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Ryan Hiraki, a young journalist eager to improve, craves
feedback. During a newspaper internship, he worked closely
with an editor and writing coach and devoured writing tips
from the Internet.
But Hiraki says weekly phone chats with a mentor assigned
to him by the Chips Quinn Scholars program helped him become
a better writer.
The intern was teamed up with mentor Manny Lopez, associate
editor at The Business Journal in Kansas City, Mo.
"Manny didn't hold back,'' Hiraki said. "Every time I got
my clips back, there would be a billion marks. He had a lot
of constructive criticism, and I learned from my mistakes.''
Hiraki and Lopez were among five pairs working together in
a pilot mentoring project in Spring 2002 that matched alumni
of the Chips Quinn Scholars program with new Scholars. The
goal was for Scholars to learn from journalists who have been
in their shoes &endash; both as newspaper interns and as participants
in the Freedom Forum program.
Mentoring expanded to include 14 alumni in Summer 2002.
"We try to impress upon the Scholars that this program isn't
just about an internship or a scholarship,'' said Karen Catone,
director of the Chips Quinn Scholars program. "It's about
developing a network of minority journalists that can provide
support throughout one's career. By providing alum mentors
and experienced writing coaches, we demonstrate our support
and show that we are here to help Scholars succeed in their
newsrooms.''
The idea for the mentor program dates back to 1999, when
100 alumni gathered for a reunion. They formed a multicultural
organization, the Chips Quinn Scholars Association, dedicated
to networking, mentoring, recruiting and retaining journalists
of color and developing careers.
Kristen Go, education reporter at The Arizona Republic
in Phoenix who attended that meeting, said the mentoring program
fulfills several goals of the alumni association and tries
to address a retention issue that has stumped the news industry.
"The Chips Quinn program really instills in you the importance
of diversity and the importance of caring,'' said Go, a 1996
and 1997 Scholar.
To be a mentor, Chips Quinn alumni agree to attend part of
an orientation session with a new group of Scholars and participate
in a training session in which they learn about active listening
skills, strategies on motivating journalists and how to work
through specific writing problems.
Chips Quinn writing coaches Dick Thien and Mary Ann Hogan
train mentors on ways to coach effectively by e-mail and phone.
Alumni mentors also can turn to a writing coach if they are
stumped by a question from a Scholar.
Scholars say they enjoy working one-on-one with the alumni
and appreciate the access to experienced journalists. Editors
also are grateful.
Gary Graham, managing editor of the Press & Sun-Bulletin
in Binghamton, said having Lopez work with Hiraki "was like
having another editor added to our metro desk. Our editors
regularly edited Ryan's copy, but having Manny as long-distance
support staff strengthened the learning experience for Ryan.''
Scholars were given a tip sheet on how to use their mentors
and writing coaches effectively.
New mentors are advised that their role is to be a coach
and a sounding board about journalism and workplace issues,
not a Scholar's best friend or substitute parent. Some alumni
mentors have learned that coaching young writers is a balancing
act.
"I didn't want to come on too strong,'' said Maria Garcia,
a 1997 Scholar and mentor. In the future, "I'm going to take
the liberty to be more involved and give more feedback.''
Garcia, an education reporter for The Press-Enterprise
in Riverside, Calif., said she doesn't want any Scholar
to repeat the experience she had in her first newspaper internship.
She wrote calendar items and obituaries because she didn't
ask for other assignments. A veteran reporter &endash; a mentor
&endash; later took her under her wing.
"This is an opportunity for me to recall where I've been
and to realize I really have come a long way,'' Garcia said.
"I'd tell other alums that the mentoring relationship is mutually
beneficial. You get as much as you give.''
Lopez said he still wonders whether he gives the right advice
to the Scholars he mentors. But he gets more comfortable with
each question he answers, and he knows the alumni play a vital
role in the success of the Chips Quinn program.
"We add to what the Scholars learn in the newsroom and from
the other coaches,'' he said. "They're great resources, but
they aren't people of color who have been the only minority
working in a newsroom. There is value in us being there also.''
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