The Media Program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to understand the role of media in a democracy. Students engage in the many facets of a modern media – print, video, digital, and social.
Participants in the Media Program are given an opportunity to view the political arena from the eyes of a neutral observer and gain knowledge and experience in journalism as it relates to government. They have opportunities to work in a team setting with other dedicated, highly motivated individuals. Students have a chance to put their creative skills to practical use in writing, photography, videography, graphics, editing, and much more. While stories are reviewed by the Media Director and Program Coordinator, the student staff determines the content and style of the various media forms.
The Media Program has several goals:
- Teach students that teamwork and staff coordination are vital ingredients of successful journalism.
- Teach the importance of separating issues from personalities.
- Emphasize the importance of written communication skills.
- Offer an opportunity to learn how to work in a safe situation under the stress of deadlines.
- Provide other YAG participants with accurate, reliable, and useful information, by publicizing all aspects and program areas of the State Conference.
Media Program Preparation
The Media Program demands individual initiative and responsibility. Members work as part of a media staff. Students will be individually assigned to performs tasks, and also placed in small groups to perform others. These tasks may include editing stories, developing ideas for articles and covering them, creating headlines and designing layouts, providing photographic and video coverage, editing video content, creating digital content for online use, and much more.
Media Program Pre-Conference Required Submission
All Media Program participants must submit a pre-conference assignment to the State Office by 11:59 p.m. on October 16. Students have flexibility in what they submit, such as a print story, video story, feature story about a delegate, digital content, etc. Examples could include a feature story about a candidate from their delegation, a feature about some students doing some cool things in the local community, a print story about a bill being written by a student, etc. Each student must have their own media submission. For example, if a group of three students work together on digital stories, they each still need to submit an original piece, not three students submitting the same story.
- Media Submission | Due October 16
Files should be emailed to ken@moymca.org. Please name the file in the following manner: LastNameFirstName.fileextension.
Media Eligibility
Participants are chosen from those who register by the following guidelines:
- Participants must complete the Student Registration Form on the YAG website by the stated deadline to participate at the State Conference.
- Participants are responsible for staying informed of local, regional, and statewide YAG activities. It is also recommended that they develop contacts with local news media and inform them of their local YAG delegation.
- Media members must meet all deadlines set by the State Office.
- Media members submit a required project by the stated deadline.
- The number of participants in the Media is limited to 40 students.