Student Media Challenge
Student newsrooms across the United States are covering problem-solving efforts in their communities.
Launched in 2022, the Student Media Challenge adds to SJN’s ongoing work with colleges and universities, as the number and kind of solutions journalism courses expand at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Now in its third year, the Challenge has evolved into an incubator of solutions journalism, awarding grants to student newsrooms to pursue projects of their own imaginings. To date, cohort members have used the funds to:
- Support an award-winning podcast on food insecurity
- Address news deserts in rural communities in Missouri
- Fortify news coverage for a once-endangered weekly in Georgia
Student media outlets are playing an increasing role in rebuilding local news ecosystems. As more local communities grapple with becoming news deserts, student newsrooms are stepping forward to assume a leadership role in informing the public about news, on campus and well beyond. With solutions journalism training, students are covering social issues more deeply and equitably, as well as gaining valuable experience for internships and jobs.
2024-25 Academic Year Cohort
- Baltimore Watchdog (Towson University)
- Capital News Service (University of Maryland)
- Long Beach Current (Cal State-Long Beach)
- Hilltop Views (St. Edward's University)
- Stanford Daily (Stanford University)
- The Tiger's Roar (Savannah State University)
- University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
- The Temple News (Temple University)
Pictured: International student journalists Anna Pratts (left) and Gabrielle Caumon hold flags at St. Edward's. They are reporting on the unique mental health factors international students are facing in 2025 as part of the Student Media Challenge. Photo by Daniel Brannon for Hilltop Views
2023-24 Academic Year Cohort
- Chronicle (Columbia College)
- The Daily Tar Heel (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- The Collegian (Fresno State University)
- Dimelo (University of Southern California)
- North Carolina A&T University
- Pepperdine University
- Stony Brook University
- The Triangle (Drexel University)
Pictured: Fresno State hosted a campus event spotlighting its solutions-focused mental health work while giving the community a chance to destress before finals. Photo by Jacqueline Carrillo for The Collegian
2022-23 Academic Year Cohort
- Díg en Español (Santa Ana College)
- el Don (California State University at Long Beach)
- Howard University News Wire
- Knight Center for Environmental Journalism (Michigan State University)
- KOMU (University of Missouri)
- Oglethorpe Echo (University of Georgia)
- Queens University News Service
- Washington State University
Pictured: Anna Lionas hosts "The Food Fix" podcast at Michigan State University. Photo courtesy of MSU Knight Center for Environmental Journalism
Students Serving Students
College journalists in California are living up to the steep challenges of reporting on mental health. This documentary video highlights Student Media Challenge projects on mental health mounted in the 2023-24 academic year by Pepperdine University, Fresno State University and Dimelo, the student-staffed bilingual news service at the University of Southern California.
Featuring interviews with student reporters and editors, along with faculty advisers from Fresno State and Pepperdine, the video captures some of what it took to complete stories on climate anxiety, cultural barriers to seeking counseling and a suicide scourge among young Latinas.
"A Part of What's Going Right": How Solutions Journalism Changed a Student Newsroom
The University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication took on a unique assignment during the 2022-23 academic year: not just covering how local communities are addressing problems, but saving a cherished local paper in the process.
