During the Schieffer Summer Journalism Camp at TCU, young aspiring journalists learn to create news stories across multiple media platforms. The intensive program is open to rising high school juniors and seniors, as well as incoming first-year students who have been admitted into TCU and to the journalism major. It is directed by members of the journalism faculty, media professionals from the Dal
las/Fort Worth area and students in TCU Journalism. It offers high school students the opportunity to produce content for the Web, broadcast and print. Schieffer Journalism campers work in the Department of Journalism’s all-digital newsroom and broadcast news studio. They learn how to generate story ideas, which they then report and develop into news stories. The students fan out across the TCU campus, perhaps writing about peer camps in other disciplines, or other topics of interest, such as college admission. Students engage with faculty and visiting professionals in both classroom and lab settings, in groups and one-on-one. They have the opportunity to anchor newscasts, produce video packages and engage with audiences through social media. The program is designed to give students a real-life experience on a college campus. They live in TCU’s modern residence halls, eat at the Brown Lupton University Union and take advantage of other TCU amenities like the recreation center. The counselors are journalism students. Officers from TCU’s financial aid and admissions departments are also on hand to talk about the college application process. The Department of Journalism has been hosting a high school workshop for more than 20 years. For many years, the program was affiliated with the Dow Jones News Fund, which once restricted enrollment to Dallas-Fort Worth region. The program is named in honor of legendary CBS news broadcaster Bob Schieffer, a TCU journalism alumnus and also namesake of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at TCU. It has strengthened its focus on digital and broadcast media, while preserving the attention to print skills. It takes advantage of a robust inventory of the latest media equipment and publishing software, such as digital Canon EOS SLR cameras, high-definition digital video cameras and an all-Mac newsroom with Adobe Creative Suite.
