About

Everyone wants to be published. And journalism students do their best work when they know someone – other than the professor – will be reading their articles. The Point Park News Service allows Point Park University’s journalism students to believe any story they write can be published and read by a wide audience.

The Point Park News Service operates as a news wire service based at the university. The news service is built into an advanced level class with 10 to 15 dedicated reporters. The class meets once a week, and students are expected to write 5 stories per semester. The focus of the class is newspaper reporting and writing in a simulated professional environment.

The news service outlet ultimately will be open to any student whose professor recommends his or her story for inclusion. That way all journalism students at the university can realistically expect to have their best stories distributed by the Point Park News Service.

All stories are offered first to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for publication in one of its outlets such as the morning newspaper; the afternoon tabloid, the Trib p.m.; or its Internet site, www.pghtrib.com. The Trib pays students a stringer fee for every published article. Stories appear under students’ bylines with a tag line identifying the source as the Point Park News Service.

Articles also are posted to the news service’s own Internet site, where print and online publishers are encouraged to pick them up and run them. Again, stories will include students’ bylines and the university’s tag line. This service will reach various media outlets: daily and weekly newspapers, online publications, and broadcast news organizations.

• Students’ advantage: Often students say they cannot convince sources to talk to them for stories that will only be published in class. Other times students lack the motivation to do their best work, figuring no one outside of class will see it. Yet again, they want to be published but lack the contacts to get their stories into print. The Point Park News Service gives every student at the university additional credibility, provides direction for those driven to do quality work and offers an outlet for those talented enough to be published. Perhaps most importantly for students striving toward careers in journalism, the news service generates clips and contacts that will lead to future employment.

• University’s advantage: Point Park University’s career-directed philosophy gives students practical as well as theoretical experience. The Point Park News Service strengthens the university’s already hands-on course offerings by giving students experience in a working newsroom. It also increases the university’s profile across the region by carrying the school name with every published article.

• Publishers’ advantage: News outlets in the Pittsburgh region and across the country are scrambling to reach young readers but too often miss the one thing needed most: fresh perspective.

Point Park journalism students already are developing creative story ideas and reporting them with a vibrancy that established reporters and editors cannot always match. The Point Park News Service allows publishers to tap into that resource while introducing them to the best up-and-coming reporters – students who are going to be seeking jobs in the near future.