Picture Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, realizing that he has misplaced his briefcase that contains top-secret contacts and current projects. After abandoning his lecture, a few minutes of hysteria ensues as students and faculty search for the briefcase.
This was only one of several remarkable moments that took place this past June, when 25 college students gathered to attend a weeklong journalism program at Wesleyan. The program, Camp Take-A-Stand, was established to commemorate the life of David Halberstam, a distinguished Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist of 50 years.
“At the program, students learned practical skills, got a larger context of the unique role and responsibility of being journalists and the particular challenges of being in journalism today,” said Program Director Adam Tapley.
Throughout his illustrious career, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and sports journalism for a myriad of world-renowned publications. He was a longtime advocate of youth journalism. Halberstam was killed in a car accident last June in California while driving to interview Y.A. Tittle, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, for his next book.
Inspired by Halberstam’s commitment to investigative journalism, Camp Take-A-Stand was established to educate young journalist participants about the tools necessary for effective journalism. An impressive faculty of local, national, and Pulitzer-winning journalists led the program, including John Dankosky, Amy Goodman, and Chris Hedges. Many of these journalists were close friends and colleagues of Halberstam.
Halberstam grew up in Winsted, Conn., which inspired the camp organizers to pick a location in Connecticut as a means to pay further homage to the journalist. Organizers chose Wesleyan not only because of its central setting in the state, but also because of Halberstam’s longstanding history with the University. Halberstam visited the University several times for both the Wesleyan Writers Conference and a benefit event for The Hartford Courant.
The program instructed students on how to better express their arguments, as well as on Internet investigative tools, such as websites that enable users to track contributions to politicians. The program also encouraged students to break out of the traditional and formulaic style of academic writing and embrace the stylized narrative of investigative journalism.
“I got a sense of what a career in journalism really demands,” said Keith Schumann ’09.
During the program, each student wrote a series of articles, visited established publications such as The Hartford Courant, and contributed to a live radio broadcast on WNPR.
“We were very fortunate to have a wonderful group of students who contributed an enormous amount to the success of the camp,” Tapley said. “Young people are the ones who will be reporting on the world. We hope that young people are engaged and have a say in what the future looks like and the future of journalism.”
Participants credit the diversity of the student body as one of the more engaging aspects of the program. Students hailed from across the country. Colleges represented at the program included Bates, Colgate, Cornell, UC Berkley, University of Central Florida, and University of Montana.
“It was a phenomenal experience,” Schumann said. “I really enjoyed listening to the speakers and meeting the other students. I left feeling deeply inspired, and it helped revive my love of writing.”
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