Don Hecker, right, introduces Troy Griggs to the students of The New York Times Student Journalism Institute during the opening session, which was held Sunday morning. The Institute is taking place on the University of Arizona campus. (Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times)
Students began the first of 10 days at The New York Times Student Journalism Institute in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 3. The 23 students will create news content for the Web and print, guided by staffers from The New York Times Company and the University of Arizona.
Don R. Hecker, the Institute’s director and one of its founders, said the program has the intensity and high energy found in the New York Times newsroom during breaking news. He compared the program to the Times newsroom on election night or when major news occurs.
The Institute began in 2003 after Hecker, who is also manager of staff editor training at The Times, was asked if the newspaper would hold a boot camp for minority student journalists. The initial discussions, with journalism school advisers, began in 2002 when Hecker was doing diversity outreach at black colleges and universities around the country.
“The Times Company has a serious commitment to diversity,” Hecker said. “This is the kind of thing they love to support.”
The Times hosts two sessions a year — one in January and another in May. The May session, usually held in New Orleans, is for members of the National Association of Black Journalists. The January session, which began in 2007, is for members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. That session alternates each year between Tucson and Miami.
Hecker said the program received about 65 applications for this session, compared with a typical 90. But he said this year’s applicants were of remarkably high quality, despite troubles in the journalism industry.
“Maybe now it’s down to the people who really care,” Hecker said, “as if the adversity of journalism has given us a stronger group of people, like fire toughens you.”
The Institute is increasingly using multimedia — students began creating videos three years ago and podcasts two years ago, and have also created interactive graphics.
Salvador Rodriguez, 19, said he hoped the use of various media would help him improve the independent news site that he runs with friends at Arizona State University. He also hopes that the program’s use of multimedia will help set him apart when he applies for jobs.
“I hope I can get at least a sip of everything going on here,” Rodriguez said.
Veronica Cruz, who graduated from the University of Arizona in December, said she expected to work hard at the Institute. “Since I just graduated, I’m like, ‘What am I going to do now?’” Cruz said. “I hope to walk away more optimistic and more inspired.”
Cruz, 23, will intern with the Chips Quinn Scholars program in Santa Fe, N.M., in the spring.
Among the staff is Nicolas Barajas, who participated in the Institute as a student in 2008 and now works for The Times as a news designer.
“I’m only one step removed,” Barajas said. “I can still see where I sat. But it’s great to be on this side, to mentor students, to put them on a path to give them the sort of success I’ve had. I expect these students to blow my experience out of the water and to do great. Every class is pushed by the previous class, and this one will be no different.”
A version of this article appeared in print on page 12 of the Tucson 2010 edition of The New York Times Student Journalism Institute.