Madison Community Foundation, the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation and CUNA Mutual Foundation. Collectively, the three organizations donated $80,000 to fund the program. Organizers hope the academy will create a “pipeline of talent” that will increase the number of minority journalists, not only at Madison365, but also in newsrooms throughout the community — and beyond.
“It helps us, but it also helps the industry,” Sanders says. “We can start placing interns and getting [them] real job opportunities. This is a real chance to build a portfolio and really learn the craft.”
