Originally published by: Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University
Original author: Lindsay Hargrave
Originally published on: July 27, 2021

Student journalists at Klein College of Media and Communication have been producing professional-quality work for years. Reporters at student news outlets such as WHIP, Temple Update and The Temple News are well-acquainted with covering city-wide issues from a student perspective, and so it is no surprise that these outlets and Klein have entered a partnership with Resolve Philly's Broke in Philly project. Under this agreement, student reporters worked collaboratively across outlets as well as with Broke in Philly representatives in order to craft stories that speak to both the Broke in Philly mission and the college student experience. The end results were stories titled "A Year Online" by Natalie Kerr and Tyler Perez and "College Decision Day" by Tyler Perez, Haajrah Gilani, Eden MacDougall and Rosie Leonard, published in The Temple News' Longform section.  

According to Assistant Director for External Affairs Kalie Wertz, who played a central role in moving the project forward, Klein's relationship with Resolve was preexisting, but had grown significantly since she began her position here in 2019. When the idea for this partnership came about, Wertz realized that there was both the capacity and the need for student voices at Resolve.

"Our students are already reporting on things that relate to that topic; it's a pretty broad topic. So in what ways could we get their reporting highlighted, since they're already doing similar work and they're focused in Philly?" Wertz said. "It seemed like a no-brainer for most of the people that I talked to."

From Resolve's perspective, Senior Collaborations Editor Eugene Sonn felt the same way. Already adept at making connections with journalists and news outlets throughout the city, Sonn saw how connecting with Klein seemed like the perfect fit to expand the collaborative model for new audiences.

And so Wertz assembled a task force in the summer of 2020 to begin working on what an agreement between Broke in Philly and Klein could look like. In addition to Sonn, this group included Klein staff such as Managing Director of Student Media John DiCarlo, Assistant Dean for External Affairs Arlene Morgan, Executive Producer and Faculty Supervisor for Temple Update Peter Jaroff, Editor of Philadelphia Neighborhoods Chris Malo and General Manager of TUTV Paul Gluck, as well as student media leaders such as (now outgoing) Temple News Editor-in-Chief, senior economics and journalism double major Madison Karas and News Director at WHIP Radio, senior journalism and political science double major Amelia Winger. 

After over a semester of discussion and organization, the agreement took off in February of 2021. Wertz noted that though she worked extensively with Karas and Winger on developing these ideas into a workable agreement, she had only ever communicated with them through Zoom. Still, their connection and interest in the work helped the project move forward with ease, as the topics the students wanted to cover were a natural fit for the goals of Resolve and Broke in Philly, making the reporting aspect of the project almost instinctive. 

"We were familiar with Broke in Philly and their work," Karas said of Klein's long-standing relationship with the collaborative. 

Yet the students' perspective provided a fresh lens to the project, as their unique struggles and points of view are common, though not often explored in major media. "A lot of that was just thinking what students need to hear, what people need to hear about students, what aspects of the student perspectives that haven't made into the wider narrative of what's going on in Philly throughout the pandemic," Winger said.

Student reporter Haajrah Gilani, who worked on "College Decision Day," said she was surprised at many of these perspectives. For instance, she was encouraged by the optimistic attitudes of incoming college freshmen during the pandemic, and many had views and opinions that she hadn't seen discussed before. "I hope to see more stories that talk to people you wouldn't really expect to see interviewed," she said after completing the project. "Because I wouldn't have thought to reach out to, like, current high school students to get their opinions on how they're dealing with it."

Sonn was immediately impressed not only with the professional quality of the students' work, but also with how they related to their peers as interview subjects. "The Temple student journalists were really impressive in terms of their ability to get their peers to talk about this in a real, relatable way," he said. "I was really impressed with the work that they did, and with the collaboration necessary to do that, and how they handled some of the bumps in the road."

Given the high caliber of the final products produced through this collaboration, all parties involved feel positively about the possibility of continuing the agreement for years to come. Not only do the students and partners generally see this is a valuable opportunity for budding student reporters, but it also adds a level of authenticity by incorporating student voices in stories that pertain to that demographic. 

In addition, the partnership model is one that is becoming increasingly common in Philadelphia's journalism landscape, given the mutual benefits of community reporting to reporter and subject. Philadelphia Neighborhoods Editor Chris Malo added that, "I think that partnerships and collaborations are hugely important, especially as the journalism industry has had to reconfigure itself in thinking about the best paths forward."

Now that the agreement's maiden voyage is over, the students, faculty and staff involved have no doubts as to its merit, and the merit of collaborative journalism. Not only that, but many see Philadelphia as a prime breeding ground for innovative reporting techniques like these.

"I really hope this sets a blueprint for what student media collaborations can do between themselves and working with professional Philadelphia media outlets, and really foster the contributions back and forth," said Karas.

Winger agrees. "I think this project really underscored the power of collaborative journalism for me, because not only were we learning from the sources we were reporting on, but we were learning from each other about how to become stronger, more empathetic, more analytical reporters," she added.